“Where is the outrage?” is an odd question coming from Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. While he has convened hearings into the Bush Administration’s illegal domestic spying program, the famously low-key senator has conveyed nothing but restrained deference toward President Bush regarding this issue until now:

New expressions of frustration over how little information the administration has shared about the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping on Americans flared yesterday in the Senate, one day after House Republicans barred amendments that would have expanded oversight of the controversial program.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday that he will file an amendment to block the NSA program’s funding — but said he will not seek a vote on it at this time — in hope of stirring greater debate on the warrantless surveillance, part of the agency’s monitoring of alleged terrorists.

“Where is the outrage?” asked Specter…

Sometimes outrage starts at the top, Senator. It’s called “leadership.”