Arlen Specter, the former senator who served Pennsylvania for 30 years, is out with a new memoir that laments the loss of comity in the U.S. Senate, calls for televised oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court and airs his grievances against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for taking away his seniority when he switched parties and became a Democrat.

But at certain points, the book gets more titillating, with Specter pulling the towel off to reveal what goes on behind-the-scenes in the Senate gym and massage room, as well as how he felt when he first met former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"Off the floor, the conversation is really different," he told The Huffington Post. He pointed to the 2005 debate over President George W. Bush's judicial nominees and the use of the filibuster as an example of when lawmakers vote the party line instead of their consciences, leading to a deterioration in the quality of government.

"If people would express their honest opinions, it would be a very different place and a very different government," he said.