Murtha Must Go! August 4, 2006

You've heard me speak before about the antics of Rep John Murtha (D) from Pennsylvania's 12th district. Those comments have been primarily confined to his left wing diatribes concerning the war in Iraq and the actions of some Marines on the ground there. After several weeks of listening to Murtha's rants on television, I decided to do some research into his three decades of political service that has followed his military career. I found quite a few interesting tidbits from a variety of sources including Murtha's own website, CNN, FOX NEWS, The American Spectator, Robert Novak, The United States Marine Corp Public Affairs Department, The Library of Congress, the offical website for the US House of Representatives, Wikipedia, some independent bloggers, Newsmax, and the website of one of his current opponnets in the upcoming election cycle.

Now most of us know about his comments concerning Marines killing Iraqi civillians in cold blood. He made the statement based on (he claims) a briefing with Marine Corp Commandant General Michael W Hagee. But wait.....According to General Hagee's Public Affairs Officer, that briefing didn't take place until well after Murtha's initial statement concerning the Marines in Iraq. Hmmm.......gives one pause for thought doesn't it? If not, the maybe you would also be interested in knowing way back in the late 70's/early 80's (long before any of us had heard the name John Murtha) Murtha was also an unindicted co-conspirator in the now infamous "ABSCAM" trial. HMMMM..........More food for thought.

In between Murtha has skated around the edges of more than one scandal, managing to fly under the radar screens and out of the headlines, thus firmly entrenching himself in the Washington cesspool as though his last name was Kennedy. Since 1995, Murtha has voted 11 times to raise his own pay while repeatedly voting against tax free health savings accounts and for other bills that ultimately resulted in higher health care costs for most Americans. He has voted several times to take money from social security to pay for pet projects. And despite his perceived reputation as being a friend to the military, he recently voted to cut funds intended for national defense by 76 billion dollars. He also has come out in favor of reinstituting the draft. Below are several links to other sources with lots of information concerning Murtha's activities both recent and from over the past 30 years. Some of it is positive. Much more is very disconcerting though. If you have the time.....check some of it out. It was a real eye opener for me. As you browse, pay particular attention to the references to Diana Irey. She is the Republican opponent for Murtha in the upcoming election cycle and from all appearances, she's getting a ton of nationwide support from the military community including financial donations from troops on the ground in Iraq and from folks just like you and me.

http://www.squiggler.com/murtha/index.html

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9359

http://www.irey.com/OutOfTouch/

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/18/murtha.iraq/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murtha

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m001120/votes/

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/6/25/173358.shtml?s=lh

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/murthas_second_act.html

http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/103785.html

There is no doubt that John Murtha's service to this country as United States Marine is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of military service in general. For his service to and sacrafice for America he should be honored without question. However being a "Good Marine" doesn't get you a free pass into "political sainthood." Somewhere along the way Murtha changed. After he took off the uniform, he became a different person. At times he says the right words, but his actions tell a different story. And at other times, even his words are spiteful, mean, and sometimes downright deceptive. When they cross that line, politicians still must be held accountable for their words and their actions. That's why I say "MURTHA MUST GO!!!"

Should voters re-elect John Murtha? (closed poll)

yes 3

no 3

don't know 0

(originally posted on Yahoo 360 om 8-4-06)