Here's the latest attempt to go after Murtha, which I was going to ignore until
all the wingnut blogs joined in. I had this clip from last week lying around just in case. YouTube sometimes goes out of sync, but the audio tells the tale, which the Republicans don't want to mention. I decided it was time for a little light on the subject since its swirling around the right-wing blog gutter.
It started with the American
Spectator on the run up to the Vets for Truth event this past Sunday. Dredging
up decades old dirt on the veteran.
Then Red
State joined in.
Now we've got this, this,
this, this,
Blogs for Bush,
the aptly named Hot
Air, Murtha's opponent,
Sean Hannity &
Fox “News”, the Heritage
Foundation.
Murtha's up by ten points against his challenger. However, for the wingnuts this seems like a race. They're ready to rumble. Murtha greets them with a yawn. He doesn't engage these types of things. He fights on issues.
But the nats got a little boost
when the New York Times picked up the story. The bottom line, however, is that
Murtha hasn't done anything illegal. He just plays the Washington game very
well and Republicans hate him for it. That he's also a decorated veteran with
an in with the troops just makes Murtha a bigger target.
Mr. Murtha said he and his staff did their best to vet every earmark request
but ultimately relied on the judgment of the members. He said he always asks,
“Is this worthwhile not only to your district but to the country?”Since Mr. Murtha announced his ambition to become party leader if the Democrats
take the House this fall, supporters of his rival, Representative Steny H.
Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who is the party’s whip, have begun quietly
questioning Mr. Murtha’s deal making. They argue that Mr. Murtha’s
pacts with Republicans should disqualify him for the job. Mr. Hoyer declined
to comment.Mr. Murtha, for his part, argued that his experience brokering votes would
be an asset if Ms. Pelosi became the speaker. Running the House with a slim
majority would require bipartisanship and party discipline. “I come
across a little tougher,” he said. “And I do have a lot of people
that vote with me on an awful lot of issues.”
Quite a debate has begun as to whether Murtha would be right for leadership.
It's an argument I rarely engage, the minutia of DC rangling not my thing. I
will say this, that until Murtha pushed back on Iraq the Democrats acted like
they'd been neutered. He's tough. He's close with the troops. He's also dangerous.
Sounds like a triple threat to me.
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