Rally 'Round The "Traitor"

The Post-Gazette has fresh coverage of this afternoon's competing rallies in Murtha's Johnstown:

The competing passions of the Iraq War reverberated across Main Street as Rep. John Murtha was vilified as a traitor on one side and praised as a patriot on the other.

Passionate, but not violent. Thank goodness the hot weather hasn't inflamed those passions past the limits of rationality.

Outside the veteran Democrat's campaign office, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland brought cheers from Murtha loyalists as he vowed to combat attempts to "Swift Boat'' the outspoken critic of the Bush administration's conduct of the war.

Across the railroad tracks at the fringe of the Downtown business district, a handful of Murtha critics denounced his statements against the war, while heralding their plans for an October rally of protest against him.

There's something appealing about the idea of being "at the fringe" on the wrong side of the tracks, especially when the rallying cry of those on the "right" side of the tracks is "Swift Boat!".

The pro-Murtha demonstration, hastily assembled to counter the news conference called by his critics in a group called Veterans for the Truth, drew a crowd of between 150 and 200, who stood under a sweltering sun listening to a series of speakers praise the hometown lawmaker.

That's not a bad turnout on short notice, seeing as how this is Murtha's home turf. Note that the article does not give figures, not even an estimate, on the opposition's attendance.

Mr. Cleland, a triple amputee from wounds received in Vietnam, charged that the Bush administration had targeted Mr. Murtha because of his critique of the war. He said they and their allies were using tactics reminiscent of the attacks against Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina, Sen. John Kerry in the last presidential election and Mr. Cleland himself in his 2002 Senate re-election defeat.

"We're not going to let them Swift Boat Jack Murtha,'' he said. "Jack Murtha is right and the president is wrong and we're not going to let them assassinate Jack Murtha's character.''

This is an insult. Everything is a Bush administration conspiracy in the eyes of these guys. It's not. Ordinary citizens can do big things. This movement is coming from the grass roots.

The stagecraft of the Democratic event was calculated to rebut the question from some critics about Mr. Murtha's patriotism. The speakers' roster was dominated by Iraq and Vietnam veterans. Eighteen large flags stirred behind them while members of the crowd held dozens more miniature flags along with their bottles of water.

Mr. Cleland ended his speech and the rally by leading the crowd in the chant, "We've got your back, Jack; we've got your back, Jack.''

When in trouble, pose in front of an American flag. When in a lot of trouble, pose in front of a lot of large flags. They can re-imagine Murtha as Patton! Sure, that'll convince everyone.

Mr. Murtha, who is being challenged for re-election by Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey, wasn't there to hear the litany of praise. He was in
Eastern Pennsylvania, campaigning for Chris Carney, a Democrat challenging Republican Congressman Don Sherwood. Murtha has said he plans to be a candidate for majority leader should the Democrats recapture the House in November.

Halfway through the article, Murtha's opponent suddenly warrants a mention. Anyone not familiar with this race who has been reading this report might think that Murtha is running against George Bush. And, on some level, he is. But his real opponent is Diana Irey, a truly deserving candidate. Why does the Murtha team never seem to mention her?

The words of the his defenders echoed across the parking lot beside the Cambria County Republican headquarters where his critics described their plans for an Oct. 1 rally capping a local and nationwide campaign.

Craig Minnick, a Johnstown lawyer and Iraq veteran who is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, described Mr. Murtha, a decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, as "irresponsible and un-American.''

At a time of war, he said, "It is reprehensible to tell the greatest military in the world that they are not making progress . . . it's obvious that John Murtha has no respect for our men in uniform.''

So where is the "chickenhawk" slur now?

Along with about a dozen local supporters, he was joined by Larry Bailey, the former president of Vietnam Veterans for Truth and organizer of an anti-Kerry campaign on Capitol Hill during the 2004 presidential campaign. Mr. Bailey said he and other associates from that effort had joined in a successor group, Veterans for the Truth. He said the organization was a response to Mr. Murtha's comments in May in which he said that a Marine unit had killed civilians "in cold blood,'' in the Iraqi town of Haditha.

Mr. Bailey, who flew in from his North Carolina home for the anti-Murtha event, emphasized that neither his current group nor 2004's Vietnam Veterans for Truth were formally tied to the better known Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. But while the organizations may be distinct, he said that he was happy to embrace the now generic term for the group's tactics.

"Of course we're Swift Boating him,'' Mr. Bailey said with a smile. "I love that term.''

How quintessentially American is that? The first citizens of a free and independent United States of America firmly embraced the derisive British marching song "Yankee Doodle" and made it their own. "Swift Boat" could be the new "Yankee Doodle".

Suddenly "Swift Boat!" doesn't have such a bad ring to it after all.