Murtha's Thuggish Threats...

That's the byline to this OP-Ed in the New York Post:

Then the thuggish, ethically challenged Murtha weighed in - saying it would be a "mistake" to deny her request, "since she decides on the allocations for the Department of Defense."

He'd be the expert.

Murtha's history of manipulating defense appropriations for personal gain is long and distinguished. In a 1989 defense bill, then-Speaker Tom Foley was shamed into redlining a Murtha-authored provision requiring the speaker have a C-20 jet available at all times.

The Pennsylvania Association for Individuals With Disabilities, a charity founded by Murtha's longtime aide, has a board of directors largely made up of lobbyists and contractors who've received millions off Murtha-directed government largesse. In turn, notes The Washington Post, those same officials "have kept Murtha's campaigns flush with cash."

Despite such egregiously hamhanded behavior, Murtha now chairs the House Defense Appropriations Committee, a position he evidently envisions using in the same invidious fashion.

"I don't need to pressure them. I just tell them what they need to do," Murtha said of his efforts to secure from the Pentagon a plane for Pelosi.

Like we said: thuggish.

Was somebody saying something about a "culture of corruption"?

Yep... and I believe that PA-12 voters have enabled it to go on for at least two more years. Hopefully for the last time.