Murtha's Disciples Must Go!!

Not only did we suffer the indignity of seeing John Murtha winning reelection in the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania AGAIN in 2006, but we were treated to the sorry spectacle of Jason Altmire's victory over Melissa Hart in the PA 4th. Scheming Jack managed to get his prospective opponent kicked off of the Republican ticket this year, while Hart is poised to take on Altmire in what promises to be another close race. Altmire considers Murtha to be his political mentor. It's like having Murtha represent two Congressional districts instead of just one.

If we are not careful, we might be up to three Murtha districts next year. At my neighborhood Memorial Day parade this week, I briefly encountered Steve O'Donnell, the Democrat challenger for Tim Murphy's Congressional seat in the 18th district, where I live. O'Donnell has plenty to say on his campaign site about Tim Murphy, George Bush, and Republicans in general. In short, he's agin' 'em.

A quick perusal of the site reveals that O'Donnell is a big advocate of government spending in most areas. Who else around here likes to toss around taxpayer money like he just printed it in his basement? Oh yes -- John Murtha, that's who. Not surprisingly, O'Donnell invokes the name of Saint Jack when stating his position on Iraq:

Steve O'Donnell believes it's time to "start bringing our troops home in the quickest way possible -- that ensures their safety."

We have already lost more than 3,000 American lives, and nearly 30,000 American soldiers have been wounded in battle. Countless Iraqis have been killed and wounded. We are spending trillions of dollars in unbudgeted expenses - with no end in sight -- while domestic priorities go unfunded.

Steve O'Donnell supports Congressman John Murtha's call for an end to the war and bringing our troops home now.

What is really disturbing about this is that there was no need for him to mention Murtha's name. he just throws it in at the end, sort of as a shout-out to all the people here in the 18th district who wish they could vote for Murtha but can't. If there are people like that around here, I would rather not know about it.

O'Donnell also referenced John Murtha when making his inaugural campaign announcement last October:

In making his announcement, O'Donnell, a lifelong Democrat and U.S. Navy veteran said, "Over 3,000 American soldiers, and countless innocent Iraqi civilians, have lost their lives in a war that has little to do with our homeland security. As the human and economic toll mounted from George Bush's ill-begotten war, our Congressman Tim Murphy -- stood with those who blindly supported George Bush and questioned Congressman John Murtha's patriotism when he opposed the escalation of the war in Iraq."

O'Donnell continued, "When our nation needed reasoned dissent and independent voices to stand up to George Bush - Tim Murphy remained silent and stood on the sidelines."

"I'm running for Congress to take a strong stand against George Bush and his allies in Congress like Tim Murphy - who support this misguided war - while continuing their assault on the needs of working families in western Pennsylvania. I support Congressman John Murtha's call to start bringing our troops home - now," O'Donnell said.

It's standard Democrat candidate rhetoric in 2008: mention George Bush at least once for every time you mention your opponent's name. In fact, this is so standard, it looks like a form letter, albeit one that has been customized for southwestern Pennsylvania by having Murtha's name tossed in a couple of times.

Note, too, that in Steve O'Donnell's mind, there is no enemy in Iraq, simply American soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Nothing about terrorists or insurgents, or Saddam Hussein. Saddam must be one of those innocents whose lives were lost. Steve's enemy is a man named George, who has a sidekick named Tim. We know whose side Steve O'Donnell is on, and it is not ours.

I don't remember Tim Murphy questioning John Murtha's patriotism, which makes me suspect that O'Donnell is lying. And if Murphy did not question Murtha's patriotism, he ought to. While he's at it, questioning Steve O'Donnell's patriotism may be in order.

One Murtha in Congress is too much. Let's not allow it to go up to three.

Murtha Must Be Boiling

Last week, when Gen. David Petraeus testified on Capitol Hill, Gen. Petraeus could report alot of positives. As a result, Sen. Carl Levin had to make a stunning admission. Here's what Sen. Levin said:

"Regardless of one's view of the wisdom of the policy that took us to Iraq in the first place and has kept us there over five years, we owe Gen. Petraeus and Gen. Odierno a debt of gratitude," said Sen. Carl Levin.

"And regardless how long the administration may choose to remain engaged in the strife in that country, our troops are better off with the leadership these two distinguished soldiers provide."

John Murtha must've been upset when he read that quote last week. Murtha spent almost 2 years telling anyone who'd listen that there wasn't a military solution to Iraq. Now that the Surge has worked, it's impossible to argue that we didn't need a military component to solving the troubles in Iraq.

Because of his arrogant predictions, Murtha should be subjected to healthy helpings of ridicule. In fact, if you couple Gen. Petraeus' testimony with Amb. Crocker's statement, you'd have to conclude that the Surge is succeeding on all fronts:

U.S Ambassador Crocker spoke as he visited reconstruction projects in the southern city of Najaf. "There is important progress for the Iraqi forces in confronting the Sunni and Shiite militias," he said, speaking Arabic to reporters. "The government, the prime minister are showing a clear determination to take on extremist armed elements that challenge the government's authority...no matter who these elements are."

"You are not going to hear me say that Al Qaeda is defeated, but they've never been closer to defeat than they are now," Crocker said.

What this means on the political front is that (a) people can't deny that Sen. McCain was the first politician to call for this strategy and (b) McCain's policy worked. This is important because he'll be rightly hailed as the man who got things right in Iraq when everyone was getting it wrong.

President Bush gets low grades on Iraq because he didn't win the insurgency, not because the American people are anti-war. I've said it before that they're just opposed to losing wars.

Another politician that deserves ridicule is Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Here's what she recently said:

“America needs a change of course in Iraq,” Klobuchar said. The measure “continued an open-ended commitment with no clear transition to Iraqi authority,” she said. “My priority is to transition to Iraq authority by beginning to bring our troops home in a responsible way.”

Why does Sen. Klobuchar think that we need to change course away from a winning strategy? That's just plain stupid. Frankly, at this point, I'm not convinced that she's knowledgeable enough to talk beyond that day's talking points. It isn't that I think she's stupid. It's that I think she's that ignorant at this point.

She certainly doesn't have a command of national security issues that Norm Coleman has.

Last summer, I was optimistic that the Iraq War could be turned into a positive for the GOP presidential nominee. It appears as though that's certain to happen. That's why Rep. Murtha and his MoveOn.org friends must be steaming.

Technorati: Carl Levin, John Murtha, David Petraeus, Ryan Crocker, John McCain, Insurgency, AQI, National Security, Amy Klobuchar, Norm Coleman, Foreign Policy, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LFR.

Pot Meet Kettle

The DNC's pit-bullswine and all-around blowhard John P. Murtha had this to say about John McCain joking about an "IED gift" for John Stewart:

“Imagine a presidential candidate making a joke about IEDs when these kids are getting blown apart, it's outrageous!” Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha fumes.

John McCain, of course, was a lot more civl in his response than he had to be:

“All I can say to Murtha and others is lighten up and get a life.”

Like I said, Senator McCain was a lot more civil in his response than he needed to be, or perhaps should have been. A fairer, more appropriate response to the gasbag, IMO could have gone something like this:

"Imagine a sitting member of congress pronouncing guilt of "murder in cold blood" on a platoon of Marines without any evidence or even a formal brifing, during a time of war, and giving aid and comfort to the enemy that wants them dead, all for the purposes of cheap, political gain."

So until "Jihad Jack" Murtha apologizes for becoming a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda, not to mention denying the basic civil right of presumption of innocence for those who have sworn to defend the Constitution with their very lives, then he has about as much room to talk as the space that exists between the crack of his bloated phat backside.