Murtha: "See This? This is the Constitution!:

Murtha: As arrogant as ever!



Yes, Jihad Jack, Murtha--that is the Constitution in your grubby, slimy, greasy, blood-stained hands. That is the Constitution that you so cavalierly discarded when you played judge, jury and executioner to the Marines in Haditha, including Lt. Colonel Chessani, Sgt. Wuterich, and Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, whose father is a contributor to this blog. That very Constitution that you held in your hand is the one you put in the chipper shredder as you threw these gallant Marines under the bus for your own sorry-assed political gain.

Then you have the chutzpah to pull it out of your pocket and tell reporters, PA-12 voters, and the American people that that same Constitution gives you the right to do as you please like you're some kind of friggin' emperor?

I can't wait til this PMA investigation comes through, Jihad Jack. I can't wait to see you in handcuffs and leg-irons as you're frog-marched into a federal courtroom. I can't wait for the day when you're introduced to your new roommate, Bubba at the Federal Penn. Hope you have plenty of vaseline handy.

Yep, Jihad Jack, that day can't come too soon in my book.

Murtha: Not a leg to stand on.

As has been chronicled on this blog time and time again, Congressman John Murtha threw his lot with the anti-war kook left as he threw Haditha Marine's Constitutional right to presumption of innocence out the window for reasons of cheap, political gain. Congressman Murtha mis-used the influence of his office in a manner, as John Kerry would say, reminiscent of Genghis Khahn as he ran roughshod over the Constitutional rights of those who so valiantly put their lives on the line to defend it.

Now that Murtha's chickenzzzz have come home to roost, Boss Murtha is claiming immunity, saying that he can't be sued because, according to him, he was actually doing his job when he was denying the Haditha Marines their right to due process and presumption of innocence.

Which led Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson to question:

“Who is his master?” Henderson asked. “Do you ever serve the interests of your constituents by making a derogatory comment to the media?”

Of course, the short answer to that is that Boss Murtha has never been about serving his constituents, but rather about weaving a web of quid pro quos designed for the sole purpose of keeping his big phat backside in PA-12's seat in Washington.

Make no mistake. Jack Murtha never does something without there being a whole lot of something there for-- Jack Murtha.

Jack Murtha is used to getting his way, by hook, or, by crook. But this time, Jack Murtha has spun himself a web from which there should be no escape. Christina Jeffrey, the historian for the 104th congress, asserts:

While Murtha wants us to believe talking to reporters is an activity covered by the Constitution's speech and debate clause, the Supreme Court doesn't agree.

In the 1979 decision Hutchinson v. Proxmire (443 U.S. 111), the court ruled against Sen. William Proxmire because this clause does not protect him when he is off the floor and transmitting information to the media in the form of a press release. Why should a verbal "press release" be any different?

The Herald-Journal makes the case, popular inside the Beltway, that members of Congress need immunity from lawsuits when conducting the people's business. (They also want to be free of lawsuits if they are in traffic accidents). Since they consider themselves to be conducting the people's business 24/7, we're creating a very privileged class - one that can run us over and defame us at will. However, if necessity were a legitimate defense, it's certainly undermined by changes in communication that have made it easy to amplify a million times every word a congressmen speaks on the floor of Congress. No, we don't need to relieve congressmen of the nicety of going down to the well to have their say. Constitutional forms remain important.

As Thomas Jefferson stated, "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

Jeffrey expands:

The clear language of the Constitution with respect to the responsibility of legislators to live under the law has been articulated since Montesquieu and is enshrined in the English common law on which the Constitution is based.

President Madison, writing in the Federalist, warns us that if ever our legislators are exempt from law, freedom will be lost. The 104th Congress actually passed a congressional rule that Congress would henceforth abide by the law. Murtha should be punished for failing to do so.

There can be no argument made against the fact that a grave, purposeful injustice was perpetrated against citizens by a duly elected Constitutional officer by the name of John Murtha.

Murtha, again, is not a king, but is rather elected to serve the people and at the pleasure of the people; and, even according to his own governing body's rules, must not only be held accountable for acting in the best interests of those he serves, but to live under the same laws, as well.

From Prosecution to Persecution?

At what price, saving face?

The Murtha-inspired, media trumped so-called "Haditha Massacre" has had its share of casualties long after the event had transpired. Eight Marines, whose only crime was to follow Rules of Engagement (ROE) and to execute their mission of weeding out terrorist elements in the town of Haditha, have had their reputations and their honor dragged through the mud, not to mention having had the "honor" of treatment that would make Guantanamo detainees look like they're being put up at the Waldorf Astoria in comparison.

On Tuesday, Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom, USMC made the right decision when he saw through the undue command influence and dismissed all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani without prejudice.

Said Richard Thompson, resident and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, who has been defending Chessani,

“This case has turned into the persecution of one of the Marine’s finest combat commanders. LtCol Chessani devoted his life to the Corps and his Nation. He served three tours of duty in Iraq, away from his wife and children in defense of us all. In their attempt ‘to get’ Chessani, prosecutors granted immunity to seventeen Marines, including one they had charged with murder. Still they failed. Sadly, in the process they have destroyed the career of an outstanding officer. Enough is enough.”

WND just had a story published today that Chessani rightfully planned to sue Congressman John Murtha over his slanderous pronouncement of the Haditha Marines guilt of murder in cold blood. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there is more "undue influence" coming from Murtha to pressure prosecutors to make an example out of Chessani. Murtha, after all, is in charge of defense appropriations in the House and is certainly in a position to exert such influence. Given Murtha's long history of what was, in my opinion, influence peddling in the form of a legion of earmarks and defense contracts, there is in my opinion nothing too low for the King of Pork to resort to save his sorry fat backside from the consequences of his actions.

The military powers that be, along with the politicians that be, know that the Haditha prosecutions will be considered by historians as one of the largest travesties of justice in military history; a time when the interests of politicians and military leaders were put far ahead of the interests of justice itself. Their pitiful attempts to continue to prop up a false set of charges against one of the great military leaders in the Corps as a means of salvaging face serves neither the honor of the military nor the interests of justice.

It is nothing less than reprehensible.

Lots more on the background of this case here, here and here.

Read more on Murtha's role in this travesty here, here, and here.

With no place for the cockroach to run...

As expected, charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani have been dropped in the Haditha case, leaving only one marine with pending charges, Sgt. Frank Wuterich.

This has been a kangaroo court from the get-go, predicated on a story from Time Magazine whose source was an insurgent. Representative John Murtha (D., Pa-12), seeing a chance to get himself in the spotlight so as to fulfill his ambitions to be appointed House Majority Leader, latched on to the story like a monkey with a hand in a cookie jar, and bloviated on national TV, saying he had his information from "the highest level." This of course, was untrue, since Murtha went on Charlie Gibson before he was given any official military briefing on the matter, and came out and virtually convicted Haditha marines of cold blooded murder:

There was no coverup. There was no "massacre." Everything Murtha said in the Gibson interview was proven to be a complete set of falsehoods.

The day is coming when Murtha will no longer be able to redeploy himself to the nearest elevator.

The day is coming when Congressman John P. Murtha will have to answer for his reckless accusations made in the name of his own sorry political gain, that destroyed the lives of 8 Marines, who were fighting for their very lives in Haditha, and had to continue fighting for their lives upon their stateside return.

John Murtha's days of being the political boss of PA-12, the House Appropriations Committee on Defense, and other positions of largesse and prestige are numbered.

John Murtha has utilized the excuse that "the investigation is ongoing" as a means for cover from his having to answer for his actions.

I hold John Murtha personally responsible for laying a dubious cover of deceit under which the Democrat party was able to engage its anti-war, anti-troop, and anti-American pogrom, under which our enemies in Iraq and elsewhere became emboldened to carry on the fight much longer than they otherwise would have; in the process, killing more and more of our American and allied women and men than would have otherwise been the case.

Yes, it is my opinion that John Murtha has blood on his hands, and needs to answer for his misdeeds.

As the founding editor of this blog, I call on Congress to investigate John Murtha on exactly what he "knew" and when he "knew it" before coming out with his Haditha accusations and declarations of and implications of guilt. I call on Congress to investigate John Murtha of ethics violations and criminal charges in denying the Haditha Marines their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to the presumption of innocence, and to censure and strip Murtha of any committee assignments, and in turn demand his resignation from Congress.

My dear readers, as is evident by Murtha's long history of corruption, and now his foray into slander of innocents for political gain, it is more apparent than ever that now is the time that MURTHA MUST GO!!