Wednesday, November 15, 2006

More Murtha: Could the Ds Be More Cynical?

John Fund at OpinionJournal offers a timely reminder that John Murtha is more than just "cut and run." He's also "take and cover up." The man for whom "redeployment" means a retreat of 5000 miles also believes that "ethics" means immunity from prosecution.

Specifically, Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1970s Abscam probe. He escaped prosecution because he delayed the acceptance of the bribe offered by undercover FBI agents and because he threatened to carry the probe into House Speaker Tip O'Neill.

Murtha is also well known for his shameless use of "earmarks" in House bills to bring federal spending to his district without careful scrutiny.

In other words, Murtha is the epitome of the "culture of corruption" against which his party ran this year. Further if he is elected to House leadership, it will be through the hardball tactics of his patron, Nancy Pelosi, who has proclaimed a new era of openness and ethics in Congress.

We have previously characterized Murtha as a sort of union boss in relation to the military. This reminder of his past reinforces that notion. For Murtha, the federal government is a huge engine of self-aggrandizement and the military a grand dispenser of money and benefits.

Today on NPR, Juan Williams stated that Murtha doesn't have the votes to be elected House Majority Leader. Let's hope he's right. If not, the Republic will get what it should have known that it voted for.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm shocked.