What I want to know is when do I get to be an "outspoken former Marine" like Murtha or Massey or anyone else in the antiwar crows the MSM drools over.
I hear the pay is great.
Posted on 11/20/2005 4:01:41 AM PST by Gargantua
When I was a much younger man, I had nerves of steel.
My friends and I used to drive old junk cars sideways around a track in a field at speeds that would make sane people shudder and even lunatics flinch. We used to call it “pitting” a car. No helmets, no airbags, not even a seat belt. Often we would get up on two wheels, or even roll completely over, and it was all just that much more fun.
The decades since then have passed, and I recently had a chance to do the same thing on my buddy’s farm. While I still could get the car sideways and easily handle steering with the throttle, I found that the invincible, devil-may-care derring-do of my youth had at some point fled me, and had been replaced by a more mature caution. My buddy told me “You’ve “lost your nerve.”
It happens to all of us—or at least it should. As one ages, his sense of mortality becomes a more important consideration, and decisions freely made concerning dangerous feats when one was younger now take on a more ominous tenor. Take, for instance, the recently well-publicized matter of Congressman Jack Murtha.
It is common knowledge that Jack Murtha decades ago served multiple tours of duty in ‘Nam. While his congressional buddy John Kerry was back home “Swift Boating” our brave soldiers before the same Congress in which they now both serve, Jack was in ‘Nam amassing a war record of which he was, and is, justifiably proud—notwithstanding the comments of his pal, Johnny “The Flip-Flop” Kerry.
There was a point in time when Jack Murtha knew that sending soldiers into an armed conflict against hostile combatants would cause those enemies of America to violently target American soldiers. Now, decades later, old Warhorse Jack is saying that we should bring our troops home because ‘their presence in Iraq has become a catalyst for violence.’
Really? Who ever would have thought that sending American troops into war would be a catalyst for violence? Perhaps Mr. Murtha now feels that, if we send soldiers into battle, the enemy should just lay down their arms, and if they don’t, then we should bring the boys home, right?
Johnny Kerry, who used to stand in Congress and smear soldiers like Jack Murtha, now says, “I won’t stand for the ‘Swift Boating’ of Jack Murtha.” I guess Johhny must have gotten his fill of that back in the ‘70’s. Or perhaps it’s okay to smear the entire American military in Congress, just not individual soldiers…
Young men fight wars and old men—even some old veterans—sit at home and opine. It’s the way of the world, and it’s human nature. And in Murtha's case, at least he waited until the approach of the '06 and '08 elections to misplace his spine.
Eventually, it happens to all of us. Or at least it should.
...BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAHHHHhhhhhh!
;-/
There's old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots. The Seante needs to be outsourced.
Murtha came to Congress on the heels of the death of its longtime GOP Congressman, John Phillips Saylor (of whom I own some of his personal political belongings), but it wasn't just any time, but as a result of Watergate (under almost any other time, that district would've sent another Republican). Murtha misrepresented himself as a "Conservative" when it turned out he was anything but. Even if we assume he ever was one, he would've long ago switched parties, but instead chose to remain right where he was, and even at that, and we give him the benefit of the doubt, then the other theory holds, that when you lay down with dogs long enough, you catch fleas. A real patriot would've known to "cut and run" from the party that, at its core, hates America and everything it stands for. He chose not to, so why now should we be so surprised when he embraced America's enemies? He has stood amongst them now for 32 years.
Yikes!, now there is a scary thought.
Maybe a single term limit, so they can go there and do what we elected them to do,not play CYA so they can get re-elected.
Excellent, gargantua
Murtha allowed himself to be used as a political pawn in the Democrat's anti-Bush agenda. And he is paying the price.
Altzheimers or dementia can set it at any age and, unfortunately, Democrat Murtha displays all the symptoms.
I've heard that Murtha was being investigated for ethics violations before he made his embarrassing statement and he wanted to provoke the Admin. before it was made public so he can claim retaliation. Has anyone else heard this? Is this true?
Yesterday as I was driving home in the pouring rain at 100mph in my 66 Ford Mustang pickup truck, I pondered why Martha lost his nerve.
Then I remember he was a democrat, They only have enough balls to stand up and do what is wrong for the country, and not enough to do what is right.
There is a difference.
Yes, this is true. He steered some very lucrative defense contracts to companies represented by a relative. There was a post yesterday about it.
Murtha placed his party above his country... as have many in the House & Senate, the enemy across the aisle has replaced ANY enemy from abroad.
He serves his constituents in the most shameless and selfish of ways... and it is they who will eventually pay for his treachery.
Just repeal the 17th ammendment and take the politics out of the Senate. Problem solved. No longer will the linguini spines in the Senate have to play CYA to get re-elected. No longer will the lobbyists have sway over that branch of the gov't. Take it back to the way it was originally laid out, having the House of Reps of each state select the senators.
Got a picture of that? What is that, a ranchero backend welded to a mustang front clip?
You nailed it.
In the meantime- besides losing his nerve- he seems to have lost some of his ability to think rationally. It must have been an odd and circuitous route he took to reach his present stand.
My version of this statement is " He's no longer the man in the Resume."
What I want to know is when do I get to be an "outspoken former Marine" like Murtha or Massey or anyone else in the antiwar crows the MSM drools over.
I hear the pay is great.
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