Posted on 08/06/2006 1:52:57 PM PDT by Coop
We cannot recall when, if ever, a congressional race in our corner of the world developed a national focus, but such was the case last week. Unfortunately, it was characterized by the kind of overheated rhetoric that plagues today's politics.
A group of veterans announced it would sponsor a national veterans rally in October to protest Rep. John Murtha's opposition to the Iraq war. "Vets for the Truth" is a successor to one of the organizations that worked against John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.
But the group does not simply disagree with Murtha that the United States should pull out of Iraq; it claims that things he has said were "treasonous." His position actually is that the U.S. and its coalition troops have done all they can do and that the war can not be won militarily, which is not only a far cry from treason, it's probably a realistic assessment of the situation in Iraq.
Murtha, of course, is a big boy and an old political pro. (When he came out against the war last November, he coupled it with a personal attack on Vice President Dick Cheney.) He also has deep connections to the military establishment and to veterans groups. Last week, the Murtha camp countered the veterans group by producing former U.S. Sen. Max Clelland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, to counter what he called "the right wing smears against a good man." A news conference held by his opponents in downtown Johnstown Thursday was dwarfed by a pro-Murtha rally at which Cleland was featured, although Murtha wasn't there; he was busy campaigning for a Democrat congressional candidate in Eastern Pennsylvania.)
There were complaints that Murtha, who was also wounded in Vietnam, was being "Swift-boated," a reference to the Navy veterans who hounded Kerry two years ago. The Swift boat controversy was about things that happened better than 30 years before and was a response to Kerry's foolishly making Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign. The Murtha dispute is at least about what's going on today.
Murtha's Republican challenger, Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey, appeared to be making the most of the situation without joining the protesters. She earlier charged, correctly, that Murtha had unfairly declared that a Marine squad had killed two dozen civilians "in cold blood" in Haditha, even though the accusation was still being investigated.
Also, last week, a Marine Corps sergeant under investigation in connection with Haditha, filed a defamation suit accusing Murtha of spreading "false and malicious lies." There was a curious footnote to Murtha's response to the suit.
A news release from Murtha's office received in our newsroom Wednesday called the plaintiff "a Marine Corps staff sergeant charged in the incident at Haditha." The fact is that, while the initial Pentagon investigation reportedly supports the general accusation, nobody has been charged in the case.
When we double-checked Murtha's Web site on Thursday, the first sentence of the news release had been re-written to remove the word "charged." The original claim had been dropped down the memory hole without explanation.
While all this makes good political theater, its effect in November is questionable. Murtha's party has a huge voter registration majority in the district, he is a master at dispensing pork, and few people in his home area of Johnstown speak ill of him, including the Republican leadership. Even if the insurgency in Iraq were to suddenly collapse, it probably wouldn't hurt him at all.
Irey ~ Bump!
All of these leftist are treasonists, and if this country was still sane, they would all be tried IMO.
The myopia of the O-R is legendary.
Beer run, non-combat related.
That's what I heard, anyway.
Yup. I was gonna say more, but didn't feel like stoking a fire tonight ; )
For years I had heard the version smooth wrote and more recently that it was a beer run. They could both fit together.
ANN COULTER
Ann Coulter is the author of five New York Times bestsellers —Godless: The Church of Liberalism (June 2006),How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)(October, 2004), Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (June 2003); Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (June 2002); and High Crimes and Misdemeanors:The Case Against Bill Clinton (August 1998).
Coulter is the legal correspondent for Human Events and writes a popular syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate.
She is a frequent guest on many TV shows, including Hannity and Colmes, Wolf Blitzer Reports, At Large With Geraldo Rivera, Scarborough Country, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, The O'Reilly Factor, Good Morning America and has been profiled in numerous publications, including TV Guide, the Guardian (UK), the New York Observer, National Journal, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle magazine, among others.
She was named one of the top 100 Public Intellectuals by federal judge Richard Posner in 2001.
Coulter clerked for the Honorable Pasco Bowman II of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and was an attorney in the Department of Justice Honors Program for outstanding law school graduates.
After practicing law in private practice in New York City, Coulter worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she handled crime and immigration issues for Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan.
From there, she became a litigator with the Center For Individual Rights in Washington, DC, a public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual rights with particular emphasis on freedom of speech, civil rights, and the free exercise of religion.
A Connecticut native, Coulter graduated with honors from Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences, and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of The Michigan Law Review.
So, to you she's just a hack?
So, now, I'm a slimeball?
Grow up
And so it goes... he and Cindy and Jack use their 'moral authority' to get what they want.
Anybody got marshmellows, Hershey bars, and gramcrackers? YUM! ;-)
LOL...Got nothing else to do. :-)
Good post on Ms. Coulter smooth, she's a very smart lady.
he was injured while picking up a live grenade that had fallen out of a U.S. helicopter onto the landing pad. He would have been on the helicopter and avoided the injury but he had decided to stay at the supply depot and enjoy a few beers and some R&R with his buddies.
I'm hanging around 'til a little after midnight EST, so I don't miss posting some new Murtha gibberish. :-)
Ping me if you see something interesting, JAZ!
Smooth
Don't get me going, you two. I already hit the backspace button too many times tonight, just to stay out of trouble. LOL.
I need to hit the hay...up at the crack of dawn to get the crockpot going. Hubby thought he'd died and gone to heaven, calling my name out in his sleep as he smelled the onions browning in bacon grease. ROTF! Had another rotation for R&R up here-dropping off a crotch rocket for storage. It appears the whole barracks is coming ...one at a time : ) Ahhhh, and don't I love lovin' em.
LOL...Sleep well freema.
By this logic, Sgt. Asan Akbar is a hero too.
Cleland is no hero.
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