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The U.S. Navy's Name Game (a new ship named after Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha?)
Time ^ | 1/09/11 | Mark Thompson

Posted on 01/12/2011 9:44:24 AM PST by Libloather

The U.S. Navy's Name Game
Posted by Mark Thompson
Sunday January 9, 2011 at 8:30 pm

Prospective parents battling over the names of their unborn kids have nothing on the U.S. Navy, which is in the middle of a spat over the wisdom of naming a new ship for the late Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha. In fact, it has kicked off a bigger battle over just who, or what, should be honored with their names on the great gray hulls of the nation's warships. "It comes down to two points," says military historian James Caiella. "Who and what we are as Americans, and what symbols do we want to represent those ideals?"

**SNIP**

But Mabus' decision has unleashed a continuing torrent of opposition from many former sailors and Marines. They say that naming a vessel for Murtha rewards a lawmaker who called for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq in late 2005 during the war's toughest days, and one who was implicated in bribery and pork-barrel politics. On Friday, a former Murtha aide-turned-lobbyist was sentenced to 27 months in prison for evading limits on campaign donations; Murtha also was an "unindicted co-conspirator" in 1980's FBI-run Abscam sting.

And that isn't the worst of it, according to sailors and Marines: putting Murtha's name on an amphibious warship designed to carry 700 Marines is outrageous, they maintain, given Murtha's 2006 charge that Marines in the Iraqi city of Haditha "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." (One of the eight Marines charged in the case still faces trial; six have had their charges dismissed and one was acquitted.)

(Excerpt) Read more at swampland.blogs.time.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: abscam; haditha; jamescaiella; johnmurtha; military; murtha; namesake; navy; pennsylvania; pma; ship; usnavy
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To: Libloather
How about "honoring" this crook with the U.S.S. I'm Not Interested...At This Point.

Too wordy....?

41 posted on 01/12/2011 12:14:16 PM PST by edpc (It's Kräusened)
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To: jazusamo

Right up to the end, that p.o.s. refused to show any remorse for his heinous accusations. Murtha (D-Abscam) disgraced the Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy, and the United States. He’s dead. Time to take a shower and forget him. Why on earth would this guy get anything named after him other than a battleship-sized turd floating in my toilet?


42 posted on 01/12/2011 12:24:38 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: The Comedian
The USS Murtha lead out of port for sea trials...
43 posted on 01/12/2011 2:04:23 PM PST by Neidermeyer
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To: Fresh Wind

That’s the USS Bawney Fwank ...


44 posted on 01/12/2011 2:09:07 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: DarthVader

45 posted on 01/12/2011 2:17:26 PM PST by SparkyBass
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To: Libloather; JulieRNR21; neverdem; ALOHA RONNIE; george76; potlatch; SunkenCiv

46 posted on 01/12/2011 2:18:34 PM PST by Seadog Bytes ("Smart Growth"... isn't.)
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To: Seadog Bytes

oh HELL no.


47 posted on 01/12/2011 2:38:29 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: Libloather

The best word in that article is ‘late’


48 posted on 01/13/2011 6:57:35 AM PST by tomkat (1860 in the air)
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To: Libloather

I suggest to honor the end of DADT, they call it the USS Raging Queen. It will go to man’s ports like Key West, and San Francisco.


49 posted on 01/13/2011 7:00:09 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Libloather

Last I heard the idea was to refer to the ship as the USS Bloated Turd or USS X-Marine and whatever detachment made up the MEU to be nicknamed the “Cold Blooded Killers”.

Marines are used to getting stuck with the Murtha end of the stick. Much of the Corps’ sense of humor as evolved from that.

Semper Fi.


50 posted on 01/15/2011 2:05:21 AM PST by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
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