Vets For Freedom has been running ads hammering John Murtha for his ongoing willingness to believe – and speak – the worst of our troops.
Murtha’s commentaries about Haditha alone were despicable – simply because they rushed to judgment and showed that with very little information, he accepted the worst possible narrative about the tragedy.
Murtha is also a pork baron, and a classic example of the sense of entitlement that’s destroying our Congress.
That’s why I was happy to donate to his opponent, and to sign the Vets For Freedom petition – and ask you to click over and sign as well – asking that he apologize for his flatly false claims about the solders who – like him – stood in harm’s way, and then – unlike him – came home to find themselves unjustly charged as criminals. They need to get their reputations back, and Murtha’s colleagues needs to learn that there are limits to what outrages they can commit on-mike.
When VFF contacted me, I realized that I needed to go over and donate to Bill Russell – Murtha’s opponent – and did. You should too – because integrity matters more than party.
Yes, Murtha is probably the worst congressmen, from either party, in Congress today.
” because integrity matters more than party.”
Another sentence that proves that the Democratic party has ‘moved away from you’, my friend.
If you say that at any Obama gathering, you will be physically assaulted.
Just as you would be if you uttered your prior sentence (paraphrased) :
“I would rather lose the election (Obama’s candidacy) to save the Republic…”
OK, I just donated $25.
I think my donation will have a double-whammy effect :
1) It will oust Murtha.
2) It may increase anti-Murtha turnout, that also votes for McCain, which helps McCain come close in PA, and even have a chance of taking the state, which would quite probably tip the election for McCain. 21 EVs is a lot.
Of course, 1) is the primary goal. America will be better for having gotten rid of Murtha.
Bravo, Armed Liberal! People who think and give based on the same criteria that you just demonstrated will repair America’s politics.
I strongly believe that Republicans need to take the same attitude, to save the ethics and honor of the party. Criminals like Ted Stevens must be defeated, and with as many Republican votes as possible, or at least with as little Republican support as possible. (link)
It’s very doubtful how much money ought to be given to the Republican Party organization till it starts finding honest primary candidates and funneling money to them rather than to corrupt incumbents. (The counter argument is that it’s also desperately necessary to support corruption busters like Sarah Palin.)
I think it’s a bad joke to suggest at the moment that the first thing a leader of either party needs at the moment is a “clear, but sophisticated, political philosophy.” (link) What’s most needed is a basic sense of justice and a mighty willingness to mete it out, especially to one’s corrupt “colleagues”. Absolutely the last qualification to do the job that needs to be done in Washington now is the ability to give “a perfect description of Reinhold Niebuhr’s thought, which is a very subtle thought process based on the idea that you have to use power while it corrupts you.” (link) The proper inspiration would be The Rock’s 2004 remake of Walking Tall (link): light on subtlety, heavy on the big stick for the corrupt.
bq. Sheriff Stan Watkins: [after Chris wins the election, he pulls up to address the police force] Sheriff.
Chris Vaughn: Watkins.
Sheriff Stan Watkins: You won the election. Congratulations. But we do have a tradition of professional courtesy up here. And I can personally vouch for each and every one of these men. They’re good deputies.
Chris Vaughn: You’re all fired.
I was pretty happy about Stevens going down. I would be as happy again were Murtha to follow him (not necessarily to jail, but out of politics). There are about a dozen or so people in the Congress who have no business there on civic and moral grounds, and these were two of them.
#4 from Jeff Medcalf:
bq. “There are about a dozen or so people in the Congress who have no business there on civic and moral grounds, and these were two of them.”
Would this be another example of the sort of people’s representative you have in mind? (link) Hat tip to Rielh World View (link).
MURTHA’S OPPONENT WILL BE MIRED IN FEDERAL AND STATE INVESTIGATIONS
29 October 2008// Alma Medina, executive director of MoveOnRussell.Org in Johnstown, PA , said today,
” Given that William Russell is being investigated for alleged violations of the Federal Elections Commission, the Army for using Pentagon offices for his campaign and political activities while on active duty and the PA Attorney General for a contribution scheme. The 12th Congressional District voters deserve a representative focused on their needs rather than one focused on his own federal and state legal problems.”
***
MoveOnRussell.org is a 527 group dedicated to making sure that the Russell for Congress campaign doesn’t violate the law in order to gain an advantage in this election
For more information, please visit http://www.moveonrussell.org
David Blue;
I think it speaks well of the GOP base that they love Palin for doing exactly that. I look forward to Governor Jindal kicking some corrupt butt over the next four years as well.
P.S. Murtha, Stevens – DLTDHYITAOTWO.
Minor correction, AL: it’s “destroyed”, not “destroy_ing_ our Congress”. cf Congressional approval rates over the last 4 years, and the glaring lack of success since the Dems took over 2 years ago.
bq. It’s very doubtful how much money ought to be given to the Republican Party organization till it starts finding honest primary candidates and funneling money to them rather than to corrupt incumbents.
_Zero_ is an easy and unambiguous number. Worked for me so far this election cycle.
bq. (The counter argument is that it’s also desperately necessary to support corruption busters like Sarah Palin.)
Agreed, but the nice thing is that you can usually donate directly to such candidates instead of the party they’re trying to reform.
The problem, however, is that major campaigns often send donations to the other candidates’ campaign. (Indeed, Obama has been criticized for _not_ doling out adequate chunks of cash to his fellow Congresscritters this election.) I’d prefer that McCain’s awful campaign financing “reform” be scrapped and replaced with a law preventing such transfers from individual campaigns, and maybe an experimental clause dealing with donations to and from the central party organization.
Your headlines makes it sound like Vets are for freedom and “for” Murtha.
I was pleased to find they are still the former and not the latter.