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Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! February 8, 2010 John-Jack Murtha is DeadBy GreyhawkHe is now, as I was just told via email, what President Obama would call an "ex-Marine Corpse." His final appearances at Mudville as a living person will be his role as "guy who threatened to cut military funding unless they'd give Nancy Pelosi a plane". Prior to that, his efforts last fall to raise taxes. ("The tax should be paid by all taxpayers, with rates ranging from 1 percent for lower wage earners to 5 percent for the wealthy.") But whether you think you pay too many taxes or too few, Jack Murtha got more of your tax dollars than anyone else. (At that time he was also being investigated for "ethics violations.") Now he's dead. So this quote on Afghanistan might be his last on the topic of war: "I'm not sure there's a threat to our national security." Maybe he thought his gallbladder was nothing serious, either. The Washington Post: "He was revered among Democrats." Critics dubbed Rep. Murtha, the chairman of the powerful subcommittee that controls Pentagon spending, the "King of Pork" for the volume of taxpayer money he could direct to the area around his home town of Johnstown. Most of the largesse came in defense and military research contracts he steered to companies based in his district or with small offices there. I will pause now to say something nice about him: he was never convicted. "Murtha was beloved by his constituents for tapping billions of dollars in federal funds to seed new industries there," reports the Post. That might be true - he could call them "racists and rednecks" and still be re-elected. I don't know if any of them actually voted for him - but he was always reelected. In the 2008 election, Democrats had to burn a last-minute half million dollars in response to a strong campaign from Murtha's opponent, in what they thought was an easily held district - despite Murtha's "best efforts" on the "campaign trail":
Russell has now issued a statement requesting prayers for Murtha's family. The Post story neglects to mention that Murtha called several Marines killers, that they were absolved, and that they in turn sued him for libel - along with various other reasons that most veterans consider him "the second ex-Marine." But who cares - he's dead. A blast from Mudville' past - back in 2006, Congressman Jim Moran had arranged a "Town Hall" meeting in his Virginia district just outside of D.C. One invited guest was Jack Murtha - other invited guests were Iraq Veterans Against War members who were brought in to appear as local veterans there to say wonderful things about Murtha and Moran's anti war stands. Most of Murtha and Moran's talking points from this event are from 2003-2004 - not enough armor, Abu Ghraib was a result of poor training, troops aren't getting medical care, only poor people join the army - we've debunked them all here over the past several months. As the Post noted, MoveOn.org sent e-mails to opponents of the war urging the faithful to attend. And although several Iraq war veterans turned activist made the long trek to cheer him on, an actual "local vet" also made an appearance... Surprise! And just before the end of the meeting, Vietnam veteran General (retired) Louis C. Wagner approached the mic. Enough of the past - on to the future: According to state law, the governor has ten days once the vacancy is officially declared to decide on the date for the special election, which can come no sooner than 60 days following that proclamation. The story also notes that "Murtha's passing comes at a tenuous time for House Democrats as they seek to convince some of their older members to re-up for another term in the face of what looks to be a difficult national political environment for the party." Posted by Greyhawk / February 8, 2010 3:05 PM | Permalink TrackBackTrackBack URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/17320 4 CommentsLeave a comment |
July 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 07/19/2010 [Greyhawk]
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our ongoing roundup of information on war and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world.
Always updating - refresh for updates.
AFGHANISTANProspects for stability in Musa Qala: challenges and possible solutions -- [Bill Ardolino /Long War Journal - in Afghanistan] Exploding Culverts -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan] Arbaki -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan] Weather -- [A Major's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Fête Nationale -- [Field Notes: One Soldier's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Goodbye "FaST" Food (and good riddance) -- [FaST Surgeon - in Afghanistan] IRAQOn The Iran, Iraq Border -- [J.D. Johannes - in Iraq] WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISMSenators Look For Smoking Gun In BP-Lockerbie Link -- [AP] No Link Between BP And Lockerbie Release: UK Envoy -- [NPR news blog] UK's Cameron: Releasing Lockerbie Bomber Was Wrong -- [AP] U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLDAs Cameron and Obama Meet, BP Will Be Top Issue -- [NY Times] Afghanistan tops agenda for British PM's visit -- [Washington Times] WELCOME HOMEHomecoming -- [Rajiv Srinivasan - home from Afghanistan] STRATEGY & TACTICSISAF, SCR Address Military ROE and Tactical Directives -- [ISAF] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYRaytheon's pain gun finally gets deployed in Afghanistan (update: recalled) -- [Engadget] Pain Ray Recalled From Afghanistan -- [Noah Shachtman/Danger Room] The Active Denial System: the weapon that's a hot topic -- [The Telegraph (UK)] World's Fastest Helicopter Boosts Battle Against Insurgents -- [ISAF]
POLITICSIs it time for a real GI Jane? -- [CNN] HUMOR/SATIRE(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.) Iraq, Afghanistan, War, Terrorism, Military, Politics, Media, MilBlogs, dawn patrol Mudville |
The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
![]() I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2009 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com ![]() |
I think I know that dude in that one video.
I know I know him - but I didn't back then, this is how I met him. Good guy.
I heard he was kinda a dork. Plays some online video game or somesuch nonsense.
But, I bet he appreciated you giving him a start, leading to VFF and beyond.
Hope he brought marshmellows.......
Brings new meaning to the phrase, "I'd like to toast Jack".
May God be as merciful to him as he was to our military heros.