Op-ed by bosun: A question posed by a reader on John Murtha

John "Jack" Murtha, was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1974. Since being elected, Murtha appears to have had a liberal voting record on economic issues and supported the military on military issues. (GOVTrack.us) Murtha was the chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee before the Republicans took over the House in 1994. Murtha appears to have had a reputation of a pork-barrel hall of famer, but has not been much of a "barn burner" in congress. Murtha appears to have performed about average status quo congressman along with his other colleagues.

Now for a question posed by a reader yesterday, "What do you think the chances are that Rep. Murtha, due to his pro-military reputation, was told to make his statement by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer?"

My response: We know that the extreme left wing has hijacked the Democratic party and they, the Dems, have not been quite rational since. However, I do not think that Murtha was or has ever been Pelosi's (or Hoyer's) lackey.

According to Sean Hannity in one of his articles, Rep. Murtha Calls for U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq , Murtha is a close adviser to Pelosi. Hannity also indicated that Pelosi was absent from Murtha's news conference. Perhaps Pelosi knew what Murtha was going to do and decided to absent herself. It is quite possible that the Dems talked it over to gauge their damage control efforts. But, no, I don't see Murtha being her lackey. He is a self-made Democrat congressman.

My question is, "Was Murtha's conduct outlined in some "secret" democratic strategy memo?" Only the Dems know for sure and they obviously are not saying anything about it. Remember the "secret" senate memo of 2003: Dems close-Senate playbook in 2003 memo advising leaders to 'pull the trigger' on investigation? It is purely speculation to say that this is another harebrained Dem scheme to disrupt the Conservatives. If it was, it backfired. There has been so much intrigue with the Dems these days, it is hard to keep up on who is doing what to who.

My second question is, "Why is Murtha being billed as the "hawkish" democratic congressman by the mainstream media (MSM)?" He voted for the war initially, as did most other Dems. However, Murtha is on record in 2003, as having reservations about the war and cranked up his anti-war rhetoric in 2004.

True, Murtha is a decorated Marine with about seven years of active service. Murtha spent the remainder of his career as a drilling reservist and rose the rank of Colonel before he retired. Murtha deserves a strong "thank you" for his military service. But, he does not deserve a pass on the stunt that he pulled on our President and also on our military personnel currently in harms way.

Technorati tags: John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, Anti War, military, liberal, drilling reservist, hawkish - democrat, Pork Barrel, Barn Burner, Status Quo, Opinion

Cross-post: Knickerbocker News