Monday, June 26, 2006
Murtha Steps Over The Line
NOTE: The "money quote" from the Sun-Sentinel article, quoted below, has been debunked. See here for more details. Many thanks to commenter Cliff Hancuff for the details.
I have chosen, though, not to remove the logo (or the link) to the website of Diana Irey, Rep. Murtha's opponent for Congress this year. I'm glad that Jack Murtha didn't say this particular bit of insanity -- but so many of us were willing to believe that he had, precisely because it's only a little more extreme than what he's already said. The misquotation is presumably the fault of Elizabeth Baier, the reporter of the original Sun-Sentinel article -- but Rep. Murtha's many other incendiary statements are a matter of public record.
-DiB
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (hat tip: PowerLine):
Murtha says U.S. poses top threat to world peaceWell, my hat's off to the organizers of this Town Meeting -- they arranged a panel to discuss the war in Iraq for an hour, and they invited only Democrats. But that's unimportant by comparison.
MIAMI — American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.
Murtha was the guest speaker at a town hall meeting organized by Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Miami, at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus. Meek's mother, former Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, was also on the panel.
War veterans, local mayors, university students and faculty were in the Mary Ann Wolfe Theatre to listen to the three panelists discuss the war in Iraq for an hour.
A United States Congressman, and a retired Marine colonel, thinks that the United States is the "top threat to world peace"? Why on Earth has he not resigned his seat, if he truly feels that way?
By way of contrast -- here's something another Democrat had to say, almost two years ago:
Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.
And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.
Can Rep. Murtha possibly believe, in all honesty, that the United States is a greater threat to world peace than North Korea, a country that has starved millions of its citizens in order to pursue the dream of becoming a nuclear power? Can he believe that the United States is a greater threat than Iran, which aggressively pursues nuclear weaponry and simultaneously declares its intention to wipe Israel off the map?
Even scarier -- he's running for re-election this year. If this is what he says in June, what will he say between now and November?
The man has, I fear, left the path of sanity and sensibility. It's sad to see that happen... but it's dangerous for such a man to hold the reins of power.
I've been putting off the addition of a particular graphic to my sidebar, but I think it's time.
