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Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 05:14:49 PM EST
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Arianna calls upon President Bush to denounce those who are swift-boating Rep. Jack Murtha.

Read Bob Cesca at HuffPo as well.

60 Minutes has the video of Murtha's appearance last night.

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    • Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha | 23 comments (23 topical)
    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 05:24:51 PM EST
    Gotta agree. His Vietnam record is exemplary. It has nothing to do with his current stupidity.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#2)
    by Sailor on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 05:36:57 PM EST
    Why would bush denounce something bushco engineered?

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#3)
    by Lww on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 05:41:18 PM EST
    "His Vietnam record is exemplary." You got that right. Does anyone realize that the greatest smear against Jack Murtha is putting him in the same category as Kerry? Kerry, the 100 day three (bogus) purple heart "PT" commander... Trying to compare Kerry to Murtha is like comparing Jessie Jacksom to Marin Luther King. Disgracefully hilarious.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#4)
    by Sailor on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 05:48:17 PM EST
    Shorter LWW: 'Hey, look at me!'

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#5)
    by Lww on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 06:11:22 PM EST
    "Hey,look at me." I guess that's one way to dismiss what I said. Kerry was and is known as a fraud when it comes to his military record. You can shoot the messenger if it makes you feeel better but it doesn't change anything. To equate Kerry with Murtha is a cruel joke; on Murtha's reputation.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 06:16:39 PM EST
    LWW:
    I guess that's one way to dismiss what I said.
    Correct, and you got off lightly. I thought it was very polite, all things considered.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 06:36:33 PM EST
    LWW: Kerry, the 100 day three (bogus) purple heart "PT" commander... Sigh. This is probably OT, because this thread is really about Murtha's heroic service, but heck. Here's a link for anyone who might be confused by LWW's BS. From the urban legend debunker, Snopes:
    Claim: John Kerry's Vietnam War service medals (a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts) were earned under "fishy" circumstances.
    Status: False.


    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#8)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 07:05:51 PM EST
    et al - The Repubs shouldn't be doing this, but it appears that it is the Demos who have provided the ammounition... From the WaPost story. (See links in Post)
    Former representative Don Bailey (D-Pa.) ,who was quoted in the article, confirmed his account to The Washington Post yesterday. In a conversation on the House floor in the early 1980s, said Bailey, who won a Silver Star and three Bronze Stars in Vietnam, Murtha told him he did not deserve his Purple Hearts. He recalled Murtha saying: "Hey, I didn't do anything like you did. I got a little scratch on the cheek." Murtha's spokeswoman would not address that account. Bailey, who lost a House race to Murtha after a 1982 redistricting, said "Jack's a coward, and he's a liar" for subsequently denying the conversation. "That just really burned me," he said.
    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#9)
    by Edger on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 07:47:03 PM EST
    You really reduced now to stooping that transparently obvious and low, Jim? Jeezus, it must be hard on the belly...

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#10)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 08:10:03 PM EST
    Does anyone realize that the greatest smear against Jack Murtha is putting him in the same category as Kerry? If the worst they can say about Murtha is that he is also a war hero, they don't have much to work with, do they?

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#11)
    by Edger on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 08:36:26 PM EST
    Repack: ...they don't have much to work with, do they? It's been said that insanity is the repetition of the same action while expecting different results. For a few years their strategies of fear and smear worked wonders for them. Now that those things doesn't work so well anymore, and being utterly devoid of imagination and any capacity for self examination, they have no idea what else to do, so they continue to try the only strategies that ever worked for them. It's also been said that:
    "Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us." --Martin Luther King
    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#12)
    by scarshapedstar on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 09:07:14 PM EST
    Kerry was and is known as a fraud when it comes to his military record.
    Yeah, going AWOL from the mailroom. Oh, wait.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 09:35:37 PM EST
    So if it's Bush's responsibility to repudiate the insane rantings of a moron like Pat Robertson, does Harry Reid need to repudiate the more insane things that periodically slip from the mouth of Michael Moore? Or, just possibly, are Pat Robertson and Michael Moore responsible for their own lunacy?

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#14)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 09:45:34 PM EST
    So if it's Bush's responsibility to repudiate the insane rantings of a moron like Pat Robertson, does Harry Reid need to repudiate the more insane things that periodically slip from the mouth of Michael Moore? Michael Moore called for the assassination of the elected leader of a sovereign nation? When?

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#15)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 07:39:26 AM EST
    edger - Tell me. What part of:
    The Repubs shouldn't be doing this,
    don't you understand? I mean you do read the comment before you attack, don't you? Et al - I am curious about the motivation of Bailey. Here he is, a decorated war hero, a Democrat, attacking another Democrat and a decorated war hero. Is it that Murtha beat him in an election? Perhaps, but that was a long time ago. So why? And why would Murtha say what Bailey claims? To me it is easy. It is the "false modesty" syndrome. e.g. Mickey Mantle meets Roger Maris a few years after retirement.. Mickey - You were great, Roger. Roger - Man, I couldn't carry your bat. So, Murtha probably said what Bailey says he said, but it means nothing. Then or now. But that doesn't tell us why Bailey is now involved. Remember Democrat. Big time war hero. The answer from the WaPost article.
    While saying he has only responded to reporters' questions and is not bitter toward Murtha, Bailey said the congressman's approach to Iraq is "not responsible" and that "it just turned my stomach" to see Murtha acting as a spokesman for veterans.
    The issue gets more confused:
    The article included a 1996 quote from Harry Fox, who worked for former representative John Saylor (R-Pa.), telling a local newspaper that Murtha was "pretending to be a big war hero." Fox, who lost a 1974 election to Murtha, said the 38-year Marine veteran had asked Saylor for assistance in obtaining the Purple Hearts but was turned down because the office believed he lacked adequate evidence of his wounds.
    Now this is troubling, but it should prove to be an easy way to prove that all of this is out of line. The date of issue of Murtha’s medals is in his records. If they are in the time frame of his service, and I bet they are, then Fox’s claims are not true, and the attacks collapse like a house of cards. Murtha should just release his records and shut up those who are attacking him. But if he takes the advice of Bob Cesca and tries to claim that it is all politics he will be playing into the attackers’ hands.
    I would link to the ridiculous GOP propaganda "news" source which posted the first volley, but refuse to dignify their legitimacy. The same goes for the popular right-wing blog that dittos these claims.
    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 08:21:04 AM EST
    Jim, I think you're right about Murtha's comment having been false modesty. And as to what Bailey's got up his craw, I think you're probably right again about it being related to Murtha's having beaten him in an election 24 years ago. A long time, like you say, but you know, nothing carries like a grudge. As to what would be better or worse for Murtha, saying it's all politics or putting his records on display, frankly they both sound bad to me, because it means that he's now playing defense on his own military record. Smearing it seems is still an effective strategy.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#17)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 09:29:10 AM EST
    punisher – The election issue may still be there, but Bailey’s own words also provide an understandable motive. Either way it is sad to see two legitimate heroes in the position they are in. Remember that I disagree with Murtha’s current statements/actions. As to what he should do, I don’t know. Certainly the Left has experience in mudslinging and displayed it well in both Rathergate and TANG. Rathergate was exposed immediately and went away. Bush tried ignoring TANG and it lingered and lingered. Kerry tried ignoring the attacks on him, and they didn’t go away. It is my experience in situations such as this that if you have a definitive point to make in your favor, and certainly proving Fox wrong would be that favorable point, make it as quickly and as publicly as possible. Murtha should have no problem getting the information to the press. BTW – I see no indication that Bailey is playing defense about this own record. Can you show this? Or are you "swiftboating" him? ;-)

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 09:38:05 AM EST
    Jim: Certainly the Left has experience in mudslinging... If they'd do it with more gusto, they might win an election for a change. Jim: I see no indication that Bailey is playing defense about this own record. Can you show this? Or are you "swiftboating" him? ;-) I don't know Bailey. I was just agreeing with you on your potential explanation for his long held anger against Murtha.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#19)
    by Slado on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 10:11:01 AM EST
    Bush is on record as saying Murtha is a great american who he happens to disagree with. Enough said. If Bush is somehow responsible for the flogging of Murtha then yeah he should say something. But he's not so he doesn't.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#20)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 10:21:17 AM EST
    punisher - Speaking of "mud slinging..." Do you remember the term "Borked?" Seemed rather effective at the time. Both sides should quit it. OK on the misunderstanding. My comment merely was that Bailey may be holding a grudge, and his feeling re what Murtha is saying would make almost any ex=military type very un-happy.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 10:31:08 AM EST
    PPJ: "Borked?" If that's the last time Dems won a mud fight, then they'd probably like to call a cease fire, and the GOP would be crazy to.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#22)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 02:47:44 PM EST
    Cease fire? The current leadership isn't that smart.

    Re: Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha (none / 0) (#23)
    by squeaky on Tue Jan 17, 2006 at 08:54:53 PM EST
    Bush hates the military. Swiftboat war hero Murtha and shortchange the troops by not providing adequate body armor. Punish Murtha for supporting the troops and punish the troops who buy their own armor.
    On Saturday morning a soldier affected by the order reported to DefenseWatch that the directive specified that "all" commercially available body armor was prohibited. The soldier said the order came down Friday morning from Headquarters, United States Special Operations Command (HQ, USSOCOM), located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It arrived unexpectedly while his unit was preparing to deploy on combat operations. The soldier said the order was deeply disturbiing to many of the men who had used their own money to purchase Dragon Skin because it will affect both their mobility and ballistic protection.
    The privately purchased armor cost $6,000. a pop. via MetaFilter

    Bush Should Denounce Swift-Boating of Murtha | 23 comments (23 topical)