While we never revel at the death of anyone, it is hard to shed a tear for John Murtha, Congressman from Pennsylvania who died today at the age of 77. John Murtha was one of the most corrupt members of congress who made Richard Nixon look like a choir boy.Unindicted co-conspirator.
Mr. Murtha was the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to congress having served as a Marine in the southeast conflict. He would in his lifetime forget the meaning of "Semper Fi."
In 1980, during his fourth term as a Congressman, Murtha became embroiled in the Abscam investigation, which targeted dozens of congressmen. The investigation entailed FBI operatives posing as intermediaries for Saudi nationals hoping to bribe their way through the immigration process into the United States. Murtha met with these operatives and was videotaped. He did agree to testify against Frank Thompson (D-NJ) and John Murphy (D-NY), the two Congressmen mentioned as participants in the deal at the same meeting and who were later video taped placing the cash bribes in their trousers. The FBI videotaped Murtha responding to an offer of $50,000, with Murtha saying, "I'm not interested... at this point. [If] we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't" It was then he was listed as an "Unindicted Co-Conspirator," and was left off the hook because of his testimony.
Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics In Washington named him one of the 20 most corrupt members of congress and Esquire Magazine named him one of the 10 worst congressmen because of his apposition to Ethics Reform.
Like Robert Byrd, if there was a dollar's worth of earmarks, he would take five.
Unindicted Co-Conspirator.
That's not to say that Murtha didn't serve his constituents, he did, that's how he kept getting elected. Hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars flowed into Johnstown. The Johnstown Regional Airport is one of the most updated airports in all the country. It has the latest equipment, new runways, can handle most commercial jets and has TWO daily flights, both to Washington DC.
Murtha voted for the Iraq war, then came out against it. Murtha Hung Marines out to dry in the Haditha incident which occurred on November 19, 2005. What exactly happened was unknown at the time, but that didn't stop Murtha from getting before the microphones and laying the blame right at their feet.
In November 2005 Murtha announced that a military investigation into the Haditha killings concluded U.S. Marines had intentionally killed innocent civilians. Referring to the first report about Haditha that appeared in Time magazine, Murtha said:
"It's much worse than reported in Time magazine. There was no fire fight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. And that's what the report is going to tell."
The Marine Corps responded to Murtha's announcement by stating that "there is an ongoing investigation; therefore, any comment at this time would be inappropriate and could undermine the investigatory and possible legal process." Murtha was criticized by conservatives for presenting a version of events as simple fact before an official investigation had been concluded. Charges against eight Marines were dismissed and the lone Marine who was charged was found not guilty.
So much for Semper Fidelis.
In August 2006, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich filed a lawsuit against Murtha for character defamation during an ongoing investigation into the Haditha incident. In April 2009 this suit was dismissed by a federal appeals court, which ruled that Murtha could not be sued because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker when he made the statements.
Unindicted Co-Conspirator.
Murtha was a deal maker and if you didn't deal with him, he would make sure you got no deal. Even if you did deal with him, he got the better of the deal. It is likely that if there was a deal to cut with the Devil for Murtha's soul, the Devil had better read the fine print. He was that good.
No one will argue that he did not serve those who sent him to Washington, but at what cost? Serving your constituents doesn't mean you grab every nickle that you can and give it to your district. Those projects that are needed and worthy yes, but you are not serving your district or the country by cavorting with lobbyist, re-directing and grabbing everything for Johnstown and being one of the most corrupt members of congress.
He jumped the gun and was not faithful to fellow Marines or his country. The ONLY thing John Murtha was ever faithful to was, John Murtha.
Mr. Murtha was a crook, a liar, a thief who should have been put in jail in 1980 and left to spend his remaining days on earth in jail, but he was the deal maker and he made deals to keep himself out of jail. We wish him well in his future endeavors wherever he is.
Unindicted Co-Consporator.
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