In a move that surprises me as much as Sam and Josh, there's a story out there that Nancy Pelosi is now guaranteeing victory for John Murtha in his race against Steny Hoyer. My impression had been that Murtha's cause was somewhat hopeless, but I guess not. I'm not really enthusiastic about either of these dudes, but at the end of the day I am a big Pelosi fan and it seems to me that it would be a good idea for the leadership to be more-or-less on the same page.
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Hot, Hot Heat
14 Nov 2006 09:49 am
Comments (20)
Eh. I'm a Pelosi fan. I'd prefer Hoyer, on balance, but whatever. How much power does the House Majority Leader have to oppose a Speaker, or a popular Speaker? Is that power independent of a Member constituency?
SCMT,
I would not think it has to do with power, but rather on how well the leadership can work together.
The point is to honor the courage and fortitude and leadership of John Murtha, and to show how much Democrats are trying to bring American soldiers home from Iraq. That is the point. John Murtha has been heroic when we needed heroism.
Think, when has a political leader shown more courage than John Murtha has shown? Know when honor is due such courage.
There's a lot of difference in terms of media power. Nobody cares what random members of congress have to say about this or that. A story where the #2 House Dem contradicts the #1 House Dem, however, is juicy, juicy copy.
What some are forgetting is how much all those who wished for peace in Iraq were heartened because of John Murtha while being sneered at for wishing to bring American soldiers home. I will not forget John Murtha, nor will others.
What matters is that Nancy Pelosi knows what John Murtha has meant to so many of us. You should too, and likely do.
The point is to honor the courage and fortitude and leadership of John Murtha...
Indeed. Jack Murtha knows how to lead the Democrats... in money from lobbyists. How to courageously fight against lobbying reform and disclosure rules. How to have the fortitude to stand against whiners who want us to 'investigate' some nonsense about 'fraud' in Iraq. How to side with the Republicans on close votes more than almost any other Democrat in the House. Murtha needs to be recognized for his accomplishments.
You are a complete and utter liar and obviously a war-monger.
Typical Republican liar, ST.
Well, according to Wikipedia he's a dirty cocksucker.
BTW, the title for this post should have been "Hot Hot Seat". Just sayin.
Anybody calling "S. Tarzan" a liar, obviously hasn't been following the coverage of the race these last two days. In which it's become apparant that, rather than Hoyer, Murtha seems to have the most baggage with ethics scandals, pork & lobbyist cash. What's more, as Brad Plumer & Max have been pointing out; Murtha's Iraq war position isn't what most liberals think it is. Apparntly Murtha thinks that instead of Iraq, we should have attacked Iran instead "We went to the wrong place." by contrast, Hoyer's position on the war was merely one of political timidity rather than some kind of exuberant hawkishness.
An endorsment of Murtha on the grounds that it's Pelosi's pick, and best to have all the leadership on the same page I can accept. Bad as for comparisons between the two, Murtha is worse on nearly every count.
Again, these are lies. Shameful lies. When we needed a peace advocate, we had John Murtha. You shame yourself in not knowing where respect is due. Shameful liar.
"Hoyer's position on the war was merely one of political timidity...."
So, then, go on and lie about the courage of John Murtha as Republican war-mongers have been lying all these months. Have a sense of decency and dignity.
Wow, Jennifer sounds like a dedicated Murtha shrill. Perhaps on the payroll.
Look, I respect what Murtha has done for the troops. He's done more than anyone. But to deny that on other issues he's pretty conservative is to lie to yourself.
More importantly, he has ethical issues. And ethics is what we all hammered away on for years now, so to act like it doesn't matter now that we've won frankly makes me sick to my stomach.
So, it's the same old same old, (Putty voice) "Support the team" no matter what. Well, I'm not playing. Looks like I'm going to get jaded with my party a lot sooner than I expected.
Jennifer is of course right, and I feel just the same about John Murtha. "Know when honor is due such courage." There is a political leader to be proud of.
No, Jennifer is not right. She's willfully ignoring very real concerns about Murtha's probity -- and airbrushing his hawkishness on Iran. This hardly seems sensible given her vehemently anti-war stance.
Concerns about Murtha can't be overlooked because he took a courageous stand on the Iraq issue.
Quite frankly, the Hoyer v Murtha choice is a dispiriting one. Neither are great candidates for Majority Leader. It's a pity there aren't more palatable candidates running.
In a move that surprises me as much as Sam and Josh, there's a story out there that Nancy Pelosi is now guaranteeing victory for John Murtha in his race against Steny Hoyer. My impression had been that Murtha's cause was somewhat hopeless, but I guess not.
I don't know why one wouldn't get the opposite impression -- I know I did.
My reason: I figured for Pelosi to publicly come out in favor of Murtha, his chances (or her power to install him) had to be pretty solid. Why else would she have taken the action she did? If not -- if, in her very first major public move as speaker, she were to get a rather public black eye from her troops, wouldn't that be mighty undermining to her authority? Why would a knifefighter with Pelosi's ability risk the specter of a public bird flipping from her caucus? I figured she has to know it's in the bag for Murtha, or else she'd never have done the public endorsement thing.
Comments closed November 28, 2006.
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Heads in the Sand
John Murtha has done more than any other Democrat to call attention to the needless horror of war in Iraq and to get us to bring American soldiers home. There is a hero. Nancy Pelosi understands what heroism is.
Posted by Jennifer | November 14, 2006 10:21 AM