News of the death of 77-year old Congressman John Murtha, of Pennsylvania, on Monday garnered the usual coverage afforded a high-profile political leader by the news media and the Beltway elites.

Even Republicans fawned over his long record in the House of Representatives. For example, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said, “Every person who serves in the military has lost an advocate and a good friend. The House of Representatives has lost one of its own.”

One can only wonder if Rep. Boehner recalls that Murtha publicly called U.S. Marines “cold-blooded murders” during the height of warfare in Iraq.  

It should be remembered that John Murtha never apologized for his allegation that U.S. Marines were guilty of killing Iraqi civilians in cold blood. 

Murtha made the comments in question during a press conference he held, and during his frequent appearances on TV news shows, claiming “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”  Murtha made his remarks regarding an incident that happened in Haditha, Iraq. 

During a news conference, Rep. Murtha  discussed the incident with reporters as he continued “the Murtha anti-war diatribe,” and said that the U.S. should pull the troops out of Iraq.

He said a Pentagon investigation would ultimately show that the troops in Haditha “overreacted because of the pressure on them and killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” The Marines involved had not been tried yet but were either in a brig at Camp Pendleton Marine Base or resticted to the base pending legal proceedings.

Murtha, who claims close ties to top defense officials as a retired Marine colonel and the top-ranking Democrat, said he had not read the Pentagon report because was basing his information on frequent discussions with “the commanders,” he said, “People that know what they’re talking about.” Murtha did not disclose the names of these commanders or their connection to the incident and subsequent investigation.

Eventually all of the Marines involved were found not guilty, yet Murtha refused to apologize.

Murtha’s position on the Iraq war and his biting comments did much to erase the memories of his ties to the Abscam corruption investigation and the susbsequent allegations of his shenanigans with his brother’s consulting firm. The anti-war leftists — including members of the news media – appear to overlook corruption on the part of their heroes, said one political observer.

Murtha was a holier-than-thou Democrat with ethics concerns. The House Ethics committee was considering investigating Rep. John Murtha for multiple ethics violations. The investigation would have centered on Rep. Murtha’s involvement with his brother’s firm KSA Consulting. The story, which originally ran in the Los Angeles Times on 13 June, surrounds the 2005 appropriations bill that funded $20M to companies for which KSA Consulting lobbied.

Murtha was a leader on the House Defense Appropriations Committee. An aide to Murtha, Carmen Scialabba, also worked for KSA. Also reported by the L.A. Times is that KSA directly lobbied Murtha’s office for funding on behalf of 7 of its clients and that a Murtha aide advised a defense contractor that it needed to retain the services of KSA Consulting.

While his passing is indeed sad, the United States is better off without having John Murtha in the U.S. Congress. God rest his soul.

Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts special election bodes so poorly for Democrats in November that party insiders fear a growing number of House incumbents will retire rather than face difficult and possibly losing battles for re-election.

Rep. Marion Berry (Ark.) became the latest Democrat in the House to announce his retirement, saying on Jan. 25 that he would not seek an eighth term.

He joined Reps. Vic Snyder (Ark.), Bart Gordon (Tenn.), Brian Baird (Wash.), John Tanner (Tenn.), and Dennis Moore (Kan.) as Democrats who have said they won’t run for re-election in November, according to the CQ Politics Web site.

Departures are “not out of control yet,” according to Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition.

But other party stalwarts “are worried about a snowball effect,” Roll Call reported.

One party strategist told the newspaper, “Retirements drive retirements.”

Washington insiders identify several House Democrats as possible candidates for retirement, according to Roll Call. They include Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Rick Boucher (Va.), Lincoln Davis (Tenn.), Bob Etheridge (N.C.), Ike Skelton (Mo.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Paul Kanjorski (Pa.), and John Spratt (S.C.).

“All sit in districts that would be difficult for Democrats to defend if they become vacant — and if they run again, some of the incumbents may have to sweat re-election for the first time in a long time,” Roll Call observed.

Still, a Republican takeover of the House appears to be an uphill battle. Democrats would have to lose 40 seats for the GOP to take control.

And Democratic pollster David Beattie noted that a number of Republicans in the House have also decided to retire, and voters appear angry at both parties.

“It’s not a good year to be a Democrat,” he said. “But people don’t like the Republicans, either.”

Jim sent this in:

“If you want to know what the Democrats are up to, just listen to what they accuse the Republicans of doing.” – Ann Coulter

Alabama congressman Parker Griffith announces that he is switching his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

While we’re on the subject of polls, it looks like an actual conservative is becoming popular in New York State. That’s not a knock on the Republicans, whatsoever (after all, I am a registered Republican).

But in what is considered a blue state (Democratic to the politically challenged), New York seems to have a change of heart. Keep in mind that in this case, this is the 23rd District of New York. But nonetheless, there is a three-person race in the district. Here are the specifics.

A poll released by the Club for Growth shows Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman surging into the lead in the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District to replace John McHugh, the former congressman who recently became secretary of the Army.

The poll of 300 likely voters, conducted Oct. 24-25, shows Hoffman at 31.3 percent, Democrat Bill Owens at 27 percent, Republican Dede Scozzafava at 19.7 percent and 22 percent undecided.

The poll’s margin of error is plus/minus 5.66 percent. No information was provided about any of the candidates prior to the ballot question.

This is the third poll done for the Club for Growth in the special election, and Hoffman is the only candidate to show an increase in his support levels in each successive poll. The momentum in the race is clearly with Hoffman.

According to Basswood Research’s pollster Jon Lerner:

“Hoffman now has a wide lead among both Republicans and independents, while Owens has a wide lead among Democrats. Dede Scozzafava’s support continues to collapse, making this essentially a two-candidate race between Hoffman and Owens in the final week.”

While this is a Congessional district within the state of New York, this is a good sign that things are swinging towards the conservative base. Should this hold up, then it is very possible that we may have a third-party candidate in the 23rd District of the state of New York. And you know what folks? That’s a good thing as like anything you undertake, you have to learn to crawl before you walk, then walk before you learn to run. It’s a beginning, but a promising beginning for us conservatives.

If ever there was a time for Arlen Specter to show his true colors, then perhaps the “card-check” bill will prove what kind of guy that he is.  And there’s this “Adam and Eve” angle to all of this as union leaders in his home state of Pennsylvania have promised him that they’ll switch their state membership from the Democratic Party to the GOP in time for the 2010 election cycle – but only if Specter voted for the card-check bill.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO president William M. George has even acknowledged as much, saying that he pledged Rep. Specter “all kinds of help from the union” in a series of meetings to get the senator’s support on the bill – which basically makes it easier to eliminate the secret ballot elections to unionize workplaces.

I have never cared for unions as they are what I would describe as a legitimate Mafia in their methods and ways of conducting business;  fortunately for the country, 85% of businesses are non-union.  This is something that Specter is going to have to really “do the right thing” on.  If he opposes the card-check bill, then he will suffer the wrath from the unions in his home state.  Big frickin’ deal.

On the flip side, if he decides to go Benedict Arnold on the GOP, then without a doubt he will be vilified by his party – and rightfully so.  what this boils down to is basic economics.  The unions, being the legitimate wing of the Mafia, make the cost of businesses unnecessarily high.  That in turn makes it difficult for businesses – both small and large – to remain competitive.  General Motors can attest to that theory as they had to get bailout money to bow to union demands.

So yes, the union is trying to buy Specter’s vote, and I hope he realizes that himself.  The question is this: does Specter, as he says often, vote with his “heart and conscience”?  Or does he bow to Mafia union demands?  He doesn’t have many options as he voted for the stimulus package.  I hope for his sake – and in a sense the country’s sake – he declines to support the card-check bill.  The bill will probably be voted upon sometime between now and early summer.  Enough time for Specter to do the right thing.

Once again it is that time of year when we get to determine who will represent us, both on a local, statewide and national level.  What that means is that on November 4, it is your right and duty to go to your local voting location and vote.  Why, you ask?  Because despite what the slackers who sit home when something happens where they live or on a national level goes wrong, what do they do?  they bitch and moan – and chances are that they did not vote in any recent election, if at all.

So do yourself a huge favor – get out there and vote; and when you do, vote the Republican ticket – John McCain and Sarah Palin.  I know that you do not want Barack Obama running your country while devising schemes to get your hard-earned money so he can “spread the wealth”, while scheming with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the other dysfunctional Democrats into making this great nation of ours worse off than 4 years ago.   So again, when you vote, vote Republican – the right way!!