Bob McCarty Writes

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has died at the age of 77 after succumbing to an infection following gall bladder surgery a few weeks ago.

Aside from the fact that he served his country as a Marine in Vietnam, I can’t say that I liked him much.  Still, his passing is newsworthy.

Congressman Murtha first found its way to the pages of this blog Dec. 6, 2006, as the subject of one of my earliest posts, Anti-War Congressman Earns ‘Warning Label’.  Below are links to 15 other posts in which I mentioned the Pennsylvania Democrat’s name:

• Six Important Facts About the Assault Charges Three Navy SEALs Face for Doing Their Jobs — Murtha’s exploits were mentioned in a piece about injustice confronting American warriors.

• Nightly Newsers Full of Nightly Surprises — Katie Couric surprised everyone with a “hit piece” on Murtha and the so-called “charities” in his home town of Johnstown that have reaped billions in Department of Defense contracts without having paid any taxes.

• Celebs Sport Eye Patches in Solidarity with Pirates — I mentioned Murtha’s name in a not-impossible-to-believe post about celebrities raising money for Somali pirates.  It wasn’t true, of course, but it was believable.

• Help Boot Jack Murtha From Congress! and Help Bill Russell Defeat Turncoat John Murtha — Murtha faced a tough challenge from a decorated combat veteran of Desert Storm, but would squeak out a victory in 2008.

• Senior ‘Haditha Marine’ Found Not Guilty — Again, Murtha’s statements about the so-called “Haditha Marines” were proven wrong.

• Congressman and ‘Superbug’ Easily Confused — In this post, I confused him (his last name) with a multi-drug-resistant staph “superbug” known by the acronym, MRSA.

• Headlines Paint Poor Picture of Murtha’s Past — A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. “Jack” Murtha (D-Penn.) and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition about his comments alleging “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” by unnamed soldiers in connection with Iraqi civilian deaths.

• Brave Marines Still Face Charges, Need Help — The Marines Murtha slandered encountered huge legal bills.

• Blame Defeatists for Nine-Dollars-Per-Gallon Gas — Murtha was one of the Democrats in Congress I suggest Americans blame if gas prices skyrocketed following an oft-discussed premature withdrawal from Iraq.

• Marine’s Family Wants John Murtha Censured — One week after Marine Corps LCpl. Justin L. Sharratt was acquitted of all charges, his family demanded that Congress censure Murtha for saying Marines over-reacted and killed civilians “in cold blood”.

• Johnson ‘Dresses Down’ Murtha — Sam Johnson, a Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran and former prisoner of war who now serves the 3rd District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, gave Murtha a piece of his mind regarding his stance on the war.

• Marine Faces Bogus Charges, Needs Your Help — Murtha was an outspoken anti-war critic who publicly accused the four Marines of being “cold-blooded murderers” and high ranking officers of “covering it up.”

• ‘Flying Lincoln Bedroom’ Close to Reality for Pelosi — As chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Murtha was the enabler who helped to make it possible for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to waste millions of taxpayer dollars via the use of military aircraft for her travel junkets.

I could have written a lot more about Murtha, including the fact that he was caught on tape negotiating bribes with Arab Sheiks during the FBI’s 1980 Abscam investigation and somehow escaped prosecution as an un-indicted co-conspirator.  Instead, however, I would rather use my time and “ink” on better subjects.