November 20, 2005

Is Jack Murtha a Coward and a Traitor?

By J. Peter Mulhern
The prize for the most dramatic oratory in the United States Congress in the new millennium goes to fledgling Representative Jean Schmidt.  In the midst of debate over whether the House of Representatives should vote on a resolution endorsing immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq she conveyed a message she had received from a Marine colonel, to Representative Jack Murtha.  Murtha, a decorated Marine veteran, inspired the debate earlier this week by calling for withdrawal from Iraq.  Representative Smith's message quoting the colonel was simple:  'Cowards cut and run, Marines never do.' Democrats are up in arms.  They believe Smith slandered Murtha.  No less a conservative voice than Jonah Goldberg seems to think they have a point.  In the Corner at NRO he argues that Schmidt didn't mean to call Murtha a coward and that it was a mistake to say anything that was bound to be interpreted that way.  He writes: 'Murtha's an honest, brave...(Read Full Article)