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He’s not progressive at all, in fact he’s usually on the wrong side of issues we care about. He’s not a Blue American candidate, not even close, in fact he’s the opposite of what Blue American usually endorses. This is strictly a "Ian" post, not an FDL or Blue America endorsement in any way.
But when it came time to step up on the war, Murtha did it, and he did it under heavy fire. It would have been far easier for him, far safer for him, to have laid low and kept supporting the war, or even to have opposed it in a low key way. Now he may pay the price, not just for that, but for daring to say the obvious, that Western Penn has a lot of racists. Stupid thing to say politically, but once again, Murtha called it as he saw it. More guts than a slaughterhouse, we used to call it. Americans say they want politicians to tell them the truth, but here’s the truth, telling the truth is bad for your political health.
If you want to support Murtha, you can do so here. A ton of outside money is rushing into his opponent, William Russell, seems only fair to even the ground somewhat, especially as Murtha is short cash since he spent most of the year fundraising for other people, not himself.
(Update: just to clarify. I think if he’s being hit specifically because of the war and racism, and he is, then he deserves our support. He shouldn’t go down because he stood up for us without us supporting him. Sends the wrong message "stand with us, and we’ll abandon you if Republicans go after you on it". Yes, he’s bad on everything else, but although he’s being hit on his pork issues, those aren’t the reason he’s going down.)
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Sorry, no. As Howie put it just this morning:
My money goes to pro-choice Democrats. The DCCC can help Murtha; he’s more their style than mine.
Where was Murtha on FISA?
Comes out on perhaps some sanity on Iraq – yet dems have done nothing. Calls the voter ignorant racists. And is not progressive. Ummm I see your point that he did step up in 2004 but I am not sure I can buy into some of these ”leaders”.
Murtha’s a joke. I think he was before his opposition to the war too but he’s so lame that it was a news story when he came out against it. He’s our McCain. And for those of us obsessively watching the polls, baseball statistician/polling genius Nate Silver has finally created FiveThirtyEight Mobile. Just text keyword 538 to shortcode 30644 to sign up for daily polling alerts.
Digg this post please
He a dumb fuck but he’s OUR dumb fuck!
Maybe the ADL and Home Boyz will give Murtha a helping hand.
Dugg
Yeah, I hear those who can’t stand him and certainly don’t blame anyone who thinks their money would be better spent elsewhere. He’s definitely a jerk on a lot of issues. But I don’t forget that he was the one who made it possible to be anti-war for a lot of Congressional types and he is going down in large part for that, the Pubs hate his guts for daring to stand up on the war.
There’s always at least one we gotta carry.
I have mixed feelings. I appreciated what he did on the war, but what has he done for progressives lately?
I think I’m with Teddy.
Yep, they saw it as a betrayal and if there’s anything they can’t stand it’s someone who goes against the grain after playing along for so long.
The way I see it is that he’s going down mostly because of the war. All that outside money wouldn’t be flooding in if Pubs didn’t hate his guts for daring to stand up. I hate to see him go down for the one good thing he did.
But I certainly understand the other position, he’s not one of us.
Thanks for saying this, Ian. I think Murtha deserves our consideration for his taking a stand on the war when hardly anyone else with credibility would. Just a few weeks ago I remember a lot of voices here also saying angrily, well, where is Murtha! That’s his district! Like he was supposed to control his people or something.
I choose to remember that he was here when he was needed and led the effort to end the war or choice. He’s also always there to support the troops! It’s time now to support him.
No, sorry. Murtha has not done anything to support a progressive agenda, quite the opposite, in fact. This year, at last, we don’t have to give our precious money, time , or votes to Dems who fight against our interests, just because they call themselves Democrats. We have plenty of good, progressive Democrats in the house, and running to replace really bad Republicans (like Hank Eng running to replace Tom Tancredo in Colorado 6) Don’t, PLEASE, waste your money on Blue Dogs like Murtha! Send your hard earned contributions to a Democrat who is on board with the Obama platform!
Screw Murtha. A one issue DINO. Let him fall by the wayside and maybe a better Dem will come along in the future. Congress is safe and it’s time to begin cleaning House of DINO’s.
Oh please. He’s backward on so many other issues besides Iraq that he doesn’t deserve re-election. And we have MANY other issues to deal with coming up, in addition to the Middle East Mess.
It’s important to support early opponents of the war, and Murtha’s conversion did make opposition within the Village and within the mil-industrial-Congressional complex possible. I just think it’s important that folks understand, as you pointed out, that Murtha’s not with us on much else. The Blue America brand has real meaning; people must understand Murtha’s not part of it.
Thanks for this, though. His defeat would be a bright spot on an otherwise dismal day next Tuesday for the wingnuts — if anyone wants to help him, I certainly won’t stop them. But know what you’re buying, please.
Murtha is not “going down for the one good thing he did”! He’s going down because he is not on board with the progressive agenda, and good riddance.
When I am in a restaurant for the first time, or being served in a regular haunt by a wait person who I do not know, and I get bad service, I always leave a generous tip (ie, my regular percentage). That is to let the staffer know that I know how to tip. Second time, the tip I leave depends on the service. I generally get good service ther second time and thereafter.
I would recommend sending some l$ve to Rep Murtha to get his attn. Once he has seen what the netroots can do, perhaps he might be more receptive to suggestions.
I appreciate this post and the sentiment, but I’m with Teddy, Howie and every woman who values their liberty in the USA.
The anti choice wing of the D party is not ever going to be in my name. I accidently tried it with Mark Pryor against every instinct in my patriotic marrow.. with the most devastating results.
Wasn’t Murtha’s courageous speech the stimulus for Mean Jean’s outburst? Looking for Wulsin to defeat her next week in Cincinnati – that would be a very sweet victory.
The republics are not trying to beat him because he wasn’t progressive enough.
Sorry, no. Murtha’s on the CREW list with good reason. Give your money to the next generation of Dems. If voters in Murtha’s district want to give up all that appropriations pork and feel like they’ve claimed a victory, then they’re welcome to do so.
Thank you, Ian.
OT: Today on BBC news, 5:30 p.m. CST, report that 2 men aged 18 and 20 of the White Power Group, were arrested in a thwarted plot to kill up to 100 black persons including Barak Obama. Happened in Tennessee. No further details.
No mention of above in preview of evening news on PBS with Jim Lehrer.
Palin is no doubt too stupid to understand that she contributed to such acts by her conduct and statements. As for McCain, I don’t think he cares what happens if it gets him into the white house.
Predictably, I’m with Teddy. I appreciate Murtha acting like a Democrat on the war but that was mostly remarkable because he rarely did before that. And he still rarely does on issue after issue. If I lived in the district I would probably vote for him but our money is MUCH better spent supporting progressives like Jeff Merkley, Alan Grayson, Darcy Burner and Dennis Shulman, for example– who will go to Congress and do the right thing because they “get it.”
As of Oct 15 Murtha had raised over $2,000,000 and his opponent had raised less than $5,000. If Murtha is going to lose, I doubt it will be because progressive bloggers decided to donate to Sam Bennett, Vic Wulsin and Annette Taddeo, who need it a helluva lot more than Murtha, instead of to him. Instead, I think we should all say a prayer for him and then pick our favorite candidate and send her or him a donation in honor of Murtha’s belated but courageous stand against Bush’s Iraq war policies, war policies that would never have been agreed to if Congress had more Darcy Burners and Alan Graysons and less… sorry… Jack Murthas and Rahm Emanuels.
Nope. That just makes us buyers. We voters shouldn’t have to buy his good service. If he won’t give good service for the price of being elected, he should be unseated. Yes, he’ll be unseated by a Republican, but which message do you want to send to our Democratic congresscritters? One where the get rewarded anyway for doing the wrong thing, or one where all the other congressmen see that they will get no support for not supporting their constituents?
If he was a senator, maybe.
We’re ahead in the House, with or without Murtha.
But if he’s in favor of controlling MY body, and preventing my gay brother and sister to marry their 30 year partners, then screw Murtha.
Donate your money for Choice and freedom in marriage, where it’s needed, to fight right wing propositions which, although local, have national implications.
Equality for All
http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/19788
South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families
http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/9551
Campaign for Teen Safety.
http://www.noonprop4.org/
Murtha ended up supporting the “surge”
Yeah, this isn’t a “blue America” post, and I put right at the top that he’s not one of us. I just believe in payback, not just for bad things, but good. And he made a huge difference in 2006. yeah, we lost the fight, but without Murtha it wouldn’t even have been a fight.
Murtha is one of those who is too old to change. He’s 76, retired as a colonel in the Marines after 37 years. First Vietnam vet elected to Congress. He has served his country and it’s time to retire – although with that much money he may not have to.
The question isn’t why are the R’s trying to beat him, the question is why should we progressives support him. Of course the R’s want to beat him. So what? We have a large enough margin in the House that we can afford to sacrifice a few Blue Dogs to teach the rest of them a lesson. If Murtha were a Senator we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We’ve put up with Lieberman ONLY because our margin is so thin in the Senate. With luck we will soon be able to dispense with his “services” as well.
Sorry, Ian, after I posted comment at 25 I saw the title of your diary on the attempted assassination. Ian’s diary on that subject is here on Oxdown.
Ian, you should provide Russell’s email address so those that are willing to sacrifice a DINO for a real progressive in the future can help out.
Hank Eng is a progressive running for Tancredo’s seat in Colorado 6. He’s running against the Republican Secretary of State(Mike Coffman) who has been rejecting new voter registrations all over Colorado for bogus nit-picking reasons. Jack Murtha already has $2million. Hank doesn’t. hankeng.com
He may be a DINO, but he’s going down in large part because of the one good thing he did – something he did because he, unlike Republicans, spent tons of time visiting injured troops and going to funerals. I don’t want him going down because of that and because he dared to point out that racism was an issue.
Ian, I haven’t given to anyone for a long time. I send FDL ten bucks per month, some to Feingold, but I keep telling myself every month not to give, I’m late to the ACLU, because I just don’t have it.
I didn’t realize Murtha was in trouble until your post. I kicked in $25, sorry it can’t be more. I gave because Murtha was early on Iraq, and because he was courageous in speaking out against white supremacist attitudes in America, but those two alone weren’t nearly enough. What put it over the top for me was that YOU asked. You have meant a tremendous amount to this community, especially imho by helping us navigate the economic crisis with your always clear and accessible posts. I’ll call Murtha’s campaign tomorrow and tell them that the only reason they got $25 was because FireDogLake’s Ian Walsh asked for it.
Whoops!
http://www.hankeng.com/
Thank you.
Understood.
It’s just damn tough to get a 100% European American to speak out so directly against white supremacist attitudes in a region where it hurts him so much. IIRC, the most consistent ally of liberal/progressives on FISA and other issues has been and will be the black caucus.
Thank very much Boo. Please don’t give money you can’t afford, we need folks to look after themselves too.
Dugg. Thanks for the link.
Noble jestures on Murtha’s part but not enough. He wasn’t the sole voice criticizing Bush’s imperialism. Just the one the media focused on. You know the corporate media can’t keep more than one ball in the air at a time. He wouldn’t be going down if he were a real Democrat and was serving the interests of the middle and working class. Despite his opposition to the war, it’s time for Murtha to go.
Much appreciated. For all the value FDL provides, I feel like I’m stealing from all the great authors by only paying $10/month.
Boo, in response to your comment and my high regard for Ian’s courageous writings I just contributed $50.00 to Murtha. That isn’t much but without your comment and Ian’s notice I would not have contributed. So, Boo, consider that you sent my $50.00.
Scout
Murtha said exactly the right thing. The truth. There’s been far too little of that in USA politics since the Nixon era; 90% on the side of the GOP.
Murtha is challenging people not to be racist.
Let the racist pricks come out and vote against him. They’re going to anyway. They’re not democrat liberals.
If he loses it will prove that he is right, for all the world to see.
If he wins he will have taken them on successfully and exposed them to boot.
If a Western Pennsylvanian votes against him because they are not racist and are angry about what he said; they are stupid people.
Murtha wasn’t wrong about what he said. I’m certain of that, which I am sure he is.
Speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may.
On the war and on race, those were great moments of Murtha’s to respect forever. But we should support him for that while ignoring the needs of our sisters, mothers, daughters and GLBT pals?
I don’t expect any politician to get things 100% right. But on basic human rights and life & death issues, I insist on perfection in 2008. If he’d held biased positions from an earlier era and changed them with the maturation of our civilization, that I could accept. But his mind appears to be closed on issues damaging half of our population. Still.
One cannot be half courageous. He’s loyal to military volunteers, period. Which makes for a fine CO but makes for a seriously deficient Congressional rep.
Thank you Scout.
But for Murtha, the national discussions about and mood on the war might not have changed for many months longer. If that’s not something you value- it’s not.
Right on. I’m really glad to see this. The “what has he done for us lately?” kind of thinking is way too typical of the netroots. People were falling all over themselves to heap praise on Murtha when he was standing up against the war, and when the western PA comment story came out, it was all “What an idiot!” Too much fad power. If you are trying to get politicians to move towards you on issues, they have to know that you’ll be there for them later. Which, frankly, is a good reason to damp down on the Hero response as much as on the Goat response. But meanwhile, here we are. A primary challenge would be one thing, but against a Republican? No.
I thank YOU, Ian. As the crazy developments occur daily I rush over here to FDL to “see what Ian says about that”. Keep up the good work.
I’m a 4th generation native Texan – - snalytical thinkers are kinda scarce down here in these parts.
Scout
I am humbled scout. Great to have you here at FDL.
Also, waving madly at Mary.
Please, Boo, not humble. You gave me a gift of gentle words spoken from your heart. Those are the gems in my treasury.
Scout
How about the following logic?
Murtha doesn’t deserve your money because, well, he hasn’t done enough to deserve your money, and he’s not a progressive overall.
However, he does deserve to be recognized for his support of the military, and so I propose
Whereas Rep. Murtha is not a progressive Democrat, and
Whereas Rep. Murtha is a staunch supporter of American troops wherever they are deployed, and
Whereas Rep. Murtha deserves recognition for forwarding the progressive agenda regarding the US troop deployment in Iraq, and
Whereas there are many candidates who need your help to get elected on Nov. 4, and
Whereas many progressives feel that they cannot, in good conscience support Rep. Murtha in this election,
Therefore, be it resolved that Firepups will recognize Rep. Murtha’s efforts in support of US troops by contributing to the re-election campaign of Carol Shea-Porter in district New Hampshire-01 via ActBlue.
A statement of principle, Ian, I admire that.
As for the “either you’re with us, or agin’ us” types, that sort of cyclopean vision is too parallel to certain others. I started coming here for the Libby trial liveblogging — work I could admire and kept coming back. Lately, the main reason I return is to read Ian’s latest.
Some of us actually espouse certain progressive values: for open borders and immigration; against racism (even such as myself, raised in the Deep South); for tolerance of race, creed, lifestyle; against empire and foreign interventions; for a woman’s right to make her own choices (what would the Founding Fathers have thought of Roe vs. Wade? federal madness!); for civil liberties and the Constitution.
But if that’s not good enough, it is what it is.
Better than good enough; it’s the best!
I gave him $10.00 (even though I ran out of $ 2 weeks ago) because he told the truth. Not many people in Congress tell the truth. I place a high value on the truth(besides, he looks like my father who is deceased).