The Murtha Uproar

I have to admit that I got a little bit lost in the whole Rep. John Murtha fracas in the House of Representatives last week. I read Murtha's statement from Thursday, in which he stated, "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised," and provided a number of reasons that he believed the troops should be removed as soon as safely possible. The resolution Murtha offered did the same, calling for the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq at the "earliest practicable date." The bill (which has thirteen cosponsors) was referred to the House Committees on International Relations and Armed Services where, in theory at least, it'll be considered for submission to the House floor. If Repubs merely wanted to kill the resolution, they could've quietly referred it to the committees and let it die of neglect there. But instead, they panicked and rushed a stupid alternate resolution to the floor that essentially left the House voting on whether the troops should've started evacuating ten minutes ago. This brought even more attention to Murtha's position and argument. Way to go, guys. Unfortunately, instead of sitting out the flagrant showboating of the Repubs and simply voting "present" on a meaningless resolution, the vast majority of Dems voted against the Repub replacement resolution. I guess it makes some sense--who really thinks U.S. forces should drop everything and be out within the hour?--but going along only encourages them.

In the meantime, Murtha got a chance to go on Meet the Press and make his case (he did a good job, too--read the transcript). After Rep. Jean Schmidt called him a coward on the House floor (a constituent "asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do"), she had to return to the floor and apologize, making clear that she didn't mean to refer to Murtha specifically. Even Dick Cheney had to backpedal: "I disagree with Jack and believe his proposal would not serve the best interest of this nation. But he's a good man, a Marine, a patriot, and he's taking a clear stand in an entirely legitimate discussion." All in all, I think we need to congratulate Rep. Murtha on a job well done.