Murtha "Swiftboated"

John Kerry:

I won't stand for the swift-boating of Jack Murtha. It disgusts me that a bunch of guys who have never put on the uniform of their country venomously turn their guns on a Marine who came home from Vietnam with a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. No matter what J.D. Hayworth says, there is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha's character and conscience.

As usual, Lurch misses the point. No one is questioning Murtha's courage. But he started a media feeding frenzy by his Thursday speech on the immediate withdrawl redeployment of troops in Iraq. Did he really think that he would get a free pass by the Republicans just because of his military service?

Fortunately, the Republicans have finally decided to stop being punching bags for the Democrats. Calling for a vote on immediate withdrawl from Iraq was a smart pre-emptive strike by them. Had they not done it, the Democrats would have the upper hand going into the Sunday morning spin programs.

And to those who claim that the Republicans "distorted" Murtha's position, here is a clarification by PoliPundit commenter Cafe Noir:

Because Murtha’s bill doesn’t contain what he actually SAID.

Murtha’s BILL read:"The deployment of United States forces in Iraq, by direction of Congress, is hereby terminated and the forces involved are to be redeployed at the earliest practicable date“.

But what Murtha said in his SPEECH was: “I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice that the United States will immediately redeploy“.

All the Republican bill did was put what Murtha actually SAID on paper and into the bill for a floor vote. Removing the Michael Moore/Moonbat talking points, Murtha’s bill was about the same as the administration policy has always been.

There has never been an administration policy to stick around is Iraq as long as we’ve done in say, Germany, Italy or Japan.

My response to Cafe Noir was:

You nail it when you point out the difference in language between what Murtha said in his speech and what is in his bill.

The Democrats have been following a triangulation policy of feeding red meat to their rabid base while trying to pass themselves off as “moderates.” The Republicans forced them to come out as the radicals that deep down they are, and they wimped out.

Only Democrats get outraged when you force them to state their real positions.

The truth does hurt.

UPDATE #1: Rep. John Murtha Urged Somalia Pullout in '93:

After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region.

Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal - a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S.

History repeats itself.

UPDATE #2: Eleanor Clift:

Democrats gave Murtha a standing ovation behind closed doors, but most kept their distance in public. “It’s a trap,” explained a Democratic strategist. “If the party comes out for a unilateral six-month withdrawal, that would become the issue for ’06, and they [Republicans] would kill us again.”

This can't be repeated enough: The Democrats *can't* be honest with the public about their real position on the war.

H/T - PoliPundit

UPDATE #3: Thanks for the link: MN Blogger