Americans gave the Democrats control of the Senate and the House for two main reasons: Disgust at the Republican’s “Culture of Corruption” and anger at Bush’s mishandling of the Iraq War.
During the long campaign, Nancy Pelosi, repeatedly assured voters that she would “drain the swamp.”
Instead of living up to her campaign promise, Pelosi is seeking to elevate the biggest alligator in the swamp to a position of power and influence.
Pelosi’s ill-advised decision to back John Murtha’s bid to become House majority leader, is undermining Democrat’s efforts to present themselves as more ethical than the Republican scoundrels they replaced.
John Murtha is to be congratulated for his robust opposition to Bush’s Iraq policy, he is the politician most responsible for making the midterm elections a referendum on Bush’s disastrous Iraq policy.
But Murtha is a deeply flawed individual who is the poster boy for dirty politics. Murtha was investigated, though never prosecuted, in the Abscam bribery scandal of the 1980′s. He was caught on video saying that “at this time he was not ready” to accept a bribe. He has used his position as the senior Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee to direct federal dollars to political donors.
Murtha is the living embodiment of the maxim that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Murtha has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is undeserving of a position of power. Giving Murtha power is like giving crack to a crackhead.
The Democrats should send a clear message that they will not tolerate corruption by electing Maryland Representative Steny Hoyer, 67, the current No. 2 Democrat in the House, for the majority leader job.
Murtha is not satisfied with mere praise for his anti-war effort. He’s an old fashioned politician who wants something tangible in return, and he will only be satisfied with the majority leader job.
Maybe a lobbyist can slip Murtha a few thousand dollars for an extreme makeover in lieu of the leadership position. I’m not in favor of corruption, but anything to make Murtha disappear.
