Andrew Olmsted: History Repeats

November 13, 2006

History Repeats

You would think that, after the disastrous campaign of Senator John Kerry with it's egregious use of military bombast, the Democrats might have figured out that simply having a military background doesn't immunize politicians from accusations of being weak on defense. Yet today I see that Speaker-to-be Pelosi has endorsed Representative Jack Murtha as Majority Leader, in part because she considers Iraq a crucial issue and she wants someone with credibility up front on the issue.

I suppose it is good news that Pelosi considers Iraq a crucial issue. Democrats have an unfortunate reputation for disliking issues involving the military, so it's good to know that they won't simply turn their attention to things like minimum wage hikes and investigations of the executive branch (although I'm confident those won't fall by the wayside). Congress has an important role to play in our foreign policy. Not in undercutting the President, but in ensuring that he's getting the right information so he can make informed decisions. That means digging into questions of intelligence and the military in depth, with real hearings as opposed to made-for-TV ones, in order to determine what the truth is about the situation in Iraq and what our options are. I don't want to see Congress and the President fighting over the direction in Iraq, but I think that Congress has a duty to inform itself and to confront the President if he's not going in the right direction. I believe that we would all be much better off had the President made this war a bipartisan one by consulting with Democratic leaders early and often about the goals and strategies of the war. While it's too late to fix that, that doesn't mean that step cannot be taken now.

But, my hopes that the Democrats may step up and do the right thing aside, I am concerned by Pelosi's decision to try and install Murtha, because it smacks of the same mistakes the Democrats have made in the past. Military service in no way immunizes speakers from legitimate criticism, nor should it. Speaking as a service member, I am well aware of the many and varied opinions we hold on various issues. To suggest that any one of us could speak up and be confident that our opinion on a military issue was the correct one is ridiculous. We're human beings, and we make mistakes just like everyone else. Rep. Murtha is on record as suggesting we withdraw from Iraq and place our troops in a rapid-reaction mode in Okinawa; the idea he shouldn't have taken some flak for that suggestion just because he's a veteran is asinine.

What matters, or what ought to matter, is ideas, not people. If withdrawal from Iraq is a good idea, then it is a good idea no matter who expounds it. Conversely, if it is a bad idea, it doesn't matter if every veteran in the U.S. favors it. The idea stands or falls on its own merits. Yes, military people have certain expertise that suggests we listen to their suggestions carefully, but that means asking our generals what they think, not people who served ten, twenty or more years ago. Rep. Murtha served his country honorably and well, but that doesn't give him any special insights into modern military strategy. Yet it seems that over and over again the Democrats have worked on the assumption that, rather than selling their policies more effectively, they just need to find a better spokesman, and Pelosi's endorsement of Murtha smacks of that assumption. It's incorrect, and as long as they operate that way, they're going to run into trouble. They need to stop selling spokesmen and start selling their ideas.

Posted at November 13, 2006 07:27 AM

Andrew Olmsted

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Sunday, November 12, 2006

WILL STENY HOYER OUT THE UTTERLY CORRUPT PELOSI-MURTHA CONNECTION?

HAVE WE HEARD THE FIRST SHOT OVER THE BOW?

HAS THE PELOSI-GATE SCANDAL BEGUN!? NRO:

Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer released this statement tonight responding to Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi's announcement that she would support Rep. John Murtha for House Majority Leader:

Nancy told me some time ago that she would personally support Jack. I respect her decision as the two are very close.

JUST HOW CLOSE ARE PELOSI AND MURTHA???

THIS CLOSE:

Murtha steered business to HIS BROTHER'S LOBBYING FIRM - KSA - and helped Pelosi get a big project for her district which DIRECTLY BENEFITTED A RELATIVE OF HERS.

KJ Lopez of NRO's THE CORNER linked to a JUNE 13, 2005 LA TIMES article about just such an impending investigation: LATIMES (this link is to an anti-Bush blog which excerpted the article; the actual article has"mysteriously" disappeared from the LATIMEs own website) -

LATIMES: "When Congress passed the $417-billion Pentagon spending bill last ear, Rep. John P. Murtha, the top Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, boasted about the money he secured to create jobs in his Pennsylvania district.

But the bill Murtha helped write also benefited at least 10 companies represented by a lobbying firm where his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha, is a senior partner, according to disclosure records, interviews and an analysis of the bill by The Times."

ROLL CALL put it this way:

Republican lawmakers say that ties between Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and his brother's lobbying firm, KSA Consulting, may warrant investigation by the House ethics committee...

According to a June 13 article in The Los Angeles Times, the fiscal 2005 defense appropriations bill included more than $20 million in funding for at least 10 companies for whom KSA lobbied. Carmen Scialabba, a longtime Murtha aide, works at KSA as well. KSA directly lobbied Murtha's office on behalf of seven companies, and a Murtha aide told a defense contractor that it should retain KSA to represent it, according to the LA Times.

In early 2004, Murtha reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A company called Lennar Inc. had right to the land, and Laurence Pelosi, nephew to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was an executive with the firm at that time.

Murtha also inserted earmarks in defense bills that steered millions of dollars in federal research funds toward companies owned by children of fellow Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D).

Murtha also flexed his muscles with the DOD to get his boss, Pelosi a big DOD deal for her district:

The agreement came a few weeks after the Navy sent Newsom a letter saying that it was having doubts about going ahead with an agreement that was announced with great fanfare in Washington in January 2002 by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, then-Mayor Willie Brown and Navy Secretary Gordon England.

When he was in Washington last Wednesday, Newsom met in the Capitol offices of Pelosi, the House minority leader, with Pelosi, Navy Assistant Secretary Hansford T. Johnson, representatives of California Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a big gun brought in by Pelosi to convince the Navy the time for delays had passed.

Murtha, the powerful ranking Democrat on the House military appropriations subcommittee, made it clear to the Navy that he wanted a binding agreement signed by Wednesday. Another meeting was held in Pelosi's offices Wednesday, minus Newsom, and the Navy signed the accord.

PELOSI-GATE BEGINS... or it would if the MSM was unbiased and fair...

Posted by: reliapundit - the astute blogger at November 13, 2006 07:02 PM

November 13, 2006

History Repeats

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