Murtha on Meet the Press:
By on Nov 20th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
Murtha on Meet the Press:
“I have never seen such an outpouring — in the 32 years I’ve been in Congress — of support, and people with tears in their eyes, people walking along clapping when I’m walking through the halls of Congress, saying something needed to be said. So they’re thirsting for a solution to this and the president can’t hide behind rhetoric and neither can the vice president.”
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Congressman Murtha THANK YOU for standing up to the Republicans. Old Bushie and Cheney cann’t spin about the war anymore. They are going down, down, down fast.
November 20th, 2005 at 1:56 pmHere,Hear, It is one of the best things that any member in Congress has done in years. Now if the rest of them would grow a spine. Maria Cantwell and a few others have stepped forward as what I consider to be the real people we elected to do our bidding, I only wish the rest would start earning their money and respect.
November 20th, 2005 at 2:00 pmmurtha deserves the greatest respect and it’s no wonder people are pouring out the support…
the welshman at kos has a very sobering take…
*We must bring our troops home. Not just because of the number that are being killed and injured, not just for what we are doing to Iraq, not just because so many of our young men and women are being traumatised and not just because of what we are doing to our own societies. But also for what we are doing to ourselves as individuals.
This Iraq war is like a cancer that is in the body of our society. Its decay spreads its tentacles over every organ of our endeavours. What beauty, magic, and creativity remains with us is being corrupted. It is not a distant event, kept away from our shores and from which we are insulated. It is here, inside our society and inside each an every one of us. It is terminal if it is not cut out as quickly as possible. We must be our own surgeons.*
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/2005/11/since-nothing-else-is-working-bush.html
and, now that nothing else seems to be working, bush is trying moderation…
and he says he doesn’t pay any attention to polls…
*After fiercely defending his Iraq policy across Asia, President Bush abruptly toned down his attack on war critics Sunday and said there was nothing unpatriotic about opposing his strategy.
“People should feel comfortable about expressing their opinions about Iraq,” Bush said, three days after agreeing with Vice President Dick Cheney that the critics were “reprehensible.”
The president also praised Rep. John Murtha as “a fine man” and a strong supporter of the military despite the congressman’s call for troop withdrawal as soon as possible.*
then why have you kept calling your critics unpatriotic for so long…? you’re a fool, george…
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/2005/11/since-nothing-else-is-working-bush.html
November 20th, 2005 at 2:01 pmThe fact that Bush has now pulled back on attacking the war crtics (apparently Runny didn’t get the “STFU memo”) shows that the republicans know that Murtha is the wrong guy to be attacking.
Are we gonna see a pull back on the smear machine?
The smear machine almost exploded on C-Span Friday night. Anybody that hasn’t seen the C-Span videos or transcripts from the House resolutions 572 and 571 needs to stop what they are doing and go watch them.
November 20th, 2005 at 2:05 pmIn giving justified thanks to Rep. John Murtha this Thanksgiving we should try to make his courage contagious. “You too can be popular.” If you have a Dem rep in your district please implore her/him to vocally and visibly support Murtha. Hoping they’ll have some staff in the office, send mail by using http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/.htm
November 20th, 2005 at 2:12 pmThey have finally realized that they were attacking the Majority of America, when they Smear, they Smear themselves. The Media\Government Echo Propaganda Machine has been laid open, all that is left is Truth.
to which was replied;
November 20th, 2005 at 2:13 pm“A Republic Madam, If you can Keep it”
From : Military Families Speak Out
Sent : Sunday, November 20, 2005 12:06 PM
To : “MFSO”
Subject : In support of Congressman John Murtha: Bring Them Home Now and Take Care of Them When They Get Here
| | | Inbox
Dear Military Families,
The violence is escalating in Iraq, with our troops and Iraqi children, women and men being injured and killed in increasing numbers. Yesterday five soldiers and two Marines were killed in Iraq. One of the soldiers was the grandson of a member of Military Families Speak Out. On Monday, November 14th a soldier with the 101st Airborne in Tikrit was struck by a roadside bomb. He is now at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, missing two legs and an arm. He is the son of a member of Military Families Speak Out.
Military Families Speak Out now includes over 2,700 families. New families are joining every day, and our voice as military families is powerful and growing.
We have heard from many of you who have called and written, expressing words of support and gratitude for Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha’s call on Thursday, November 17th to bring our troops home now. Congressman Murtha is a decorated Marine Colonel who served in Korea and Vietnam. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Defense and he voted in favor of the war back in October, 2002. His November 17th speech is pasted in below, for those who haven’t seen it. We are also pasting in a Letter to the Editor in support of Congressman Murtha, published today in the Arizona Republic, written by an MFSO member whose son-in-law will be deploying next week to Iraq.
This very well could be a watershed moment. It is important that we speak out in support of Congressman Murtha’s stance, building support in our communities and among decision-makers at every level for bringing our troops home now and taking care of them when they get here.
This is a great time to write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper and/or to write an op-ed piece – feel free to identify yourself as a member of Military Families Speak Out. You can also send the text of Congressman Murtha’s speech to all your friends, family and/or co-workers and communicate your message to all who are making decisions about the fate of our troops in Iraq.
We as military families have a powerful voice, and if there has ever been a time to use it and “kick up the volume”, it is now.
Please send us copies of any Letters to the Editor or Op-Ed pieces that you write; please be in touch with ideas about how to build momentum. And thank you for all you are doing to Bring Them Home Now and Take Care of Them When They Get Here!
In Peace and Solidarity,
Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson
for Military Families Speak Out
http://www.mfso.org
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org
P.S. to reach Members of Congress, you can call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask for your Representative; if you do not know who your Member of Congress is, you can find them at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?command=congdir by putting in your zip code. You can also get contact information for your Senator by using the Member Search on the same page or by going to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.
November 20th, 2005 at 2:16 pmunfortunately I have Sensenbreenner as my representative and he is a good old boy Republican. He is a nasty man.
November 20th, 2005 at 2:26 pmOnly five soldiers and two Marines were killed yesterday. There needs to be more. The war will end when more troops come home in body bags. A couple of hundreds dead Americans coming home from Iraq per week would be a good start. The war will end much sooner if that happens.
Seven Americans killed per day isn’t enough. Body counts will count then.
The Republicans are imploding. Thank God for that.
November 20th, 2005 at 2:38 pmRon,
I am not sure that it is the number of slain soldiers, bu the fact that they come home in the dark of the middle of the night. The Bush administration has laid down the law.
How about this:
“Why should we hear about body bags and deaths,” Barbara Bush said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on March 18, 2003. “Oh, I mean, it’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?”
These people are sick and are trying to keep the American people in the dark.
November 20th, 2005 at 2:43 pm#8.
Senselessbrenner is one of the most shameless hacks in congress.
Can’t you folks in Wisconsin send that protege’ of Joe McCarthy and a tomato faced douche-bag packing?
-GSD
November 20th, 2005 at 2:53 pmDid Barbara Bush really say that? Re; comment no. 10 This statement coupled with Bush laughing at one of his Rethuglican partys while looking under tables for WMDs is the last straw. Seriously. Someone should get a whole list of the top 100 things like that they can find about this administration and make up a quick holiday Book ……..it would sell like hotcakes. I’m sure there are more than 100 such tid bits. Call it……..”Their Beautiful Minds” Good idea no?
November 20th, 2005 at 3:01 pmMr. Murtha was downright passionate, observant and constructive on Meet the Press…a very compelling and honest case he made.
of note one thing, that will be parsed was he said ‘the President did not mislead’ on the war…
his other points about Rumsfeld, the armor, the prosecution of the war…were well thought out and said.
he’s a credit to his office and this country.
(reposted)
November 20th, 2005 at 3:05 pmrichb
RichB,
Do you have a transcript on the exact words he used? I’ve seen too much word parsing from republicans to trust anything that a republican says without transcripts – no offense.
Not to mention that since there’s been no investigation into this charge of intelligence manipulation, it’s still premature of murtha to jump to this conclusion, no matter how noble his intentions.
We know that fake evidence was used, and just today the germans slammed us for ’sexing up’ the intelligence they gave us. Here’s a truthout archive the LA Times article.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/112005X.shtml
November 20th, 2005 at 3:13 pmJohn,
If you haven’t read this article titled “The GOP Retreat”, read it.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051205/editors
November 20th, 2005 at 3:14 pmMeet The Press transcripts are on MSNBC.com Right hand side near the top of the page. Murtha’s comments are already posted.
November 20th, 2005 at 3:32 pm#15 Not yet Ryan, I just checked…they have the video up but not the transcript yet. The show will also be rebroadcast on MSNBC this evening.
I heard the comments on the 11 Eastern broadcast.
richb
November 20th, 2005 at 3:34 pmJohn Murtha said what needed to be said. I too will be giving thanks on Thanksgiving for him and others like him who choose to speak truth to power.
It looks like the school yard bully (BushCo) is getting what they deserve. A beating on all fronts.
November 20th, 2005 at 3:51 pmRon in #9. Isn’t the reason that we want the war to end so that more lives are not wasted? Wishing for more troops to be killed so the war ends is sick and wrong. The only time I ever hear anyone speaking such words is when Republicans paraphrase made-up liberal hearsay. That very type of thinking, that the means justify the ends, got us into trouble in the first place. Seven soldiers killed per day is SEVEN TOO MANY!
November 20th, 2005 at 3:54 pmThe Democrates are playing right in Bushes hand. He knows he has to bring the troops home to try and save his presidence, but he had to have some one to blame after his big tough macho talk about staying the course. If the republicans don’t use this against democrates next years election, I’ll take back every thing I said about this jerk. It wont be to hard to convince the dumb electorate to stick with him.
November 20th, 2005 at 4:25 pm#12
Yes, that is an actual quote. You don’t have to make this stuff up. As has been sadi before, the truth is starnger than fiction.
How abou this gem from Barbara Bush regarding the Katrina victims who were in the Super Dome.
“So many of these people here were underprivileged anyway. So this is working very well for them.”
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/17/cnnitm.01.html
November 20th, 2005 at 4:26 pm#15
Ryan,
“Not to mention that since there’s been no investigation into this charge of intelligence manipulation, it’s still premature of murtha to jump to this conclusion, no matter how noble his intentions.”
But, the Democrats on the Intellegence Committee called for an investigation into this one Friday.
They have flat out said that when George Bush says that the Senate gets the same intellegence that the White House gets, it is a lie.
November 20th, 2005 at 4:31 pm#8 Mary Poppin — you have my sympathy — Sensenbrenner is indeed a very nasty man.
November 20th, 2005 at 4:43 pm#23….not sure about that, I’ve seen some Senators say the intelligence is there for the taking, but many take not to read the volume that’s generated. The President get’s a condensed version that the Senate doesn’t get, but I ‘believe’ it’s all culled from the same raw data.
I can’t and won’t categorically dispute what you say…but I have heard otherwise….so for me there is some gray area. If a hearing can answer this question once an for all…I’m all for it.
richb
November 20th, 2005 at 4:49 pmI like the comment above about being thankful we have Mr. Murtha to speak for us. I think I’ll try that Thanksgiving Day. I am so proud of that old lion and for his speaking up. Not glad he voted for war, but he knows when it’s time to stop wasting our troops lives and limbs for some cooked up schemes by a White House full of nasty old men.
November 20th, 2005 at 4:53 pmRichB,
There is no disputing the fact that the Demcrat arm of the Semate Intellegence Committee had a 45 minute press conference that can be found on the front page of C-Span.org.
http://www.c-span.org
Click on the link:
House Democrats on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraqi WMDs
You will need RealPlayer to watch the video.
November 20th, 2005 at 5:01 pmthanks #27…good info and it’s appreciated.
richb
November 20th, 2005 at 5:10 pm#28
No problem RichB. There has been a lot of incredible stuff going down in the past week. We may be in for some big changes.
November 20th, 2005 at 5:25 pm#29 you are so right,it’s almost no time to catch a breath it seems newsbreak wise. There are plenty of resources out there and I think Blogs have really caught a wave and can only improve. In my local town the newspaper is laying people off, and the local ‘news’ is all wrapped up in November goofy stories for sweeps.
richb
November 20th, 2005 at 5:30 pm“168 Americans lost their lives this week in the conflict in Vietnam.”
Quotes like that were reported every Friday on the national news during the Vietnam War.
58,000 US military personnel lost their lives in Vietnam.
I am being sarcastic. It is time to withdraw troops from Iraq before it is too late. As time goes by, the distinct possibility of much higher casualities is all too real.
In 1965, only 1000 murkans had been killed in Vietnam.
Iraq can and will get worse if withdrawal doesn’t occur.
However, murkans are content with learning things the hard way. Iraq will be the same as Vietnam if it all continues as such.
Don’t blame me for wishing for more dead soldiers in Iraq. Blame the Bush Cabal. They’re the ones who wanted all of this.
November 20th, 2005 at 5:47 pmRon, I understand what you are saying about things only getting worse in Iraq, but could you please not wish for more dead, even in a sarcastic manner? They will come, sadly enough.
November 20th, 2005 at 6:13 pm#15….here’s the part of the quote I referred to earlier…and probably will be parsed and not put in context, Mr. Murtha was very believable and straight forward in his criticisms.
quote
MR. RUSSERT: Last question: Was the intelligence provided by the administration deliberately misleading?
REP. MURTHA: I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think any president would mislead the public on the intelligence.
November 20th, 2005 at 6:27 pmunquote
#33
The reason why Murtha would say that is because he doesn’t want to get caught up in the mudslinging politics. His only concern and focus are our troops. Tim Russert’s question was meant to lead Rep Murtha into the pettiness of Washington D.C. and I don’t think Murtha is going there.
November 20th, 2005 at 6:34 pmThe Democrat politicians in Congress (I guess that would mean all of them!) should learn a lesson from Murtha and how he’s becoming a hero to a fairly large segment of the public. Maybe the Democrats can start to grow backbones now. If they start coming around like Murtha, then they can pretend that they’re in the lead on being against the war. It can only help their political chances in the future. Hillary, are you listening? If you’re seriously thinking about running in 2008, here’s your chance to make yourself look good for a change. Grow a backbone and show everyone you’re against this war, even though you were for it before you were against it.
November 20th, 2005 at 8:18 pmRichB, that’s called the benefit of the doubt, and is very different than saying the president didn’t do it.
Read what Murtha said carefully.
“I don’t think any president would mislead the public on the intelligence.”
If you don’t believe bush is either acting legitimately as the president, or if you don’t believe he was actually ‘elected’, you could say this truthfully. Just as you could mean I don’t think anyone acting like the president would do this. And you can say you ‘think’ as much as you want, but that’s different from saying you KNOW or it’s PROVEN – which is not what Murtha said.
Once again, this IS word parsing, because it’s a speculative opinion – and it is given as such.
November 20th, 2005 at 10:12 pmGet us out of Iraq, Congressman Murtha. The Iraqi people are very capable of governing themselves. They are an intelligent people. Many are highly educated. It is arrogant of America to think only we can spread democracy. It shows our ignorance.
Thank you for standing up to the administration and the warped Republican Party. Thank you.
http://www.marchforjustice.com/Fallujah22.swf
November 20th, 2005 at 10:26 pmMurtha for President!
November 20th, 2005 at 11:40 pmMurtha, Murtha he’s my man, if he can’t stop the Bushie nobody can!
November 21st, 2005 at 12:56 am#12. . . here you go.
“Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it’s gonna happen? It’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?â€
– Barbara Bush, Good Morning America March 18, 2003.
It sure helps explain Bush’s callousness.
November 21st, 2005 at 10:12 am