Swiftboat II: Murtha's revenge

This is from Firedoglake:

Let the Swift Boating of Murtha Begin:

Murtha's War Hero Status Called Into Question
By Marc Morano and Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff
January 13, 2006

Read Article About Murtha's Links to Abscam

(CNSNews.com) - Having ascended to the national stage as one of the most vocal critics of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha has long downplayed the controversy and the bitterness surrounding the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for military service in Vietnam.

Suggest the ominous in a big buildup -- people who don't read closely will think there's a lot of shit on this guy and it's been going on for a long time, it's not something that just got dragged out now.

Then find some old veteran to do your dirty work for you so the criticism won't be laid at the feet of chickenshit bedwetting BushCo. hatchet men:

World War II Navy veteran Harry M. Fox, previously indicated that Murtha in 1968 personally asked Fox's boss, then-U.S. Rep. John Saylor (R-Pa.), for assistance in obtaining the Purple Hearts, but was turned down because Saylor's office determined that Murtha lacked sufficient evidence of wounds. Murtha later challenged Saylor for his House seat in 1968 and lost. Fox said he personally viewed Murtha's military records in 1968 as Saylor's aide.

Make sure your story is unverifiable:

Cybercast News Service attempted to contact Fox for this article, but learned that the health of the 81-year-old was too poor to allow him to communicate.

Bury this caveat in the bottom of the story. People will not read that far.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Update: Per Jeff B. in the comments: "Marc [Morano] was also a reporter and producer for the Rush Limbaugh Television Show from 1992 to 1996."

And from DKos: "Murtha turned down the [ABSCAM] bribe. The video of him being offered the bribe, refusing it, and getting up and walking out was shown on national TV. He even testified against two Congressmen in their trials." (thanks Slothrop)

Murtha replied on the HuffPost today

Update:This afternoon, CNSNEWS.com published an article entitled "Murtha's War Hero Status Called Into Question" on its website. The article questions the validity of my purple hearts. This is my response:

"Questions about my record are clearly an attempt to distract attention from the real issue, which is that our brave men and women in uniform are dying and being injured every day in the middle of a civil war that can be resolved only by the Iraqis themselves."

"I volunteered for a year's duty in Vietnam. I was out in the field almost every single day. We took heavy casualties in my regiment the year that I was there. In my fitness reports, I was rated No. 1. My record is clear."

Jack Murtha is not John Kerry.

Kerry, by his own admission, had angered many of the officers he had served with.

But Murtha, well, he's a Marine, and they do things differently. There is a sense of fraternity among Marines which doesn't exist in the other services. When Paul Hackett ran for Congress, guys who had fought in Korea, voted Republican their entire lives, voted for him, worked on his campaign.

Well, if the right thinks this is going to work, well, they're gonna learn the hard way. If they're gonna imply that a former Marine DI lied about his medals, they're gonna need proof.And a lot of it. Otherwise, they're gonna get their dicks smacked hard. Because this attacks the Corps, not just one man.

My reply would have been something like:

Fuck CNS and those gutless pussies. They'd probably be chaptered out after a week at MCRD Parris Island. Fucking gutless twats, going after a man for shit they don't understand. They'd probably shit themselves with the pugil stick, even today, the pussy version they do, not the one they did back in the day when I was a DI. Oh my God, we broke limbs then, marched the recruits into the swamp and if they fucked with us, take them out behind the barracks and beat their asses into the ground. And by fucking with us, I mean rolling their eyes.

And now you have some squid, a fucking squid, questioning my record? Fuck him, let him take that dick out of his ass first. Asking a squid about a Marine's record. And the reporter worked for that fat fuck Limbaugh? What? Did he get his hillbilly herion for him? Well, since that skank from CNN took over the blowjobbing, he had to find other work.

Fucking assclowns.

Update:"JOHN MURTHA"

John Murtha stunned the Bush White House last November by calling for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. The 73-year-old Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, a much decorated war hero from Vietnam and Korea, was in the Marines for 37 years, and is a heavyweight in military matters in the Congress. Now he's predicting that the vast majority of American troops will be out of Iraq by year's end. All this from a man who just one year ago argued against what he's arguing for now. Mike Wallace talks to Murtha about why he changed his mind, and how he proposes we extricate ourselves from Iraq, on this week's 60 Minutes, Sunday, Jan. 15, 7PM ET/CT on CBS.

posted by Steve @ 6:41:00 PM