PA Troops Support Murtha
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Another inconvenient truth
At a welcome home ceremony this week for Myers and other troops from the Johnstown, Pa.-based 876th Engineer Battalion, the crowd cheered when a Murtha aide welcomed the troops on the congressman’s behalf.
Myers said he backs Murtha, an opinion echoed by a number of other troops and their families. Several share his frustration with the conflict.
“I’m not sure we’re doing a whole lot of good,” Myers, 46, said of the U.S. presence in Iraq. “Everybody thinks we are. We’re trying to, but we’re not going to change what they want to do, and if they don’t want to change, they’re not gonna.”
Said Sgt. 1st Class George Wozniak, 36, of Murtha: “He’s definitely for a strong military and he definitely supports the troops.”
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Oliver,
You shouldn’t post this sort of “Bad” news because it punchs holes in Duggers theory that our troops only support uber-conservative ideals and elected officials.
Troops and Murtha to be smeared in T-10..9…..8…7….
Why don’t our troops support the troops??
By definition, anyone who is against Bush is not in the military. Therefore these are impostors. And everyone knows Murtha’s military service was invented, just like John Kerry’s purple hearts. Set phasers to Malkinize!
Yeah!!! Frank chimed in!!! I always knew you would be the first to somehow spin this is fake or staged. Frank, I don’t know if you got the memo but….People don’t like the war and not ever serviceman thinks Bush and his plan are muy bueno.
Wow, now some troops in Johnstown equals “PA troops”.
Oliver, speaking as someone that, unlike you A) actually lives in PA and B) actually knows people that have been in Iraq, I’ll say that of the PA troops i know, some agree with Murtha and some don’t.
Stick to making your inane points about what “Marylanders” think.
Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
Untruth #1: The reporter calls Murtha a “war hawk.”
Myers, soldier (“unsure”)
Wozniak, soldier: “for a strong military and he definitely supports the troops.”
No mention of Iraq.
Bonnie Shable, wife of soldier “I would like them out of there.”
Ruth Ann Biesinger-Sliko, 55, colleague of teacher and former teacher of six students: Murtha has lost her vote because of his negativity about the war.
Murtha remains popular in his district, in large part because of the federal dollars he has delivered
Cindy Saylor, soldier’s Mom: “I just believe everything he says is very true”
Many of the soldiers declined to be interviewed. Or, when asked about Murtha, said they didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
Tom Geiger, a 79-year-old World War II veteran, said he thinks Murtha is “50 percent right and 50 percent wrong.”
“Maybe they should have searched a little bit more” for weapons of mass destruction, Geiger said. “But once you’re into it, you’re stuck with it.”
Not exactly a revolution brewing out there.
I guess the creator of that headline graduated from the Oliver Willis School of Headline Hyperbole.
If a clever poll like Murtha thinks he can come out against the war then we have got some hope. He’s brave.
WW: I’m sure you can show where I indicated that anything but the headline was “fake or staged”.
Because otherwise, you’re just being dopey.
Marty: Not all veterans are hawks. But Murtha thought running from Somalia was a good idea, and running from Lebanon was a good idea, and now running from Iraq seems like a good idea to him.
He’s been opposed to the war in Iraq, but more quietly, for some years now.
That’s not a war hawk to me.
And again- the article is worded very carefully- “military hawk” not “war hawk.” Murtha’s 30 year record on military spending has been pretty consistant with the average Republican. His record on many things during his tenure has cast him as one of the most “conservative” Democrats in Congress. If he hadn’t, I don’t think the people in his district would have kept re-electing him.
But it is well documented that Murtha has been anything but a “war hawk” when it comes to this particular conflict in Iraq- and most of the MSM is figuring that out in the criticism they are getting in their coverage of Murtha. So now, rather that being described as a former “hawk” on Iraq- he is being referenced as a “military hawk”- which if you look at his entire political record, is pretty accurate.
I guess the rest of the headline is….”But Murtha Doesn’t Support the Troops”
Actually the best part is” Engineer Battalion, the crowd cheered when a Murtha aide welcomed the troops on the congressman s behalf.”
Old murtha is so busy collecting pork earmarks for the great state of PA that he just didn’t have time to “support the troops” and had to send a lackey….
Classic.
Polls reflect the fact that the majority of the country is disillusioned with the mission, so any attempt by the Malkinites to confuse “support for the mission” with “support for the troops” is bound to fail. GOP spin efforts are just like their Iraq policy: keep doing the same thing and get the same failing results.
Wow- sounds like a total endorsement of Congressman Murtha in PA. Let’s examine:
25%? 38% in the city? Yep- pretty inconvenient.
And boy this is pretty surprising (not)-
Obviously the troops being welcomed home were being cheered- not Congressman Murtha.
I also think that you would be able to find “many” who “share the war critic’s views” and “several” who “share his frustration with the conflict” and “a number” of “other troops and their families” who back Murtha no matter what crowd of people you scour if you keep looking long enough.
But you keep cherry picking articles that seem to be spinning your way, Oliver, if it makes you feel more confident about our troops redeploying to Okinawa in case we need quick strike capability.
And Frank- the article does say military hawk, which Murtha has been in the past, and I don’t doubt that he still may be- but while he is certainly has an important, honorable military past, his politics and judgement in his statements about this particular conflict definitely deserve the scrutiny they are getting.
Sorry, failing results?
You mean like the complete domination by the GOP of all branches of government for the last 6 years?
No wonder I have a hard time understanding liberal!
Elections, a new government, and a dead Zarqawi is failure? What, then is success?
I think the public verdict on Bush’s handling of the war is clear: they believe he doesn’t have a plan and doesn’t know what he’s doing. If you think that he has *not* failed the test of public confidence in his Iraq policy, please provide evidence.
The evidence is all around: Republicans are already distancing themselves from Bush, and it won’t be long before they’re running from Iraq, too (only blaming it on “librul trayters.”)
You, like most cons, equate electoral success with ability to govern. The Republican election machine is a beast to behold, but once it is in power, it has no idea what to do.
1 out of 2 beats the Dems 0-fer.
Window dressing. Behind the blinds is the fact that every area in Iraq is self-homogenizing by driving out minorities, that the national government is covering for Shia death squads, and that fundamentalist gangs are running the neighborhoods. Civil society is dying, and positive symbolism and magical thinking won’t change a thing. Turning Iraq into Lebanon is most certainly a failure.
Elections and a new government doesn’t mean we’re any safer in Iraq. Elections and a new government, after all, didn’t make us any safer in Iran.
We have a dead Zarqawi, and the current rumor is that his replacement was directly responsible for the beheading of Kristian Manchaca and Thomas Tucker.
This is success? At best, you have a wash.
Wow, Oliver- care to comment on the original topic of your post? You know- the AP spin on the troops returing to PA?
I figured your keys would be blazing at me trying to shore up your contention that the troops in PA *support* Congressman Murtha.
Maybe they should give the soldiers a rundown of Murtha’s last few months of statements and then poll the PA Troops on their opinions. Now THAT would be a poll I’d like to see. (Of course, you could just go to the milblogs to read what most in the military think of Congressman Murtha and his ideas and opinions.)
I am waiting for the MSM to start asking whether the Republican pigs who cut VA hospital funding and authorize multiple rotations for weary soldiers support the troops. Somehow we’ve got to separate these inane slogans and the reality of the agenda.
If this is a success, then I dread seeing what failure looks like.
Liberal lie.
I’m waiting to see who supports Murtha on his “perp walk”. Seems Murtha, his brother, and Pelosi are gonna have some splainin’ to do.