Casino67 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 The Blaze:Traditionally, secretaries of the Navy get the honor of naming warships in America’s Naval fleet. But Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is running into stiff opposition over his latest pick: the late Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha.The late Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn.“Both in uniform and in the halls of Congress, Chairman Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the Marine Corps and Congress,” Mabus said last spring following Murtha’s death. “His unwavering support of our sailors and Marines, and in particular of our wounded warriors, was well known and deeply appreciated.” Murtha was awarded two Purple Hearts during his service in Vietnam and served Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District from 1974 until his death last year.But Mabus’ praise for Murtha is falling on the deaf ears of a number of former sailors and Marines who say naming a vessel for Murtha simply rewards a lawmaker who called for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq during the height of war’s toughest fighting. Many veterans also point out that Murtha was also implicated in bribery schemes and engaged in much-criticized pork-barrel politics. Last Friday, one of Murtha’s former aides was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison for evading limits on campaign donations. Additionally, Murtha was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the FBI’s 1980 Abscam sting.What’s worse, sailors and Marines say, in 2006, Murtha claimed that Marines in the Iraqi city of Haditha had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”“Name a ship after a congressman who disgraced himself by rushing to judge that fellow Marines had committed murder in Iraq? Can you be serious?”one retired Marine major general remarked to TIME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Casino67! Naming a garbage scow after him would still be an insult (to garbage scows everywhere as well as to veterans) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Casino67! Naming a garbage scow after him would still be an insult (to garbage scows everywhere as well as to veterans) I hope this gets rescinded, quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Urgh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Simmons Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 An embarrassing political decision - a disgrace. Why don't we name a ship after Jefferson Davis? He was a far more accomplished Congressman than Murtha plus he was not personally corrupt. Oh sure, he committed treason, arguably, but then so did Murtha, arguably .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 If you are so inclined, Speaker Boehner can be contacted here. I sent him a note asking him to look into this at his convenience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceRimmer Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I see that SecNav Mabus forgot to take his stupid pill before this moronic decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanguine Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Treason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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