NYTimes --- "...tattered baggage of John Murtha..."

[kentuck]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/opinion/16thur2.html

<snip>
As victorious Democrats choose the Capitol hierarchy to promote their promises of reform, and Republicans choose their new minority leadership, they are entitled to their own best judgments. With that in mind, we have no prime candidates to tout for caucus leadership. We just want to remind lawmakers of the one clear message from this muddled election season: voters wanted something other than the old back-scratching status quo.

So far, the Democrats seem not to have paid much attention to the tattered baggage lugged into the limelight by Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the Iraq war critic who is Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi’s choice for second in command. And yesterday, Republicans resurrected Trent Lott, the Mississippi senator who fell from the majority leader’s post three years ago.

For all his commendable instincts in articulating the Bush administration’s Iraq failures, Mr. Murtha has long been known in the Capitol as a crude master of swapping pork-barrel budget goodies for lobbyists’ campaign lucre. Only recently, he stood out for opposing strong ethics reform.

And while Ms. Pelosi is vowing to hammer home ethics reform as her first order of business, the Capitol newspaper Roll Call reported that Mr. Murtha was vulgarly belittling her program in private meetings with lawmakers. Mr. Murtha’s ambition is directed against the current No. 2, Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who also is no slouch in maintaining overly close ties to the K Street business and lobbying powers.

...more

[dogday]

1. When the media and the right rag on Murtha, it makes

me want him all the more.... Murtha wants an end to this war and that will be his main objective... ON this I stand with him and that is why he needs to be majority leader.....

[PhilipDC]

2. No on Murtha

He doesn't represent the Democratic party and progressives on most other issues. And he didn't raise money for Democratic candidates like Hoyer did. Can't justify electing him Majority Leader just based on Iraq.

[dogday]

6. YES to MURTHA-- he wants to end the war

and that is the only thing I am interested in at this point...

[jsamuel]

7. well Hoyer ran the Democratic K Street

I can vote against Hoyer for that.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. How Does The NYT Get Thrown In With The Rest Of The Media?

It's the most reliably progressive major newspaper in the nation...

If you want I'll supply several examples...

[dogday]

18. Same NY Times that lead us into the Iraq War?

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn08182003.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-hayden/new-york-times-still-want_b_34035.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/that-awful-power-how-jud_b_4986.html


just sayin :shrug:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. That Was One Compromised Reporter-Judith Miller

Fact

The New York Times is the only major paper in the USA to have the balls to run gay wedding announcements ...

Fact...

The New York Times didn't endorse one Republican this year...


Fact...

The New York Times was the first major paper to respond to the Swift Boat lies and unveil the web behind them...


Fact...

In the 2000 election it was the New York Times that uncover the infamous Republican DemocRAT ad....


I could go on...

[dogday]

24. That's all it took was one reporter

and the NY Times is responsible for what they print... I guess having a Son in Iraq has made me bitter against this war and that is my main concern...

I know the Times also prints progressive articles, but it has also held back articles for this administration....Remember the story the Times sat on for a year, could of released it before the elections and did not... Wasn't that the wire-tapping story?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121601716.html

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. I Have Been Reading The Times For God Knows How Long...

I never got the feeling they were cheerleaders for the war... They ran articles on realists such as Henry Kissinger and Brett Scowcroft who opposed the war from it's inception for prudential reasons.


I guess my point is you can't throw the NYT in with the rest or the main stream press...

[dogday]

26. I will say it is better than any of the other publications

out there for sure.... I have war issues is all :hi:

[bigtree]

3. as opposed to the tattered trunks the republicans carry around

what laws were broken by either man? Can republicans claim Democrats are as bad when they've tolerated Delay handing out checks on the House floor?

[zbdent]

4. Just remember the Bizarro world rule:

Taking a bribe ... OK ... refusing a bribe and being cleared ... evil ...

[gully]

5. Iraq is one issue. Another issue is corruption and we should not be choosing

between two questionable men/women for this position.

[bigtree]

8. questions are fine

unsupportable accusations are another thing entirely

[gully]

9. True, but Murthasvideo tape is a bit "questionable" IMHO.

Not that he's guilty of jack, but it certainly gives us less credibility on the issue of ethics.

[bigtree]

10. he refused the bribe

:shrug:

[KittyWampus]

12. Until later, context is everything.

[gully]

27. "for now"

but, he's not the whip so it's a done deal. I like Mr. Murtha, I just don't think that now is the time for him in this regard. I do hope he's put on a committee to end the war however.

[madrchsod]

11. no to everyone!

fuck the times..ohhh scary..."tattered baggage"-"crude master of pork-barrel budget goodies for campaign lucre" god dam that`s enough to get me to vote for the republicans ....fuck the times and their shit for brains writers. why in the hell does anyone care what they think -if they do-or write.

[kentuck]

14. The Democrats do not challenge the status quo...

in the media, as the right-wingers are prone to do. The right simply calls them the "liberal media" and ignores them. The Democrats take them more seriously.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

17. Can't they find someone better than these two? I like Murtha but he sure isn't perfect.

He should become a "born-again" ethics hawk instead of looking like a "good ole boy."

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. We Liked Them When They Unveiled The Swift Boat Liars And Exposed The DemocRAT Ad.

Were they wrong then and wrong now?

Were they right then and wrong now?

Were they right then and right now?


My head is spinning...

[Tatiana]

13. Why are these are only two options? Surely we can come up with better. n/t

[blm]

16. Geez - the targetting of Murtha, Dean and Kerry is MORE transparent everyday.

Some centrist Dems must have all the access they can get as long as they're attacking targetted Democrats.

[jumpoffdaplanet]

20. Damn, Murtha is scaring them shitless

Hoyer must be a real crony to the biased media. A great reason to vote for Murtha.

[underpants]

22. Hey NYT how's that record on Whitewater and the Iraq war ?

You should be spending your time washing all that blood off your hands.

[Nickster]

23. Gotta love that liberal media. They wouldn't be trying to influence the leadership

election with this hack job now would they?