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By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled that a Marine cannot sue Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha for defamation. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying he and his comrades killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Murtha argued he has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker...

Murtha: "If I'm corrupt, it's just because…." @ 3:04 pm by Eric Zimmermann In a stunning interview today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) inadvertently stumbled over the central ethical quandary surrounding earmark legislation: "If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district," Mr. Murtha said. "My job as a member of Congress is to make sure that we take care of what we see is necessary. Not the bureaucrats who are unelected over there in whatever White House, whether it's Republican or Democrat. Those bureaucrats would like to control everything. Every president would like to...

During a March 22, 2009, Freedom Radio interview, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Robert Weimann discussed the improper command influence that occured throughout much of the Haditha investigation. The 'Sins of the Generals' were many and began even before Tim McGirk's insurgent talking-points driven Time magazine article. The top brass violated both the spirit and intent of the 1986 'Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reform Act'. The combat commander was the convening authority yet politicians, those outside the chain-of-command, and others improperly interjected themselves, let media buzz and enemy propaganda into their decision cycles, and forced further investigation even after Army Colonel...

If there is anything worse than a bully its a bully with questionable ethics. John Murtha is one of perfect example of a bully. He wrongly convicted some of our military heroes in the court of public opinion by claiming a "massacre" of which they were later cleared (and he still hasn't apologized). He didn't do it for any moral reasons, (if he did he would have apologized for the mistake) Murtha slandered our Heroes for political gain. We have been reporting about Murtha's newest scandal. The FBI raided the offices of the PMA group, founded by a Murtha aide,...

You have to give Congressman John Murtha points for creativity. Almost every day, Murtha finds a brand new way to disgrace the US Congress he sits in, or the Marine uniform he once wore.... ..Murtha has a new scandal brewing. The FBI raided the offices of the PMA group, founded by a Murtha aide, and one of favorite Lobbying firms, that was on top of another raid of a Murtha buddy back in November.What they are finding out is that Murtha and his buddies at PMA Group operated their own little Earmark Factory:

Marvin Hoffman is listed in campaign finance records as one of the many lobbyists with the powerful PMA Group donating money to lawmakers. But Hoffman is actually a soon-to-retire information technology manager in Marina Del Rey, who has never heard of the Arlington lobbying firm or the Indiana congressman to whom he supposedly gave $2,000. "It's alarming that someone is stealing my identity somewhere," Hoffman, 75, said in an interview. "I've never heard of this company." Another contributor listed as a PMA lobbyist is, in fact, a sales manager for an inflatable boat manufacturer in New Jersey. John Hendricksen said...

Over the objections of a large majority of 9/11 family members, President Barack Obama is expected to sign an Executive Order today directing that the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base be closed: Relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks, who were at the base this week to observe pretrial hearings, told reporters they oppose any halt to the trials. "The safest place to have these trials is Guantanamo Bay. If they were to move to the homeland it would endanger all of us," said Lorraine Arias Believeau of Barnegat, New Jersey, whose brother, Adam, was killed in...

BEAVER, Pa.—Pennsylvania is more a nation than a state, less a state than a confederation. Political science is wasted on the place because, just when the numbers are in and the formulas calculated, truculent locals do what they want in spite of themselves. The old recipe worked this way: Philadelphia and western Pennsylvania would vote for whatever Democrat was on the ballot. This vote would be countered by Republican suburbs in four counties bordering Philly and by a rural, Republican "T" that comprised the counties in the state's center and stretched across its northern tier. This gave undecided voters powers...

On Friday, October 17, news broke that Rep. John Murtha told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Barack Obama might have tough sledding in his home area: "There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area." Trying to add context to his remarks, Murtha later said many in Western Pennsylvania were "rednecks" several years ago. Now he’s in danger of losing his House seat. But have the national media noticed? ABC, CBS, and NBC all brushed past the remarks in stories on other, broader subjects, as did NPR. Time and Newsweek have run nothing. Even the major newspapers – The...

Two veteran warriors battling to represent the 12th Congressional District appear locked in the closest race in the district in years. Democratic Rep. John Murtha leads retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell by a little more than 4 percentage points, within the Susquehanna Poll's 4.9-point margin of error. The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted for the Tribune-Review on Tuesday, amid uproar over Murtha's statement that some of his constituents are racist. Stanley Shemanski, 67, a retired meat cutter who lives in Apollo, said he's undecided about the congressional race. He doesn't know much about Russell, but he's upset...

While congressional leaders wrangled over the details of a federal bailout for Wall Street that could cost taxpayers an extraordinary $700 billion, the U.S House quietly passed an omnibus-spending bill for nearly the same amount Wednesday. The Senate is expected to pass the $630 billion measure by week’s end. Senate leaders wringing their hands over where to find $700 billion for the Wall Street bailout might start with the fine print of the omnibus bill: The measure includes more than $6.6 billion in pork-barrel spending. The 2,000-plus earmarks fill 752 pages attached to the 357-page spending bill. Sen. Ted Stevens,...

OUR JOURNEY—Not Quite Ended When our son, L/Cpl Justin Sharratt, was exonerated of murder charges involving a firefight in Haditha,Iraq our family was finally able to sleep. We set out to piece together our lives and make some sense as to what happened to us. Bringing Justin home seemed to be the medication our family needed. With Gods help and the support of thousands we made it through this dark period in our lives. Our family can now enjoy today, look ahead to tomorrow and plan for the future. The golf matches between father and son. An occasional fishing trip...

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Marine Corps lance corporal from Pennsylvania has sued U.S. Rep. John Murtha, saying the Democrat lawmaker slandered him by saying he and other marines killed 24 Iraqis in Haditha in "cold blood."

August 04, 2008 Murtha's reckoning Thomas Lifson Rep. John Murtha's disgrace in denouncing the Marines of the Haditha incident is not going to fade away gently into the night. William Russell, has returned from a tour of duty in the military and is running against him. His campaign has produced this video featuring Darryl Sharratt, the father of one of the Marines accused by Murtha of being a "cold-blooded killer." His son Justin Sharratt has subsequently been fully vindicated, and all charges dropped. Darryl Sharratt's video does not have the produiction values of a normal campaign commercial, but in his...

John Murtha grudgingly admits the surge is working in an interview in Pittsburgh but misrepresents facts about the Iraqi war. What follows is what was left on the cutting room floor. (Video Included)

Jack Murtha (democrat-PA) was quick to lay blame on these Marines for the killing of these Iraqis. He should be approached at every availability and confronted about the Haditha boondoggle.

Italy's Finmeccanica to buy DRS Technologies for $5.2BBusiness Courier of Cincinnati DRS Technologies Inc., which has several Cincinnati-area operations, is being bought by Finmeccanica SpA, an Italian aerospace and defense supplier, for $5.2 billion. Finmeccanica said the deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter this year, allows the company to enter the U.S. market and enables DRS to better compete in the global military and security market. DRS (NYSE: DRS) will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, maintaining its current management and headquarters. The company will lead Finmeccanica's defense electronics efforts in the United States and it is expected...

A shadow legal body was set up by the Defense Department to manipulate the prosecutions of U.S. Marines accused of massacring Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. That’s the bombshell disclosure from the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm that is representing one of the accused Marines, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. And it could prove to be the most damning piece of evidence showing the political motivations behind the ongoing prosecutions of the Haditha Marines. “The hysteria and media firestorm over Abu Ghraib and the Pat Tillman investigations led to fear of a similar media reaction...

Democrats for Boeing The truth about the tanker deal. by Christian Lowe 03/24/2008, Volume 013, Issue 27 It was one of those insider deals that give the defense industry a bad name, conjuring up images of smoke-filled negotiations between the brass and corporate fat cats in plush leather chairs. By the time it was over, two fat cats were in jail, a top Pentagon official had been forced to resign, a corporate CEO had lost his job, and the reputation of an iconic company that had served American troops for decades had suffered irreparable damage. Then it turned out it...