Still a hell of a ship, but most certainly not a "battleship."
But in any case, the USS Murtha should be a garbage scow.
Posted on 05/01/2010 8:01:20 AM PDT by K-oneTexas
No sooner had Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced plans to name the latest San Antonio Class LPD battleship in honor of the late Rep. John P. Murtha (D. Pa.) than the firefight began. The most vocal opposition to naming a warship in honor of the first Vietnam veteran elected to Congress came from some of Murtha’s own fellow U.S. Marines.
“Outrage” is a mild word to describe the reaction to the possible naming by least two well-known, distinguished Marine Corps veterans who, like Murtha, served in Vietnam.
“You are kidding!” retired Marine Col. Jack Brennan fired back to me by e-mail after I sent him news of the naming of the ship for Murtha, “I am aghast, shocked, and chagrined by this disgrace.”
Brennan, onetime U.S. Marine Corps aide to President Richard Nixon who was portrayed by Kevin Bacon in the film Nixon-Frost, charged that the honoring of the late congressman “is clearly a payoff for Pelosi.” Murtha and the House speaker worked closely together in the House and, in his final years, the Pennsylvanian was frequently in the news for joining Pelosi in criticizing the U.S. action in Iraq.
“Naming a U.S. Navy ship for recently deceased Rep. John Murtha is a disgusting act because Murtha himself was a disgrace,” Orson Swindle, Vietnam POW and decorated Marine Corps veteran, told me last week week after Mabus made his announcement.
Agreeing that Murtha, as a powerful House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, did funnel major federal dollars to the Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy, Swindle pointed out that the Pennsylvanian also “funneled millions in pork-barrel projects to serve his political interest and his friends. Our military service chiefs are constantly challenged to acquire sufficient funding to keep our national security arsenal capable of meeting all challenges as they compete with the insatiable demands of entitlement programs and pork-barrel projects of politicians.
A former assistant secretary of Commerce and member of the Federal Trade Commission, Swindle also cited Murtha’s opposition to the U.S. effort in Iraq and the Pennsylvanian’s involvement in the 1980 ABSCAM probe of corruption in Congress. (Unlike other lawmakers caught on film accepting bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab sheiks, Murtha declines money, but says matter-of-factly of two colleagues who were also targets: “Those guys expect to be taken care of.”).
“Murtha the politician was unethical, corrupt and arrogant with our money,” said Swindle, “He used it as if it were his own. He has no obvious sense of shame. It is a disgrace to name a U.S. Navy ship for him.”
Mabus’s announcement comes weeks before voters in Murtha’s former 18th District (Western Pennsylvania) select his successor. Recent polls have shown Republican Tim Burns maintaining a slight lead over Democrat Mark Critz, longtime top aide to Murtha.
Can anything be done to stop it?
LPD battleship ???
Even an old army medic knows BS when he sees it.
Good question. Doesn’t Congress name all out ships of the line?
I think that is the rub on a lot of things wrong in this country. CONGRESS!
Oldie but a goodie:
Thought for the day/month/year/decade:
Congress vs. Progress.
If the prefix “con-” is the opposite of “pro-” does that make Congress the opposite of progress?
That’s what I was going to say. Calling it a “battleship” makes the author look so ignorant that you wouldn’t want to pay attention long enough to get his good point if he has one. I didn’t.
I am respecting this Swindle fellow and others mentioned in this article a great big bunch! How dare they use a battleship as a pay off for this man who so often disgraced our nation. No wonder the military is up in arms. I suppose uhbama is laughing, and Pelosi as well and I cannot WAIT to get them out of DC. Can NOT WAIT!
Nope,not a thing.And it'll soon get worse.Word is that the next one is to be named after Rahm Emmanuel...the "USS Ballerina".
support the marines
Don't be ridiculous... that name is reserved for Barney Frank. How do ya like that mental image? =)
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is a democratic and libtard arsehole. He knew full well this would light a firestorm.....by naming a boat after a corrupted democrat war veteren and politician. They should name the boat “USS Murtha was sorry”.........
I can’t beleive that Murtha’s slander of the Haditha Marines didn’t rate a mention. To me, that was every bit as bad as his political and financial BS, if not worse.
Still a hell of a ship, but most certainly not a "battleship."
But in any case, the USS Murtha should be a garbage scow.
““He used it as if it were his own...”
Actually he used it like it was someone else’s. If it was HIS hard-earned money he wouldn’t have been so irresponsible with it.
I do not believe that Murtha knew the meaning of ‘Semper Fi’!
As a Navy vet, I denounce it too.
A naked, towel-snapping ballerina, to be sure. :-)
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