PA's Odd Couple: Murtha, Altmire

PA's Odd Couple: Murtha, Altmire

"What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people [Americans] preserve the spirit of resistance?” (Thomas Jefferson)

It’s time for a political revolution in the districts, the 4th and 12th, of Democratic congressmen Jason Altmire and John Murtha. It will be a peaceful revolution that culminates in many voting booths next November. It will be a revolution against two Democratic politicians who treat their constituents like a huge crowd of dunces.

If you’re a Democratic candidate statewide or in a congressional district outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, how do you get elected? You run on the proposition that you’re a “conservative Democrat.” You’ll announce that you’re favor of the rights of the unborn and gun owners.You’ll also say regularly that you “support the troops,” although you’ll be very vague about how you can do so without supporting their mission. You’ll talk about the need for fiscal restraint, but that won’t apply to Bridge-to-Nowhere-type projects supposedly benefiting either your district or a political ally’s.

In most cases, you’ll proudly note that you’re a Roman Catholic (like Congressmen John Murtha and Jason Altmire, as well as yours truly). However, you will under no circumstances talk about how your religious faith has affected your personal or political life. (I will, but they won't.)When you cast a vote in Congress that your constituents might not like, you’ll remain silent about your reasoning on the subject. You’ll maintain extremely close relations with Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Party’s far-left leadership, and you’ll vote with them on critical issues.

The exception occurs in cases where your vote isn’t needed, when they’ll let you cast a vote that appears to be “conservative.”You’ll look at your elected office as a lifetime position, and you’ll do everything necessary to retain it. If you’re in Congress, you will never, ever do anything to offend John Murtha, who has a long memory and likes to exact revenge.

If you’re very old (like Murtha), you’ll take younger Democrats under your wing. In fact, during his race against Melissa Hart, Jason Altmire declared that Murtha was his “campaign manager.” Murtha’s Political Action Committee funded a good chunk of money to Altmire, which helped to ensure his vote for Murtha as Democratic Majority Leader.

On an important issue in Pennsylvania – the sanctity of life – Murtha and Altmire must assume their constituents don’t pay much attention. They are both “pro-life,” mainly in the sense that they talk a lot about being . . . pro-life. I call such people "Pro-Life, Inc."It’s true that Murtha voted against the hideous process known as “partial-birth abortion.”

If Altmire had been in Congress, he probably would have done the same. However, when Congress considered a bill providing for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, pro-life Jack Murtha voted for it. So did “pro-life” Jason Altmire. The destruction of viable embryos was okay, as long it didn't come under the heading of "abortion."I

In 1996, Bill Clinton called up John Murtha and asked him to vote for full funding of “family-planning” overseas. Murtha did so. In Congress, “family planning” is a euphemism for abortion.It bothers me greatly that the 30 or so Democrat congressional representatives who claim to be pro-life seem to have absolutely no influence on the vast majority of Democrats in their Party.

Frankly, it also bothers me that other Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, who list their religion as Roman Catholic can't even bring themselves to vote against something as objectionable as partial-birth abortion. To many Democratic politicians, being "Catholic" is about equivalent to being in the Rotary Club.

On military matters: In his campaign against hawkish Rep. Melissa Hart, Altmire was a hawk. He proclaimed he was against a “timetable” Iraq. He said he would rely on “our commanders on the ground.”

Yet when he got to Congress as a Democrat, Altmire found hawkishness was not exactly in vogue. Murtha voted for an Iraq War timetable, and so did Altmire.

In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s era, there was an a humorous political saying: “As Maine goes, so goes Vermont.” In Congress, "as Murtha goes, so goes Altmire."

The porcine Mr. Murtha and his increasingly rotund younger colleague deserve not offices in Congress, but rather places at the buffet table.Isn’t it time send Melissa Hart, a superb human being, back to Congress in the 4th Congressional District? And isn’t it time to elect Lt. Col. William Russell to Congress in the 12th District.

They both need your help.

(A weekend column will be up about midnight on Friday. Thanks for visiting.)

Stephen R. Maloney
Ambridge, PA 4th Congressional District
("For Murtha and Altmire, no more 'Mr. Nice Steve'")

MURTHA, ALTMIRE: PA'S ODD COUPLE

THE FRIDAY COLUMN IS NOW UP ON MY NEW SITE (CLICK). C'MON OVER!

By tomorrow morning (Friday), I'll have another column up on my new site: http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com/. It will deal with the close -- and even somewhat disturbing -- relationship between Cong. John Murtha (D, PA 12th District) and Cong. Jason Altmire (D, PA 4th District). Both individuals are about as low as it goes in Pennsylvania and national politics.

At one point in 2006, Altmire called the much-older Murtha "his campaign manager." Murtha apparently taught Altmire everything he knows about campaigning one way and voting another. During elections, both claim to be "pro-life," but they don't always vote that way.

Yes, I support Murtha's and Altmire's opponents -- William T. Russell and Melissa Hart -- and I do so for some very specific reasons. Russell and Hart are individuals of unquestioned integrity, and Murtha and Altmire most certainly are not.

If you're someone who strongly wants Murtha "out" of Congress, you'll surely wish the same fate for Altmire.

The column for Saturday (which will get posted late on Friday) will start with the following two paragraphs: To John Murtha, who never lowers himself to participate in debates, I'd like to ask a simple question: "If you're truly an adherent of the Roman Catholic Church and are truly pro-life, what on earth are you doing in the Democrat Party?" Jason Altmire, same question.

To the voters of the 4th and 12th districts who are Democrats and truly pro life -- as many are -- I'd like to ask, "What you are doing voting for Murtha and Altmire?"

EXPOSING "PRO-LIFE, INC." (Plus Palin & Giuliani News)

"It's better to light one little candle than to curse the darkness." (Father Keller of The Christophers, many years ago)

"When all is said and done, a lot more is said . . . than is done."-- Lou Holtz, football coach, who was head coach at Wm. & Mary when I was there in 1968 (really!)

Note: In the efforts of dozens of bloggers and others to help ensure that the first female President of the United States is NOT named Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, but rather Gov. Sarah Heath Palin, we've approached supporters of every leading presidential candidate, including Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and John McCain. This week it's the turn of Rudy Giuliani's supporters. In today's column you will read about Mayor Giuliani's appearance in western Pennsylvania. Earlier, on September 9, 2007, there's a column ("Rudy Giuliani Among the Evangelicals") from about Rudy's unusual, but intriguing, strategy to win the nomination.

Note: Sarah Palin is NOT a candidate for President in 2008, but she is a leading candidate for the vice-presidential nod. She will be a candidate for President, and she will win, in a future election. I'm concentrating on Mrs. Palin's participation in the elections of 2012 and 2016. For the campaign for the vice-presidency next year, visit Adam's site at: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/


On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I'm going to have numerous short pieces about: (1) my eminently workable constitutional amendment to sharply reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.; (2) the tendency of some elements in the pro-life movement to take positions that almost ensure that the number of abortions will continue at the present levels (in excess of 800,000 per year; (3) the irresponsible comments by Pastor Laurence White and others that result in the pro-life movement being easily caricatured as a bunch of self-serving extremists.

Dr. Laurence White: The Rhetoric of Pro-Life Extremism:

f you'd like to see clearly what I'll be talking about I urge you to read two pieces by Lutheran Pastor Laurence White: (1) an essay called "God and Caesar" available at: http://mtio.com/articles/bissar55.htm;
(2) a letter to Mike Huckabee called "This Election Cannot be About Electability," available at: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=350

In my view, both these pieces are exercises in extremism. They make statements about the United States -- comparing it to the Weimar Republic and Nazi German -- that are totally irresponsible. They are condemnations of the culture of the abortion that offer no practical solutions to the problem.

They offer justifiable praise of many Christian heroes of the Nazi era: Dietrich Bonhoffer, Martin Niemoller, and Paul Schneider, among them. However, they absolutely fail to explore in any detail why so many Christians failed to stand up to the Nazis. They fail to distinguish between Naziism and the pluralism that is an essential part of the American system of government and society.

My Human Life Amendment: In several previous columns, I've offered a Human Life Amendment -- one that would results in hundreds of thousands fewer abortions that will occur if we settle for the status quo. I urge people like Laurence White, Larry Perrault, and Mike Huckabee to embrace my proposal. I fear they will not. Why?

Because much of the pro-life movement has become an enterprise unto itself. Preventing even one unnecessary abortion is a triumph. Preventing hundreds of thousands -- and millions over time -- is a great victory. However, people like Dr. White reject this approach. They say it doesn't matter if a pro-choice politician like Hillary Clinton gets elected.

Look very carefully at what they're proposing: they are basically advocating the election of people whose policies will increase the number of abortions. With that approach, they're saying essentially that abortion doesn't matter. Seemingly, all that does matter is their continued ability to express their enduring moral superiority to people like me, proponents of practical steps that will dramatically reduce the incidence of abortion.

At their worst, people like Dr. White are members of "Pro-Life, Inc.," an enterprise that defines itself not by how many abortions it can stop -- and how many adoptions it can encourage -- but by how many speeches it can make condemning their fellow Americans. It's time, frankly, to put "Pro-Life, Inc." out of business.

Stephen R. Maloney

Bulletin from Pennsylvania: As usual, PA (color us VERY Lite Blue) is shaping up as a critical state in the general election for President of the U.S. From time to time, I'll offer updates about the candidates who visit the state. Today (Thursday), there's an excellent story by Dan Majors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Rudy Giuliani's vist yesterday to Canonsburg, which is 20-some miles from where I live in Ambridge.

Here's what Rudy said: "Pennsylvania is a very important state. We want to win the primary [a late one], and we want to . . . win the general election here and return it to the Republican column, where it belongs, and I believe I'm the Republican who can do that. I think I have the best chance of winning Pennsylvania."

Dan Majors adds: "[Giuliani] said the difference is that other Republican candidates poll well in certain parts of the country, while his support is strong nationwide."

Giuliani added: "I'm the only Republican candidate that can carry on a 50-state campaign . . . . If I get nominated by the Republican Party a year from now, I'll be back here in Pennsylvania campaigning, because I can win Pennsylvania."

Steve adds: Frankly, some of my political allies in Pennsylvania, including individuals who are devoted pro-life evangelical Christians, are raising money for Rudy Giuliani, partly because of the tireless support he offered in 2006 for conservative Republican candidates. (They also believe that the election of Mrs. Clinton would set the pro-life movement back 20 years -- a view with which I concur.)

There's growing support in PA for a Giuliani-Palin ticket and even some emerging support for a Huckabee-Palin ticket.

I expect the GOP primary battle in PA will be between Mayor Giuliani and Governor Huckabee. Since they're my two favorite candidates, that will be just fine with me. (I believe most of the support that now goes to Fred Thompson nationwide eventually will start streaming toward Mike Huckabee, who's currently "everybody's number two" in PA and elsewhere.)