John Murtha, a man before his time

I think it's time we all give credit to John Murtha for his innovations in servicing the public! At a time when lesser men were taking suitcases full of cash from an erstwhile Arab sheik, Murtha suggested that the sheik "invest" the loot in his hometown presaging a new dawn for the Democrat party where ill gotten gains get funneled through friends and relatives:

That he's made a name for himself now by slandering our troops and their mission deserves a brief recital of some other activities associated with Mr. Murtha.

Last June, the Los Angeles Times reported how the ranking member on the defense appropriations subcommittee has a brother, Robert Murtha, whose lobbying firm represents 10 companies that received more than $20 million from last year's defense spending bill. "Clients of the lobbying firm KSA Consulting -- whose top officials also include former congressional aide Carmen V. Scialabba, who worked for Rep. Murtha as a congressional aide for 27 years -- received a total of $20.8 million from the bill," the L.A. Times reported.

In early 2004, according to Roll Call, Mr. Murtha "reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco." Laurence Pelosi, nephew of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, at the time was an executive of the company which owned the rights to the land. The same article also reported how Mr. Murtha has been behind millions of dollars worth of earmarks in defense appropriations bills that went to companies owned by the children of fellow Pennsylvania Democrat, Rep. Paul Kanjorski.

Ah, the master at work! The brave path he trod alone more than a quarter century ago has since become well worn by many other Democrats on the way, er, whose families are on the way to riches like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and Bill Clinton to name a few more.

But wouldn't it have been nice if Murtha had had time to counsel fellow Democrat, Rep. William Jefferson? "Smoothing the way" for businesses and then putting your family on the board of directors is good - keeping cash in your freezer is bad. Keep practicing, Bill! I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.