Symbolic — like, say, Obama’s “joint statement” on the economic crisis, designed to say without having to do or commit? Or does the suit have teeth?
From KDKA-CBS:
A local Marine cleared in the deaths of civilians in Iraq says Congressman John Murtha made public comments that were unproven, untrue and unfair.
Now, Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt is planning to file suit in federal court against Murtha on Thursday morning.
The suit accuses the congressman of slander and violating the Marine’s right to a fair trial and due process.
Sharratt was one of eight Marines charged after 24 Iraqi civilians were killed in Haditha. He was charged with three counts of unpremeditated murder.
It’s alleged in the lawsuit that before the outcome of the case, Congressman Murtha made slanderous comments.
[…]
KDKA contacted Murtha’s office for comment on this suit but there’s no word back from them yet.
— Which is probably best, because Murtha would probably have accused KDKA of raping little Iraqi girls and rolling through the media landscape with evil, bloodsoaked intent, like modern day Genghis Khans in drab suits, looking for a way to sully his service and bring down a once great nation.
For, like, reporting the facts and such.
Pelosi wanted him in leadership.
This made me smile.
This is gonna be fun. I’m pretty sure that the switch from excoriating the old, short-tempered, loud-mouthed veteran with a heart of coal to defending the experienced, quick-acting, straight-talking veteran with a heart of gold is gonna smoke their clutch big-time.
BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURE!
R running against Murtha
Murtha should be horse raped. On TV.
At like half time, or during the seventh inning stretch, for instance.
Just Sharratt has a website here. I just sent him an email about setting up an online donation system – currently he has an address you can send contributions to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePfII5teJ2c
Awesome ad William Russell, Murtha’s challenger, is running. Man, it’s good.
Vengance…
Justice…
OO-RAH !
Semper-Fidelis
Diana Irey seemed at the time a credible candidate against loathsome ole Jack in the 2006 campaign. He won in a relative landslide. After he had made his slanderous remarks about these Marines and had been thoroughly upbraided for them on many sides.
It was no secret by the time of that election that Murtha was wrong (if not outright evil) with his remarks. Yet his constituents reelected him anyway. Murtha is one of the kings of pork in the House, a title that takes some doing to gain.
So, I think it just shows how cheaply people can be bought. Paid to shame themselves, even.
Murtha is on my short list of guys who really need to find something else to do with their lives.
Go get em, Marine.
Jack needs to retire to his porch’s rocking chair to shake his fist impotently at children stepping on his lawn.
John Murtha is an ex-Mrine.
Marine…..
ARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
Russell is army
When Ted Stevens manages to eke out a win with more Dem votes than Begich, it will just be one more nail in the coffin of the idea that a bigger, more powerful government can possibly be a force for good in any society.
They say that there’s no such thing as an ex-marine, but in this case I’m guessing they’d be willing to make an exception.
Maybe we should, as a nation, revive the ancient Athenian concept of the “ostrakon” and thus enable ourselves to vote scumbags like Murtha off the island for a prescribed period of time.
There are times when I’m tempted by a hypothetical variation on the system described in an old sci-fi book titled A Spectre is Haunting Texas. Apparently in that satirically over-the-top extrapolation of America’s future crafted during the mid-’60s, it came to be that the only lawful way to get a president to leave office involved … well, in the book itself there was a lot of live ordnance.
For a member of Congress like Murtha, I’d think a tall lamppost and a short rope would be sufficient, but we’d have to go the route of a Constitutional Convention to get there. For some reason Congress itself would be reluctant to propose it.
McGehee, even better than that is H. Beam Piper’s A Planet for Texans. In that one, killing a “practicing politician” is protected free speech, unless it can be established that the motive wasn’t political.
Regards,
Ric
#19:
Several months ago I attended an event sponsored by the Marine Corps Association at which Whiskey Jack was the featured friggin’ speaker. During the Q&A following his rambling, barely coherent monologue (Subject: “I Have Gotten The Marine Corps Buckets of Money For A Long Time”)nobody — NOBODY! made even a tangential reference to Haditha. Why? Because Whiskey Jack has Gotten The Marine Corps Buckets of Money For A Long Time. Ostrakon won’t work, and Murtha will get re-elected, and senior Marines won’t risk offending a rotten senile piece of shit, because we have all. sold. out.
I wonder though, if you think about the proposition a moment, sjy, don’t the rest of the people of the US outnumber the Marines and retired Marines in said population, not to mention the population of Murtha’s district?
#23:
Ture enough, Sdferr. Sometimes it just seems that everyone has their own Jack Murtha — whether his name is Ted Stevens, or Richard Daley, or Harry Reid.
Ture=True.
Whoops.
One at a time baby, one by one we cut them down (send them away, I mean)!
Barney Frank & Wacky Dennis
I’d really have to go study the ostrakoi a bit further (for instance, I think Thucidides was a victim of its use, which I find hard to imagine was a net plus for Athens) to learn what were the benefits, what the harms of the practice, but I thought it useful to at least think a little on the idea, so threw it out there despite my general ignorance of the details.
The money’s got something to do with it, of course, but the good people of Johnstown and environs have another motive.
After all, if Murtha has to leave Washington he’ll probably come back and live there.
Regards,
Ric
Good point, Ric. But they could buy him a plane ticket to Hawaii though, couldn’t they? You know, so he could be closer to his beloved Marines over at Kaneohe?
#29:
The upside, Ric, is that if he’s a former congresspuke living in Johnstown, there’s no protective detail to keep the urchins from egging the shit out of his house on Halloween.
And Thanksgiving. And Eid.
They could buy him a plane ticket to anywhere, Sdferr. But there’s no guarantee he’d go. If they re-elect him he’s outa there.
Yokel, I see you have never interacted with the Johnstown PD. Brrrrrrrr….
Regards,
Ric
I don’t know Ric, and old hog like Murtha could probably still find plenty of room at the DC trough even if he lost the election. Their are some pretty sleazy characters looking for influence there.
And some tired characters looking for spelling help down here.
Maybe Murtha could have an “accident” on the Inclined Plane
Roland: “Murtha should be horse raped. On TV.”
The constitution forbids cruel and usual punishment, Roland.
Besides, what did the horse do to deserve that sort of public humiliation?
Good for him. I’d do his case pro bono if he was in Florida. Murtha is scum and has turned his back completely on the service he was once a part of . Murtha has disgraced himself and should sufferf the consequences.
And, as an aside, the soldier has a pretty good case, which I expect will be settle out of court.
Ex-Marine Murtha needs to be horsewhipped, then horsefucked on TV…too bad someone doesn’t have the balls to recall him to AD, then charge him for “Conduct unbecoming a U. S. Marine”.
Has Greenwald put out his big update on Haditha yet? I haven’t gone over to check. I just remember how outraged, absolutely outraged, he was at the possibility of a suit against Murtha when it was originally raised two years ago by the Marines affected.
He’s probably just waiting until the case of the final defendant gets settled out of abundance of caution before commenting knowing Glenn. He never jumps to conclusions out of excitement or hate and has a real fear of getting something wrong due to haste. That’s why it’s so refreshing to read so many corrections of his obvious errors on his Salon blog.
Maybe Gleens will defend Murtha. It would actually be a step up for him.
http://blue.utb.edu/labad/white_supremacist_is_held_in_ord.htm
B Moe – After Gleens got sanctioned for the judge for illegal wiretapping (eavesdropping) and withholding discovery requests in that case I’m not sure how solid his courtroom creds are these days. Representing Murtha as opposed to the babyraping, jackbooted, mind numbed, kilbots in Bushhitlerburton’s senseless war for lies and oil would be a no brainer for our boy Gleen.
Huh? Really? Oh, do tell me more. I’ve been irony starved and that would feed a small nation.
I hope Murtha is sued into third world poverty and then gets horse-raped. And then dies of rabies naked and alone.
EQUINEIST!!11!!!
Pablo – Gleen was illegally (without permission of the parties) recording phone calls during the case. During discovery he was asked to turn over all notes, etc., recordings. He may have turned over some recording but not all and claimed he did not have any more. It turned out he had more and the judge busted him on it, both on the discovery angle and on the illegality angle.
I think either TSK9 or I posted links a while back. I don’t remember if I found them or not. It was probably her. We both have a soft spot for Gleen. You could always google.
I fear the discovery process will be short circuited by Rep Murtha claiming “national security” on where he got his “information” that he will claim was the basis of his statement.
Should be one of the least media covered cases in the judicial system, I expect.
Congressman Abscam Murtha will just continue the slander, but he’ll do it from the House floor next time.
We deserve our fate. These guys are giving back some of our money – money that they took in the first place. They act like it’s a good thing. Shame on them. We reelect them. Shame on us.
Ah, thanks daleyrocks. I was hoping for illegal listening as opposed to illegal recording. This way is not so hypocrisy laden. I suppose you could just spin it that way if you had the scruples of, oh, let’s say Glen Greenwald. Stupid principles.
As one who wore the skin and helmet more than once, I am alarmed at these dishonorable soliers, officers alike, who cause so much disrespect for our military, Constitution, and Nation. I don’t know who is worse; The scum soldiers who run to bamboozal us or those of us who vote for them. Arlington Cementary must shake at their benedict Arnold footsteps. Actually, I would like to go to a Constitutional Convention where, “We the People” might shake their faces!