Granted this is old news and probably occurred even before I started this blog, but I wanted everyone to see this. John Murtha was investigated 27 years ago as a part of a bribery scandal involving other members of Congress. While Mr. Murtha wasn't convicted, I am bothered by a statement that he made about being bribed with $50,000: "I'm not interested. At this point."
That means that for whatever reason, he decided to tell these people that he was interested in a bribe at a future time. He could have said "I'm not interested. Thank you", but he didn't. He told them he would be interested in the future. The fact that this tape has been hidden away for 27 years now is a shame and needs to be explained to the American public. Of course, Mr. Murtha's people released a statement:
"This is nothing but a political stunt designed to distract attention away from the message that we must change the direction of the war in Iraq. I'm the guy that didn't take the money. I have been re-elected to Congress 13 times since this tape was made 26 years ago. I will not be distracted."
Well let's analyze that for a moment shall we? He's not denying anything that was said on the tape. He's not denying that he said that he would be interested in a bribe at a later day. What he does do though is claim that this is just a "distraction" and he's the "guy who didn't take the money". Well that may be, but the fact that he agreed to testify against his colleagues says something.
We don't have all the facts of this case. For example: Did the investigators decide to stop the investigation before Murtha had a chance to take a bribe? Did they feel they had a solid enough case against all 3 people involved, including Murtha, but then the case fell apart once they got closer to trial?
He also mentions that he's been re-elected to Congress 13 times since the tape was made. What he DOESN'T say is even more striking. Would voters have voted him into office had they seen this tape after it was made? Doubtful, because no one likes a potential corrupt politician.
What I find most striking of all is on the video, you see a man defending Murtha as being "swift boated", but he doesn't mention anything about the truth of the tape. Voters need to know everything about a person's ability to do their job if they are running for office, that includes the ability to remain honest and corrupt-free.
If someone is corrupt, they need to be removed from office and punished accordingly, regardless of political party. As soon as we're tougher on this issue, you'll start to see the change in Congress that everyone wants to see.
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
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