Dean: Shame on Them

[realFedUp]

I want to tell you about John Murtha. He's a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania. He's also a combat veteran and retired Marine Corps colonel.

Murtha spent 37 years in Marine Corps, earned the Bronze Star, two purple hearts, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. And for the last thirty years he's been one of the most respected voices in Congress on military issues -- universally respected by Democrats, Republicans and military brass alike.

Until now.

Republicans have disgraced themselves by viciously attacking John Murtha with such disrespect that not only veterans, but every decent American should be angry.

What did Murtha, a decorated combat veteran, do to draw fire from a White House led by a president and vice president who evaded service in Vietnam? He questioned their management of the war in Iraq. Here's part of what he had to say:

The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region. ...

For two and a half years, I have been concerned about the U.S. policy and the plan in Iraq. I have addressed my concerns with the Administration and the Pentagon and have spoken out in public about my concerns. The main reason for going to war has been discredited. ...

I have been visiting our wounded troops at Bethesda and Walter Reed hospitals almost every week since the beginning of the War. And what demoralizes them is going to war with not enough troops and equipment to make the transition to peace; the devastation caused by IEDs; being deployed to Iraq when their homes have been ravaged by hurricanes; being on their second or third deployment and leaving their families behind without a network of support.

Shameless Republicans immediately went on the attack. Dick Cheney, who has said that he had "other priorities" and collected 5 deferments while people like Murtha served in Vietnam, called Murtha's comments "irresponsible" and regretted that "the president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone." The White House spokesman, who has also never worn the uniform, pronounced himself "baffled" that Murtha, who volunteered for two wars, wanted to "surrender to the terrorists". A Republican Congressman said Murtha and others "basically are giving aid and comfort to the enemy".

Shame on them. Every one of us -- right now -- needs to let Jack Murtha know that we respect his service, respect his leadership, and respect his right to speak the truth. This man has spent his life serving us. The very least each one of us can do is let him know that no matter what dishonorable smear campaign Republicans wage we will be there with him.

Send Congressman Murtha a note telling him that you will not be silent while he is attacked:

http://www.democrats.org/shameonthem

I will deliver your message to him personally, along with my own thanks for his service to our country and his continuing courage in the face of threats.

Lies and manipulation characterized the Republican case for war, and lies and manipulation have been the primary weapon against anyone who questions their failed leadership.

First it was Senator Max Cleland, who left limbs in Vietnam, being savagely attacked in 2002. Then John Kerry, who received three purple hearts, being smeared in 2004. The history of this war has shown that Republicans value political posturing more than the service of America's veterans.

Republicans don't want a serious debate about Iraq because they know the American people are simply not with them. They cannot respond to the substance of Murtha's criticism -- or any criticism -- because they are wrong.

Jack Murtha is already fighting back. When told of Cheney's comments he reminded people where Cheney was while he was in Vietnam: "I like guys who got five deferments and have never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

But Jack can't beat this back alone. Show him that Americans know that Republicans should be ashamed of themselves:

http://www.democrats.org/shameonthem

Enough is enough -- we cannot allow another veteran to be smeared by George Bush's cronies.

Thank you for taking a stand.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

[blm]

1. Just as I expected. Thanks Chairman Dean.

.

[radio4progressives]

19. As always Dean says it best...

excellent letter and very important call to action.

:yourock:

[blm]

21. Almost as good as Kerry's Senate floor speech defending Murtha.

I'm happy to see so many Dems coming forward on the same page.


Mr. President, yesterday, Jack Murtha, a respected congressman on military matters, and former Marine Drill Sergeant and decorated Vietnam veteran, spoke out on our policy in Iraq. He didn’t come to that moment lightly. He spoke his mind and spoke his heart out of love for his country and support for our troops. I am not going to stand for a swift boat attack strategy against Jack Murtha.

It disgusts me that a bunch of guys who have never put on the uniform of their country venomously turn their guns on a marine who served his country heroically in Vietnam and has been serving heroically in Congress ever since.

No matter what J.D. Hayworth says, there is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha’s character and conscience.

Dennis Hastert — the Speaker of the House who never served — called Jack Murtha a coward and accused him of wanting to cut and run. Well let me tell you, Jack Murtha wasn’t a coward when he put himself in harm’s way for his country in Vietnam and earned two purple hearts — he was a patriot then, and he is a patriot today. Jack Murtha didn’t cut and run when his courage in combat earned him a Bronze Star, and his voice should be heard, not silenced by those who still today cut and run from the truth.

Just a day after Dick Cheney, who had 5 deferments from Vietnam, accused Democrats of being unpatriotic — the White House accused Jack Murtha of surrendering. Jack Murtha served 37 years in the Marine Corps. He doesn’t know how to surrender — not to enemy combatants, and not to politicians in Washington who say speaking his conscience is unpatriotic.

Robert Kennedy once said, “The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country.” Chuck Hagel showed he hasn’t forgotten that when he said, “The Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them.”

But too many in the Republican Party forgot that long ago. They forgot that asking tough questions isn’t pessimism; it’s patriotism.

We’ve seen the politics of fear and smear too many times. Whenever challenged, Republican leaders engage in the politics of personal destruction rather than debate the issues. It doesn’t matter who you are. When they did it to John McCain, we saw it doesn’t matter what political party you’re in. When they did it to Max Cleland, we saw it doesn’t matter if your service put you in a wheelchair. And when they did it to Jack Murtha yesterday, perhaps the most respected voice on military matters in all of Congress, we saw that this administration will go to any lengths to crush any dissent.

Once again, they’re engaged in the lowest form of smear and fear politics because they’re afraid of actually debating a senior congressman who has advised presidents of both parties on how to best defend our country. They’re afraid to debate a decorated veteran who lives and breathes the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor. They’re terrified of actually leveling with the American people about the way they misled America into war, and admitting they have no clear plan to finish the job and get our troops home. Whether you agree with Jack Murtha’s policy or not is irrelevant.

The truth is there is a better course for our troops and for America in Iraq and I am going to keep fighting until we take that course for the good of our country.

American families who have lost, or who fear the loss, of their loved ones deserve to know the truth about what we have asked them to do, what we are doing to complete the mission, and what we are doing to prevent our forces from being trapped in an endless quagmire. Our military families understand that open debate about what’s going on in Iraq doesn’t put our troops at risk; it’s the only way to get it right in Iraq so we can get their sons and daughters home.

I think all of us should be mindful, as the White House yet again engages in character assassination to prevent Americans from listening to the words of military experts, of the consequences we have already endured from the failure to listen.

When the administration could have listened to General Shinseki and put in enough troops to maintain order, they chose not to. When they could have learned from George Herbert Walker Bush and built a genuine global coalition, they chose not to. When they could have implemented a detailed State Department plan for reconstructing post-Saddam Iraq, they chose not to.

When they could have protected American forces by guarding Saddam Hussein’s ammo dumps where there were weapons of individual destruction, they exposed our young men and women to the ammo that now maims and kills them because they chose not to act. When they could have imposed immediate order and structure in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam, Rumsfeld shrugged his shoulders, said Baghdad was safer than Washington, D.C. and chose not to act. When the Administration could have kept an Iraqi army selectively intact, they chose not to. When they could have kept an entire civil structure functioning to deliver basic services to Iraqi citizens, they chose not to.

When they could have accepted the offers of the United Nations and individual countries to provide on the ground peacekeepers and reconstruction assistance, they chose not to. When they should have leveled with the American people that the insurgency had grown, they chose not to. Vice President Cheney even absurdly claimed that the “insurgency was in its last throes.”

And now, after all these mistakes, who is the administration to accuse anyone of wanting to cut and run. We are in trouble today precisely because of a policy of cut and run. This administration made the wrong choice to cut and run from sound intelligence and good diplomacy; to cut and run from the best military advice; to cut and run from sensible war time planning; to cut and run from their responsibility to properly arm and protect our troops; to cut and run from history’s lessons about the Middle East; to cut and run from common sense. That is the debate they are afraid to have in our country. Shame on them.

Instead of letting his cronies run their mouths, the President should finally find the courage to debate the real issue instead of destroying anyone who speaks truth to power as they see it. It’s time for Americans to stand up, fight back, and make it clear it’s unacceptable to do this to any leader of any party anywhere in our country.

And I hope my colleagues will come down to this floor and debate the issue on its merits, instead of attacking the character of a man like Jack Murtha, because believe me — that’s a fight nobody’s going to win in our America.

[David Zephyr]

30. Great stuff from Senator Kerry!

"I am not going to stand for a swift boat attack strategy against Jack Murtha." --- Senator John Kerry

[madfloridian]

2. Recommended and kicked.

:kick:

[montanacowboy]

3. done

thank you Howard Dean

[NYCGirl]

4. Kicked, recommended, and signed. NT

[PDJane]

5. I wish I could sign........

[NYCGirl]

6. What's the problem? Why can't you sign the petition for Murtha? NT

[snowbear]

16. PDJane. Do you agree it's wrong for R's to bash our Veterans?

I don't understand either why you can't sign either? :shrug:

[PDJane]

23. I can't sign

Because I am not an American citizen. I'm a Canadian, y'see.

[Debi]

25. Good to have you here at DU!

:hi: late welcome!

[NYCGirl]

35. Welcome! Canadians are very cool folks (and I don't mean the weather).

:hi:

[PDJane]

37. Thank you.......

for the warm welcome!

[LaurenG]

7. Done and Thank you for posting this. nt

[newsguyatl]

8. dean speaks for me

once again.

[realFedUp]

9. signed, sent. Thanks Doc for your words in a timely manner.

[mzmolly]

10. Just when I think they can't get any more disgusting, they prove me wrong.

Thank you Dr. Dean, and thank you realFedUp.

Signed and recommended.

[OneTwentyoNine]

11. Sent...pass it on!! n/t

[Larkspur]

12. Done. Sent reply.

[realFedUp]

13. We respect you Congressman Murtha.

we have your back.

[sandnsea]

14. Today, Dean speaks for me

No Democrat should be left to beat back these kinds of attacks alone.

[ProSense]

15. Beautiful! n/t

[Uncle Joe]

17. Well done, Howard Kicked and Recommended

:kick:

[longship]

18. Done, recommended and kicked.

:kick:ed

[DearAbby]

20. Thank you Howard Dean, Thank you John Murtha

[Cha]

22. Jack Murtha is not going to

back down! Thanks, Dean, that was a well written letter that gets me right to the bone.

Thanks, realFedUp, for bringing this on DU.

[Raffi Ella]

24. Done.

Thanks for letting us know about this.I appreciate it.

[mtnsnake]

26. Done & Sent! Howard Dean & John Murtha are the epitome of what we've

been lacking for so darn long. They are the voices we've been longing to hear. They are the people who will not be intimidated by Rethuglicans. People like Dean and Murtha make me proud to be a Democrat because they are finally giving us hope that Democrats are learning to fight back.

[Dogmudgeon]

27. Many have been the times I've disagreed with John Murtha

He's a fellow Democrat from my state. Too conservative by my lights, but from all accounts, a stand-up guy.

When a conservative Democrat with a long history of service in the Marine Corps tells me that a war is wrong, then, damn it, that war is wrong.

I wrote. Next, my local Representative in Washington and my state's Senators (Santorum and Specter), all Republicans, get notes.

I hope they get the message, as well.

--p!
Specter, maybe; Santorum, you can guess.

[David Zephyr]

28. Kick!

Kicking butt and taking numbers!

[spancks]

29. DONE

[RJRoss]

31. Assholes!

Why do chickenhawks hate our soldiers (past and present)?

[Orion The Hunter]

32. Dean Speaks For Me!

A great show of support for an honorable, decorated veteran.

[emdee]

33. Thank you -- I passed it on to.....

Marsha Blackburn! LOL

Enter YOUR representative's email address in the contact form.

:dem:

emdee

[Cha]

34. Just a bit of political trivia..

Jack Murtha backed Dean for DNC chair!

Jan, 2005

"Murtha: Give Dean DNC chair"

" Several lawmakers said support by the hardscrabble, old-school Vietnam veteran, who endorsed former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) in the presidential primaries, would compel the DNC to take a second look at the firebrand governor and not simply write him off as an extreme avatar of the party’s antiwar wing.
At Dean’s request, Murtha wrote to Pennsylvania’s seven delegates to the DNC last week explaining why he is endorsing a candidate with whom he shares so few positions.

“I am not with him on all the issues, but he understands the party’s problems, what we need to do and how to get there,” said Murtha. “And he has executive experience. … A lot of people in the party don’t understand just where we are. We need a change. We need something different.”

One senior lawmaker, who asked not to be named in order to speak more candidly about internal party matters, said his colleagues would be shocked to hear of Murtha’s support for Dean. The lawmaker added, “Maybe we’ll all have to take a second look. A lot of us will.”

Murtha said he contacted Dean to tell him of his support.
“We’re thrilled that Murtha has decided to endorse us. This is someone who is an expert on defense issues and it just shows Governor Dean’s broad appeal to Democrats,” said Laura Gross, spokeswoman for Dean."

More at..
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/010505/murtha.html

[NYCGirl]

36. That's AMAZINGLY cool, Zidzi! Thank you for posting it. NT

[Cha]

39. "Executive experience"!

I thought it was "amazingly cool", too, NYCGirl!

:toast:

[bigwillq]

38. Done (nt)

[Fla4kerry]

40. DONE!

Give em hell Dean ! We love your leadership in the DNC.

[sonias]

41. I'm standing with Congressman Jack Murtha

We will not be silenced!

Sonia

[realFedUp]

42. Yeah! nt

[madfloridian]

43. 7,000 have signed Dean's DNC request to support Murtha...90 minutes.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/11/shame_on_them_a.php

[karynnj]

44. quibble to an otherwise good letter

Dean lists Murtha's medals, but when listing the other people smeared he says Kerry had 3 purple hearts. This was true - but Kerry also had a silver star and a bronze star with valor. The purple hearts represent being wounded, unfortunate, but not heroic. The 2 stars for heroic actions. The point is Dean is inadvertently continuing the RW actions of last year in diminishing Kerry's true status as a very highly decorated war veteran - not just a wounded one. If no medals were mentioned I wouldn't care.

I do know Dean supported Kerry in the general election.
But I will wait to see if someone else has a petition because this really bothers me.

[Miss Chybil]

45. Done. nt

[AuntiBush]

46. Thank You, Dr. Dean!

Rec'd email. Signed & sent to family & friends.

Where would we be without the "doctor" in our house!?! Shutter that thought.

[Seabiscuit]

47. Thank you, Chairman Dean!!! My e-mail message to John Mertha:

I have been tearing my hair out for years now hoping beyond hope that someone in Washington would come around to represent our country's true interests and unite the opposition in Congress to the miserable failure that this administration's policy in Iraq has been since before it came to power in 2001. You have answered our prayers and we commend and applaud your courage to stand up and speak the truth to power. While those cowardly Republicans who dare besmirch and smear your courageous record in the Marines and in Congress are shooting themselves in their collective feet today with their fraudulent imitation of your resolution, please know that those of us who have opposed the Iraq war from its conception stand tall and proud with you as you addressed the House tonight. Thank you from the bottom of our bloodied (but not bowed) hearts. For the first time in our lives our entire family has been glued to CSPAN all day just to hear you speak. We put everything in our lives on hold today to thank you with our attention to you and to your honorable words. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[andlor]

48. done

[Amonester]

49. Welcome to DU, andlor, and thank you!!

Wow!

"Lies and manipulation characterized the Republican case for war," - Dr. Dean. (today) (WOW oh WOW oh WOW!!! "LIES AND MANIPULATION")

Now: "The President LIED to the American People AND the Congress to launch an UNNECESSARY WAR," (this Sunday on TV? Oh PLEASE say this truth on teevee...) PLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASE!

Kick & Recommend & Act

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Rainscents]

50. Dean, speak for me! Done!

[bvar22]

51. Thanks, Doc!

The NEW Republican LOGO!

[Dervill Crow]

52. Done.

I had to tear myself away from C-SPAN last night to go to my daughter's birthday party. John Murtha is awesome.

Howard Dean is awesome.

I have to say, John Kerry is looking better again in his support of John Murtha.

The sun is shining, it's Saturday, and I feel a glimmer of hope for the Democratic party again. It could be worse.