The Anti-Murtha

John Kline and John Murtha seem to have a lot in common. Both are retired Marines. Both are decorated Vietnam combat veterans. Both are congressmen. In addition, Representative Kline, as Brother Hinderaker tells it, "flew Marine One, the Presidential helicopter, and served on a small committee of Marines who planned the Corps’ long-term procurement needs. John’s character and steadiness of nerve were recognized when, during the Carter administration and, more briefly, the Reagan Administration, he was selected to travel with the President, carrying the briefcase containing the codes to launch our nuclear arsenal."

So you would think that his report on the state of affairs in Iraq would carry at least equal weight with the Extreme Media, right?

{rimshot}

Here's what the unflappable, excruciatingly disciplined Representative Kline had to say about the extreme Left and their latest "hoo-rah" poster boy:

Just the fact that the level of debate has gone up, and you have some leaders, Kerry, Pelosi, Dean, saying we can’t win and we’ve got to get out, that’s not reassuring to our troops, that’s not supporting our troops, and what is always lost in this discussion is, by God it’s not reassuring our allies, including the Iraqi leadership.

Howard Dean’s casual comment that we can’t win is not just irresponsible, it really is a betrayal of the trust of our men and women in uniform. That’s what makes me so angry about Jack Murtha, more than any of the others, because he was a Vietnam vet, and he did serve many years in the Marine reserve and he ought to know better.

Howard Dean, I just have so little regard for his opinion on anything, but he is the leader of the Democrat party, and for him to come out and say that is certainly irresponsible, but even more than that, I think it is harmful to our service men and women, it is a betrayal of their trust, it is very damaging to our allies.

What does this say to our coalition partners who are small countries who have made large commitments of men and equipment, because they trust us and they think that what we’re doing is right and is important? And you have national leaders who come out and say things like that.

What I tell these folks is, you really are not supporting the troops if you are not supporting what they are doing. Because the troops don’t feel like it’s support if you say, “What you guys are doing is not working. It’s a disaster, we can’t win and we’re going to pull you out. So all of the sacrifices that you’ve made have been for nothing." They don’t think that’s support. It sounds very hollow to them. It does wear on them....

The good news story is just shamefully lost where you get somebody like John Murtha saying, we’re not making any progress, and you get someone like Howard Dean saying we can’t win. What is that possibly based on? Because all information on the ground in Iraq refutes that.

Damn right, it does. And if Democrats think they're going to ride John Murtha to victory in 2006, they've got another think coming.

To employ an apt aphorism, Murtha is the disease, and John Kline is the cure.