He traded favors for businesses in his district for influence. They were talking hard cash for hard bills.
I know this is old news, but it is new to me. I just can't watch this video and accept that this man now has a vote in the United States Senate.
I'm not going to go on and on about this, but you will need to make your own judgement on this. Before you attack me for saying this, first watch the video: http://www.spectator...
If you don't like foul language, you may not like this. Murtha had a filthy mouth - swears like a sailor.
If I am to withdraw my statement regarding his resignation, he has some serious explaining to do. I am just shaking my head in discust.
Democrats have a problem. If more Americans watch this video they will be very angry with what they see. This is damning to a party that ran on fighting a culture of corruption.
Fix it. And be swift. This is the first litmus test on how Democrats handle ethics. After I watched it, I am glad he didn't get the votes for leadership. I am shocked he didn't get prison time for this, to be honest.
Bush was a coke head apparently shouldn't he resign? Among other things people accuse him for.
Let's not eat our own. Murtha isn't going anywhere, we have a new majority leader, and a new congress.
Let's move forward.
I can't imagine anyone who has watched the entire video thinking that Murtha has no explaining to do. He owes us an explanation, and short of that his resignation is appropriate.
Please, watch the video if you haven't, and then respond if you think I am wrong. What I witnessed was a man making big deals with big money. Did he try and get new jobs out of this? Sure, but that is no justification for corruption.
What if I go and rob a bank tomorrow, and then spend half the money on a business and create jobs. Is that OK? Or what if I just leave the keys to the bank and alarm codes at the bank door for the robbers, under the condition that they create jobs. Is that OK?
Jobs is one of my biggest issues. I don't believe that breaking the law or violating ethics is how I want to create these jobs. Perhaps that is what makes me different than big business - who have no ethical qualms when it comes to breaking the law. The ends justifies the means. Well, not in my book.
Having watched the video, what I watched was about one of the slickest bits of political angling ever. This isn;t evidence of Murtha being "corrupt" in the sense of taking bribes. Its a politicians job to get foreign investments in their constituency. Mark Warner went over seas to hustle investments for Virginia. Murtha was desperate to get something going with the high unemployment, and he had to keep the door open.
He didn't accept the bribe, made it clear he was only interested in investments in his consitituency. BUT, he had to keep the door open to them for negotiating power, and that meant saying "for now."
Those were hard choices in difficult times for an economically ravaged area. I don;t blame him for working every possible angle right up to the line for right and wrong.
Pelosi was being smart, and her position is not affected by this- she supported a candidate for good reasons, but instead of getting nasty like the GOP, accepted a democratic vote with grace.
I can tell you one thing - if the apologists come forward on this issue, the Democratic party will be NO BETTER THAN REPUBLICANS.
Unless he went directly to the FBI after that meeting - which to my knowledge didn't occur - he was at best offered a bribe and didn't report it while also being aware of bribes involving two of his colleagues. At worst, he was arranging bribes by proxy for businesses in his district. This is NOT HOW WE WANT OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS DOING BUSINESS!!!
He did leave the door open for future bribes. He did not show any signs of indignation towards the offers, nor did he show any indignation towards his colleagues who had already accepted bribes.
Just because it is over 20 years old means nothing. In fact, only 15 seconds were released before. Now, we have an hours worth of footage.
What you see in this video is WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR GOVERNMENT!!!
How dare anyone be apologetic for this. You should be indignant. I don't care if he is "your own". This is not the mafia. This is MY F%CKING COUNTRY!!! There is no obligation to not "eat your own". If you include a corrupt politician as "your own" you may not be good company.
Shame on anyone, especially Democrats, who are silent on this. I voted a straight Democratic ticket in protest to exactly this type of behavior just last week. I don't care about his swearing, I care about his CORRUPT DISPLAY OF BEHAVIOR!!!
The two responses so far ANGER ME. I sincerely hope that most people in this party won't be apologists and excusers of corrupt people. SHAME ON YOU!!!