They don’t change much, do they?
When an Air Force command in north Florida sought new battlefield technologies, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) steered millions in federal dollars its way to hire defense contractors.
The research effort at the Pensacola Air Force base fell apart, however, when investigators found evidence that it was used to improperly pay a series of companies linked to Murtha. A handful of defense firms were paid for work that was never done or not called for in the contracts. Some of the companies involved, based in Wyoming, Florida and Murtha’s district in Pennsylvania, had hidden owners, prosecutors allege; one was secretly owned by the Air Force official who helped approve the payments.
Murtha has made quite a career for himself, earmarking pet projects for favored friends and dancing right on the line separating mere ethical abuse from criminal culpability. He’ll probably walk away from this one smelling like a rose too. But eventually someone will strike a deal with the prosecutors for reduced time and the worm will turn.
And on the upside, I believe that Randy Cunningham may be looking for a roommate.
He’s a Democrat! Thus, nothing to see here — move along!
The fact the The Speaker wanted Murtha as her number two in the House to help her clean up the “culture of corruption” of the Bush Administration speaks volumes of the values of the person third in line for Presidential succession.
Scum, the whole damn lot of them.
I recall Pelosi saying that she wanted to clean up the swamp that was Congress.
She should start with herself and her cronies – Reid and Murtha.
OldT6Flyer/
STOP!! STOP IT!!! Quite deriding pond scum!!! Pond scum has a useful role to play in the ecology of the planet–unlike the creatures you have just used to smear scum and the appropriate role it plays in the sum total of things.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP!!
When I was in flight school at Rucker, we WOCs were told we were lower than Whale dung. I’m not sure that’s low enough for those morons running Congress, of either party.
You’re right, pond scum does have a useful function in God’s design. I only wish there were a sufficiently strong word to describe political scum.
Vx – I’ll amend my comment as follows:
“useful only as literary inspiration for Vince Flynn novels…the whole damn lot of them…”
Who’s the bigger crook? The politician who is robbing the public coffers betraying the public trust or the voters who knowingly reelect the thief and support his corruption? Personally, I blame the voters. He is a Democrat and the world knows what he is made of… I can smell it from here.
Must be a trick question.
The correct answer is “c.- Both of the above.”
Ummm… there’s an Air Force Base in P-Cola? Who knew?
Buck/
Doncha know ANYPLACE with the potential for a good golf course has an AF installation of one kind or another–who needs runways when you can have a caddy sha..research-facility?
There has been an AF activity a Pensacola for quite sometime. NAS Norfolk had a MAC standby facility that has gone active a few times. It went active during the Yom Kippur war. I was part o the Decomm crew for Courtney at the D&S piers at NOB NORVA and watched more AF activity in the approaches than Navy. There used to be and Ammo storage facility there and the Israelis were burning through a lot of it. That period was the first time I saw a C-5 in flight, and in comparison to a C-141, it seemed so huge. Not so big these days.
The AF is also sending people to Pensacola for Primary Flight Training.
Mahe Island, Seychelles, moonlight, terrace, ocean view from atop the cliff and of course it is an Air Force Station club. Loved it.
I’m not convinced he’s going to get off clean from this one…
(from Hot Air)
Ooh, ooh, ooh…can I be the first one to pronounce him guilty of a crime before a trial?
No…wait a minute…that would be wrong – not allowing due process to work.
Ok, I guess we’ll have to wait for Justice to handle the matter and see what actually happened AFTER a full investigation…darn it.
But, it’s so much more fun to “rush to judgment”, eh, John?
Could the USAF base in Pensacola refer to the extensive Air Force construction at Forrest Sherman Field at NAS Pensacola? I heard that the USAF got tired of a lack of navy cooperation in training NFOs/WSOs/etc., and are building a separate USAF hangar and training facility at the field.
I think that Carol D. Leonnig, the WaPo staff writer for this piece, must be confused between NAS Pensacola, and Hurlburt Field and Eglin AFB farther east on Florida’s panhandle.
She doesn’t seem to have much background on the US military, but she DOES enjoy exposing the corrupt activities of Rep Murtha, (she’s written over ten articles in the past six months alone) so I think that we can grant her some leeway with geography!
We can dream that Murtha will one day share a cell with Duke Cunningham. They can both reminisce their storied pasts.
I had the distinct displeasure of briefing Murtha when I was at CJTF-4 in Key West. To top it off, we had to have lunch with him. He was a pompous a$$ then and remains that today. The fact that he controls such an important sub-committee, makes me want to throw up.
But at least Duke had *some* redeeming qualities about him, being an ace and all that… I don’t know any Marine who acknowledges Murtha as ever having been a member of their fraternity.
I live in Pennsylvania and had a chance to represent my company at a luncheon where I would have had a chance to meet Murtha. I told my boss to send someone else. I had no desire to meet the second ex-Marine in history and I wasn’t too sure that I could prevent myself from taking a shot at breaking his jaw.