[fastpat]

Originally posted by Rodeo
I think John Murtha was the most courageous public official in the nation a year ago, when he was the first to acknowledge publicly that Iraq was the disaster everyone privately knew it to be. He was the first to call for a redeployment, which still remains the best of the bad options our president has left us. He held his ground in the face of fierce attacks from the WH, and the country soon realized that he was, and is, right.

That's leadership, a rare commodity these days.

Well, old man, you may have spoken too soon. Things aren't always what they seem, particularly in D.C.

The Mugging of Murtha
Congressional Democrats betray the antiwar movement
by Justin Raimondo

They mugged Jack Murtha, and the voters, Thursday morning. As the House Democratic caucus voted to install Rep. Steny Hoyer in the number-two leadership spot, over at the liberal Huffington Post they were running a large picture of Speaker Nancy and Hoyer making nice for the cameras, in a let's-join-hands photo-op veritably oozing with phoniness. The headline cited Pelosi's message: "We Made History Now Let's Make Progress for the American People." It's like reading the front page of Pravda, circa 1936: "Ten-Year Plan Over-Fulfilled!" over a photo of the Soviet hierarchy posed against the backdrop of the Kremlin.

Back in the half-forgotten days of the Cold War era, Kremlinologists – remember them? – used to carefully monitor the subtleties of these joint appearances: where one official stood, and in relation to whom, supposedly revealed the hidden struggle for power among the inner leadership. Published photos in particular signaled the rise and fall of political fortunes: which is why the Soviets went to the extraordinary lengths of altering photographic evidence that gave comfort to their ideological enemies, literally airbrushing Leon Trotsky and other prominent heretics out of existence.

In this spirit, then, examine the CNN photo of Nancy's coronation and notice its composition: Rahm Emanuel to the left of her, Hoyer to her right – a veritable Praetorian Guard that is little short of menacing. The former torpedoed antiwar candidates in the primary and snubbed them in the general election, while the latter defeated antiwar leader Jack Murtha – frowning in the background – for majority leader on the strength of a smear campaign of extraordinary proportions. Are the men surrounding Madam Speaker an honor guard, or a police escort? Who's in charge here?Read the complete article