Just saw the news story that Rep. Jack Murtha has died.

A spokesman says Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine Corps officer who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 77.

He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery.

In addition to his opposition to the Iraq war, Murtha is known for his involvement in Abscam and the volume of pork brought to his little corner of PA.

I can’t think of any political area where I would agree with him. Still, I pray for comfort for his family and friends.

I know you are all anxiously awaiting the results of last Monday’s “Might Mouth Murtha” Caption Contest. Well, here they are:

5th — Rodney Dill — “And you thought Opus’s anxiety closet was bad.”

4th — Maggie Mama — Hillary loves sharing the stage with someone who is known to have a bigger mouth than hers.

3rd — Wyatt Earp — “Yeah, I banged him. So what?”

2nd — Old NFO — (plastic smile) I’m gonna kill the sumbitch that set this up… (plastic smile)

And the winner is:
elliot — Where will you be when diarrhea strikes?

Thanks to everyone for their entries.

Get your entry in for this weeks contest now.

The original caption: Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, listens as Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., introduces her during a campaign stop at Greater Johnstown High School in Johnstown, Pa., Sunday, April 20, 2008.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

That’s not what I see. How about you?

Winners of the Compassionate Caption Contest will be announced later today are here.

The first news article is here.

The Marine Corps is dropping all charges against a lance corporal who was accused of involuntary manslaughter in a squad’s killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in 2005.

The Marines dropped the case against 26-year-old Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum on Friday as jury selection was about to begin for his court-martial at Camp Pendleton.

I’m sure that there will be more on this later in the day. Would someone please call Jack Murtha and get his take on this. Thanks.

No coffee can be good in the mouth that does not first send a sweet offering of odour to the nostrils. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Failing On The Culture Of Corruption Twice Over

GOP Bloggers (Jon Roth) Scientists Retreat From Alarmism to Skepticism on “Global Warming”

Tomorrow will be the 2nd Blogiversary for bRight&Early. There will be a special edition broadcast of First Cup Radio at 7:00am Eastern. More on that later.

The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce. ~ Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr.

Iowa Voice (Brian) Huffington: Murtha Defeat Still A Victory — “Now, notice how this standard of leadership only applies to Democrats (again, that “Do as I say” mantra). Every single thing she wrote in these two paragraphs could easily be used to describe George W. Bush, and she ignores it. Doesn’t see the irony that what she has just said as glowing praise for Nancy Pelosi are the exact same things that the left (herself included) have done nothing but bash Bush over.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Iranian Arrest A Harbinger? — “The American press hasn’t covered this story until now, but British intelligence has detained a former Iranian diplomat on terrorism charges at the request of the US. Newsweek reports that Nosratollah Tajik allegedly attempted to procure night-vision goggles for Hezbollah:”

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) Is The Murtha/Hoyer Election A Harbinger Of Things To Come? — “Make no mistake about it, with Nancy Pelosi running the show, liberal chairmen running the committees, and liberal activists demanding that liberal ideas be moved forward, the Democrats will definitely be pushing a liberal agenda over the next couple of years.

However, having a liberal agenda is one thing and getting it through can sometimes be quite another. In this case, replacing the more moderate Steny Hoyer with “Abscam John” Murtha didn’t work out so well.”

The Jawa Report (Dr. Rusty Shackleford) (Video) Exposed: The Extremist Muslim Agenda — “If you didn’t see Glenn Beck’s important documentary on the radical Islamist agenda, you need to.

No, I take that back. It is your friends and family that are still in denial. They need to see this video.

[...]

See the Glenn Beck “Exposed” video here.” [Take a look at the video. Send the links to others and encourage them to watch the video. Now. Jim]

Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis – a good hot cup of coffee. ~ Alexander King

The Strata-Sphere (A.J. Strata) Democrats Act To Surrender Quickly To Al Qaeda — “OK, I must be living on a different planet because I never thought the Democrats would be so stupid as to go out and do all those terrible things people predicted they would do – but the are. The first terrible move is to call for troop reductions in Iraq. Troop reductions have been big losers in Senate votes, the latest just this past June. And there has been no public support for a surrender to Al Qaeda in Iraq. None. So why the dems are pushing this subject now is an interesting issue.”

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) How The Impeachment Will Go Down — “The Democrats are just dying to impeach George Bush for something, anything, it doesn’t really matter what it is. Moreover, the Democratic base, much of which is in the final throes of Bush Derangement syndrome, will absolutely DEMAND that the Democrats in Congress try to impeach Bush no matter what the chances of success or the consequences.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) The Politics Of The Personal — “Nancy Pelosi surprised political analysts by injecting herself into an intraparty fight over the House leadership position. Despite Steny Hoyer’s efforts to win the midterms as Minority Leader, Pelosi endorsed John Murtha to replace him in the majority. Her first effort as Speaker-elect gives a preview of Pelosi’s leadership style and the importance of personal relationships over political pragmatism:”

Wizbang (Jay Tea) Hell no, we won’t go! — “Simply put, those who are facing death or injury or maiming — their own or, worse for them, their buddies — are saying, by their deeds, that they are willing to stay in Iraq and keep working towards fulfilling their mission. They don’t WANT to be protected. They see themselves as the protectors, and they don’t like the idea of their charges acting to “shield” them from their duty.”

Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis – a good hot cup of coffee. ~ Alexander King

Townhall (Val Prieto) Truth, even if clandestine, is still truth. — “Right now there remain at least two dozen independent journalists incarcerated in Cuba simply because they dared speak the truth. Some have been locked away since 2003, still in the infancy of their 15 or 20 year sentences. Truth has made them suffer beatings, torture and malnutrition. Truth has mocked, ridiculed, and subjected them to abject horrors and indignity.
All because they bear witness to the world around them and dare describe it nakedly and without their government’s official veil.” [h/t: Blue Crab Boulevard]

Dr. Sanity (Pat Santy) ACTIVE LISTENING vs WORTHLESS DIPLOMATIC WRANGLING — “When it comes to the decisions to act to prevent homicidal countries, led by homicidal maniacs from killing, Glick has the right of it. All you have to do is listen to what the mullahs are saying. All you have to do is listen to what Ahmadinejad and the leaders of all the various Islamic fanatic cults are saying–repeatedly, clearly, concisely, calmly, and consciously.”

To be continued (When some other folks wake up and post something interesting)

BLOGGERS ARE WAKING UP UPDATE:

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Israel Arrests Palestinian Deputy PM In Ramallah — “The Israelis sent a message this morning that they have not forgotten the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit by Hamas. The IDF captured the Hamas Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser Shaer, at his home this morning:”

Last comes the beverage of the Orient shore, Mocha, far off, the fragrant berries bore. Taste the dark fluid with a dainty lip, Digestion waits on pleasure as you sip. ~ Pope Leo XII

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) Prosecute The Leakers, Not The New York Times — “Start things out by asking the reporters to reveal their sources. If they don’t give them up, throw them in jail for contempt until they give up the source. Once the government learns the identity of the source who knowingly broke the law by giving out classified info, we should throw everything in the book at them and make sure they end up breaking big rocks into smaller rocks for a couple of decades.”

Blogs for Bush (Mark Noonan) Murtha Speaks Again — “Well, this puts Murtha square in the Sheehan/Kos/Man From Mars sector of the Democratic Party…really, Democrats, is this what you want your main spokesman on the war to be saying? That the United States of American – the greatest and best nation in human history and the bulwark of freedom and decency in the world – is a greater threat to peace than Iran or North Korea? Is this what you believe?”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Delusions Of Grandeur Die Hard In Baghdad — “Saddam Hussein has had a difficult time adjusting to life out of power and in the hands of the people he brutalized for four decades. That kind of life change can cause cognitive difficulties for someone in that position; the mind plays tricks on megalomaniacs, allowing them to believe that they still occupy the center of the universe.”

Wizbang (Lorie Byrd) Time To Plant The Goalposts — “One thing to look for over the coming week or so is for announcements of troop reductions to be met with the claim that those reductions are a result of John Kerry/John Murtha’s calls to cut-and-run. The very idea is ridiculous and dishonest, which means it is likely that someone will pick it up and run with it. (It has already been floated in several comments here over the past week.) Not only is it wrong that future troop reductions in Iraq are due to any pressure from Democrats, I believe many of the Democrats’ calls for troop withdrawal were made in anticipation of the reductions President Bush spoke of a year or so ago.”

Confederate Yankee Crash — “That crashing sound you hear is shatering of the liberal myth that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq didn’t have ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Of course it did, and the documented ties are getting stronger:”

Proving the importance of point of view, John Hawkins at Right Wing News took the premise of Keith Olberman’s new book The Worst Person In the World: And 119 More Strong Contenders and asked right-of-center bloggers to submit their list of contenders for that title. They even used Olberman’s definition:

“It’s a euphemism for somebody who’s wrong and egregiously stupid and abusing their own position.”

The results are in and tallied. I have a sneaking suspicion that the list compiled by John matches up pretty poorly with that in the book.

Here (in no particular order) is my top ten:

John Murtha
Vincente Fox
Nancy Pelosi
John Kerry
Ted Kennedy
Howard Dean
Dick Durbin
George Soros
Al Gore
Hillary Clinton

Agree? Disagree? Who’s on your list? Leave a comment.

Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical. ~ Jonathan Swift

Iowa Voice (Brian) Okinawa?!? — “But notice how he’s placing the “over the horizon” location further and further away from Iraq. It was originally Kuwait or other countries in the area. Now it’s Okinawa. Want to bet that next speech he gives it will be even closer to, if not actually in, the United States?”

Captain’s Quarters The Left Can’t Tell Between Victory And Defeat — “He [Frank Rich. Jim] calls Somalia an American defeat at the same time that Murtha praises our abandonment of the Somalians. That demonstrates why the Left cannot be trusted on national security and defense — they have no concept of success or failure in military matters, and believe a defeat can somehow be a strategem that should be repeated.”

The Jawa Report — ” ” (They’re under a DDOS Attack again.)

Ankle Biting Pundits (Patrick Hynes) Senate Dems to Propose Cut-and-Run Resolution — “In response to the U.S. House and Senate’s overwhelming votes in favor of staying the course in Iraq, Senate Democrats–in what can only be seen as an exercise in beating a dead horse–will propose a resolution on Tuesday that will, in effect, give our terrorists the date of our departure from the blossoming democracy:”

Something…and Half of Something (LindaSoG) A Case for Cut and Run? — “This enemy does not respect mercy, it does not respect compassion, it does not respect cut and run. Murtha believes we should back out, and leave the Middle East to the no-so-tender mercies of islamic terrorism, turn on backs on the innocents who will become victims of islamic law.
Murtha wants what our enemies want.
That makes Murtha the enemy.”

No coffee can be good in the mouth that does not first send a sweet offering of odour to the nostrils. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) 2006 Agenda 2.0 — “The Democrats have announced their latest version of the electoral agenda for the 2006 midterms, but they selected an unusual news day for its release. Politicians use Friday afternoon to release information that they hope will see little coverage, and in reviewing Agenda 2.0, one can understand why:”

In the Bullpen (Chad Evans) Murtha: Change Direction Like Lebanon or Somalia — “Perhaps the strongest case for not withdrawing from Iraq came from Representative Jack Murtha this afternoon while on CNN’s The Situation Room, though somehow I don’t believe Murtha was trying to make the case why the U.S. should not withdraw from Iraq.”