Alll She is Saying ... Is Give Fleece a Chance

It appears that Pennsylvania Democrat (and also Congressman) Jack Murtha's problem with the war is it's in Iraq, not in Pennsylvania.

According to the Washington Times (w/t Powerline), Murtha is willing to break House rules to get military pork sent to his district:

During a series of House votes Thursday, Murtha walked to the chamber's Republican side to confront Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a 43-year-old former FBI agent. Earlier this month, Rogers had tried unsuccessfully to strike a Murtha earmark from an intelligence spending bill. The item would restore $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center, a facility in Murtha's Pennsylvania district that some Republicans say is unneeded.

According to Rogers' account, which Murtha did not dispute, the Democrat angrily told Rogers he should never seek earmarks of his own because "you're not going to get any, now or forever."

Speaker-In-Law™ Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) defended Murtha, saying she had

"[N]o idea what actually happened" during a noisy exchange in the House chamber last week between Reps. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

"What I do know is that Congressman Murtha has — enjoys — an excellent reputation in the Congress on both sides of the aisle," said Pelosi in a broadcast interview taped Friday and aired Sunday.

"He writes the defense appropriation bill in a bipartisan way each year and with the complete involvement of the Republicans as to who gets what on the Republican side," she said.

Democrats are doing everything they can "ethically" do to avoid funding the actual mission of the Department of Defense, but when it comes to pork for their top sloppers, it's no holds barred. And the defense she gives for larding up the Defense appropriation is that Murtha slops both ends of the trough, so what's the complaint here?

According to Democrats, we should not fund the war in Iraq, which has a direct benefit for the security of the nation. Don't fund the war in Iraq, because the troops in the field need to know where our priorities are. Don't fund the war in Iraq, since that would interfere with funding projects in Murtha's district. And don't complain about wasteful spending, or we won't slop your end of the trough any more.

So the Speaker-in-Law is not defending Jack Murtha, really. She doesn't know whether he has broken any rules, after all. All she is saying, is give fleece a chance.

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