Pitts Trib-Review throws ‘lance’:
VA director set-up bus trips to Murtha’s rally
Last Friday the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Congressman
Murtha’s campaign arranged for federal
employee John Panichella to use his government-paid-for office, phone
and work time to arrange bussing of veterans to Murtha’s Sept. 30th
campaign rally. Panichella is the Westmoreland County Director of
Veterans Affairs. [LINK]
Today’s editorial in the Tribune-Review
issues a ‘lance’ for Panichella’s involvement: [LINK]
To John Panichella. Westmoreland's director of veterans affairs should
have known better than to coordinate -- presumably from his office --
a bus trip for a Johnstown rally in support of U.S. Rep. John Murtha's
re-election. Even if, as Mr. Panichella says, no county money paid for
the bus or his organizing activities, there should have been no iota
of involvement at the courthouse. (Literature about the rally listed a
phone number that rings at his desk.) Panichella says he never cleared
his actions with the county law department; Commissioner Tom Balya
called it an "unintentional mistake." Excuse us, but there have been
far too many of these lapses over the years. And a funny thing, too --
these episodes typically involve Democrats. Enough!
Chuck Colson column about Murtha:
Trading votes for pork
The ongoing scandal of earmarking
[EXCERPT] It looks like a scene out of an old movie: one about shady
politicians and back-room deals. You can almost smell the cigar smoke
and see the dirty money changing hands.
But unfortunately, it’s not an old film. It’s a real-life picture of
the United States Congress. The cigars are gone, but the dirty
deal-making is thoroughly up-to-date. And at the head of it is Rep.
John Murtha (D) of Pennsylvania.
>>>read entire column
A TALE OF THREE RALLIES
(and a Press Conference)
Sunday, October 1st, 2006, was a day
unprecedented in the history of Johnstown, PA—it was the day that
signified the beginning of the end for the much-ballyhooed career of
Congressman John P. Murtha.
But it didn’t come without opposition from Murtha’s
partisans. As many of you know, they had dogged us ever since we,
Vets for the Truth, held a press conference in Johnstown to inform the
media about the “Boot Murtha” Rally we would hold on the First of
October.
In fact, their response to our press conference (which
consisted of five or six VFTT speakers and a dozen well-wishers, in
addition to various media representatives) was to cobble together a
last-minute “rally” designed to upstage and belittle what they called
an anti-Murtha rally.
What a fine example of using a sledgehammer to smack a
fly! Those people spent tens of thousands of dollars to construct and
decorate a speakers’ platform worthy of a presidential debate; to
build a TV riser in the rear of the rally area; and to install audio
equipment capable of at least a ten-gazillion-decibel output! And, on
top of that, they flew in (in an executive jet) former US Senator Max
Cleland to serve as chief cheerleader!
By comparison, our entire sound system consisted of a
borrowed battery-powered karaoke unit!
Murtha’s handlers boasted loudly (with much aiding and
abetting by the local printed media) about how their rally had outdone
our “rally.” They even claimed that they had intimidated us! (Oh, my
goodness…) What they had done was get us fired up!
Fired up we were, too! Our local leaders, Craig
Minnick and Harry Beam, redoubled their efforts to make sure that the
“Boot Murtha” Rally was a media-attractive event. Similarly, our
Operation Street Corner operatives busted their haunches in getting
the word out to the voters of District 12 that there was active (and
effective) opposition to John Murtha.
The Murthacrats were not to be outdone. After we
announced that our rally was to be held on October 1st,
they announced that they would hold a counter-rally the day before!
This was just what we were praying for, as we knew that our amateur
event would make their professionally orchestrated and
megabucks-funded gaggle look like the bully-boy effort that it was.
Daybreak on September 30th boded ill for the
Murtha rally. ‘Twas cloudy and cool and dripping with wet, and that
pretty much set the tone for the event. It was pathetic, despite the
Murthacrats’ expenditure of money and manpower and despite their
lineup of speakers, which included the Governor of Pennsylvania, two
former US Senators, and two retired four-star generals!
Even with their star power and deep pockets and free
buses from as far away as Philadelphia, the Murtha rally attracted, at
most, 600 souls, who stood stoically for 45 minutes or more waiting
for the program to get underway. Several of our folks stood there
with them, and they reported that it was really a sad testament to the
32-year career of one of the most powerful congressmen in Washington.
While this event was going on, the Boot Murtha folks
were preparing the War Memorial Arena for next day’s event. By the
time that army of volunteers was finished, the Arena looked adequate
for a presidential rally! A 15-foot by 25-foot American flag brought
in by a Texas volunteer was attached to a jury-rigged PVC scaffold and
suspended from the Arena ceiling, and five giant free-standing “Boot
Murtha” logos left no doubt as to the intent of the event.
Operation Street Corner displays were set up in the
back of the Arena, and a sound system second-to-none was put in
place. We were ready.
The first of October also dawned rather dreary. By the
time Whiskey Grin’s musical performance began at 2:00 PM, around 1000
people (according to legitimate newspaper estimates) were in place.
The program we offered was “pure America” in nature.
We had no big-name speakers to headline our event, but our speakers
enthralled their audience. They spoke to our hearts, not our
self-interest. They appealed to our intelligence, not our
partisanship.
And, finally, they appealed to our love of country in a
way that few in the audience had experienced.
In short, they made the governors and senators and
generals of the day before appear to be lightweights. They made their
audience proud to be Americans.
RightMarch.com PAC billboards appear in
Murtha’s district
Bill Greene / RightMarch PAC -- which is not affiliated nor
coordinated with Vets for the Truth / Boot Murtha project – has added
one more billboard against John Murtha in Johnstown, PA. While Vets
for the Truth have not yet confirmed the billboard advertisement by
RightMarch.com PAC, the following email from that organization shows
its billboard message and the need to get rid of the cut-n-run
congressman.
[RightMarch.com PAC email message]
ALERT: Our billboard campaign is UP AND RUNNING in Rep.
John "Cut-and-Run" Murtha's congressional district, thanks to the
generous support of our members! The first billboard can be seen on
State Rt. 271 at 218 Bedford St. in Johnstown PA -- It faces north for
all southbound traffic on 271 as well as all drivers taking
eastbound-only Main St., which all government buildings are off of. In
other words, it's in a GREAT high-profile location! It reads:
Vets for the Truth / Boot Murtha currently has eight billboards in
Murtha’s district 12.
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