Monday, October 27, 2008

An End to the Tyranny of John Murtha?

Eve Fairbanks at The New Republic blog looks at the handful of Democrats who are at risk of losing their seats in Congress next week. In a year that strongly favors Democrats, this is an elite group of "f-ups" and unlucky dudes. Even among this group, however, John Murtha stands out, for calling his own district "racist" and then attempting to apologize by calling his constituents "rednecks." Fairbanks doesn't think we should care if he loses:

"And, to my mind, Murtha's denigration of his constituents as racists and rednecks wasn't merely an awkward gaffe. The concept of an existential, cultural, and unbridgeable rural-urban divide has been one of this election's lamest themes ... If poll-goers vote down a Democrat who touted this insulting concept as well as the Republicans who demagogued it, I can't say I'll be that sorry."

I tend to agree, especially given the other nonsense that Murtha has been behind over the years. The real reason I wrote this post, however, was to use the phrase "an end to the tyranny of John Murtha." That exact phrase comes DIRECTLY from a mass mail Christmas card that Education Dudette's parents received from one of their very right wing friends last year. How much of a nutter do you have to be to write about John Murtha in your Christmas cards??

-Education Dude

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