Murtha Be Not Proud

Leo Pusateri15 Comments

Back in February, 2010, I stated that with Congressman John Murtha’s death, the mission of my Murtha Must Go! blog had ended.

Well, what I saw today just about made me gag:

JOHNSTOWN -—

A life-size likeness of the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha will be unveiled Monday morning at the Veteran’s Park in Johnstown.

In a press conference at the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center on Tuesday, the congressman’s wife, Joyce Murtha, said a public dedication ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. Retired U.S. Gen. James Jones, former commander of all NATO forces, will give the keynote speech.

“(My husband) had a lot of admiration for Gen. Jones and spoke of him quite often,” Joyce Murtha said. “I’m delighted he’s taking the time to come in and be with us.”

More than $180,000 in private donations have already been raised to bring a statue of Murtha to the Veteran’s Park, with 65 percent of contributions coming from individuals who gave $100 or less. According to Joyce Murtha, fundraising efforts will continue.

“We are still accepting contributions because we need a maintenance fund for the years ahead,” she said.

“We don’t want to see the statue fall into disrepair,” she added.

The part of the article that made me gag the most was thus:

Wayne Hyde of Manns Choice was selected as sculptor for the statue, which is in place at the park but covered by a canvass. He said he was honored to help with the project.

“I hope the statue will stand there to always remind people of a good public servant,” he said.

And with that quote, dear readers, I stand here… speechless.

I invite anyone to peruse the contents of this blog, which for a span of nearly four years served to chronicle the misdeeds and malfeasance that pock-marked the long, ingnominious tenure of Jihad Jack Murtha. The same Jack Murtha who from his early days as a congressman was a shining example of a self-serving, corrupt politician in the tradition of Huey Long. Murtha, remember, was proclaimed an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Abscam scandal in the early 80s. Like a pharaoh with a god complex, he erected countless monuments to himself in PA-12, including a barely utilized, multi-, multi-million dollar airport complete with state of the art equipment that no one knew how to run. Murtha was also known as the “King of Pork” and was no stranger to seedy earmarks to political cronies who, in turn, would keep his campaign war chest well stocked.

If John Murtha’s only crimes were reckless malfeasance with taxpayer monies, despite the fact he was unmatched in that dubious category, it would be one thing.

But John Murtha, though an ex-Marine, was a ruthless man who would let nothing stand in the way of his political ambitions, nor would he leave any perceived stepping stone un-stepped on to meet his nefarious ends, no matter whose lives he ruined in the process.

Enter the Haditha Marines. Continue reading →

One Life, An Entire World Changed

Matt Margolis16 Comments

I can’t say I know all that much about Steve Jobs, aside from using his inventions daily. One fact I did not know about him until yesterday was that Steve Jobs was adopted. National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote about his death and linked to the follow piece, which I find quite thought provoking.

Jobs’ birth mother, Joanne Schiebel, was an unmarried college student who got pregnant and would decide to give her child up for adoption.

It would not be overstating things to say that Steve Jobs is my generation’s Thomas Edison. As one observer put it, he knew what the world wanted before the world knew that it wanted it.

If you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPod, or anything remotely resembling them, you can thank Steve Jobs.

If your world has been transformed by the ability to hear a symphony, send a letter, pay a bill, deposit a check, read a book and then buy theater tickets on something roughly the size of a credit card…you can thank Steve Jobs.

And: you can thank Joanne Schiebel.

If you want to know how much one life can matter, there is just one example.

But: imagine if that life had never happened.

Imagine if an unmarried pregnant college student 56 years ago had made a different choice.

Now, imagine all the unmarried pregnant college students who make that different choice today.

While some will be quick to point out that abortion was not a legal option in this country 56 years ago, but it was, nevertheless, an option.

Today the left equates abortion with “women’s rights” as if the act itself is as noble as voting, or refusing to give up your seat on a public bus. It’s a sad reflection on their values when even those who believe abortion should be a legal option try to silence those who wish to convince a potential mother that she should not walk through the doors of an abortion clinic. These people want the government out their bedroom or their uterus or whatever, but still want the government to fund abortions so this “choice” is even more accessible. They scoff at the idea that a child who needs a note from a parent to be excused from gym class should need parental consent in order to have an abortion…

But, as we can see, the left looks at abortion from the wrong perspective. Even they don’t believe life begins at conception they cannot deny a potential life with a whole world to contribute to exists in every unborn baby. Had Steve Jobs’ birth mother had the option, and took it, your life would be different today because the contributions made by one made actually did change the world.

Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

Matt Margolis20 Comments

It’s a sad day.

Steven P. Jobs, the Apple Inc. chairman and co-founder who pioneered the personal computer industry and changed the way people think about technology, died Wednesday at the age of 56.

His family, in a statement released by Apple, said Mr. Jobs “died peacefully today surrounded by his family…We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.”

The company didn’t specify the cause of his death. Mr. Jobs had battled pancreatic cancer and several years ago received a liver transplant. In August, Mr. Jobs stepped down as CEO, handing the reins to Tim Cook.

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being,” Mr. Cook said in a letter to employees. “We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

I grew up using Apple computers, had to switch to PC for college (architecture’s industry standard CAD software AutoCAD was PC only then) and switch back to Mac after graduation. I own various incarnations of iPods. I use my iPhone like my life depends on it. I will get the next iPad. Last year I started running with the encouragement of software that would not exist had it not been for his vision.

Jobs was a man of genius and vision. May he rest in peace.

Sarah Palin Will NOT Run in 2012

Matt Margolis30 Comments

Thank you, Sarah, for making the right decision.

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

In general, I have no problem with Sarah Palin. Hell, I’d take her experience over Obama’s any day. I remember watching her give her speech and the 2008 Republican National Convention and being 100% convinced we would win.

Hey, things change. And there is a reality to face, and that she is as divisive a political figure as Barack Obama. Even within the Republican Party she’s a poison pill. Canonized and demonized by various factions that are equal in their convictions that is the right person to lead the party, and the wrong person.

I consider myself part of the latter camp. In the past few years since the election, I have not been convinced by her efforts that she has elevated herself past the level of a pundit, because that’s what she sounds like to me… a pundit, not presidential caliber. Like Obama, who sounds like a pundit when scripted and a fifth grader when off the cuff, Sarah just doesn’t fit bill for me anymore. I accept the fact that as a Republican who wants to see this country back on track that I have to be happy with the filed we got, and you know what, I trust any of the Republican candidates to do a better job than we’ve seen done the past three years, and I will do everything I can to help that candidate win.

But for now, I thank Sarah Palin again, for stepping aside, and realizing that this was not her time.

From The Pew To The Podium, Obama Tight With Anti-Semites

Matt Margolis11 Comments

In case you missed this story…

New photographs obtained exclusively by BigGovernment.com reveal that Barack Obama appeared and marched with members of the New Black Panther Party as he campaigned for president in Selma, Alabama in March 2007.

The photographs, captured from a Flickr photo-sharing account before it was scrubbed, are the latest evidence of the mainstream media’s failure to examine Obama’s extremist ties and radical roots.

In addition, the new images raise questions about the possible motives of the Obama administration in its infamous decision to drop the prosecution of the Panthers for voter intimidation.

So, whether it’s sitting in the pew for 20 years listening to anti-American anti-Semites like Jeremiah Wright, or sharing a podium with the New Black Panther Party, we have to ask ourselves not only how do we tolerate this from Obama, but also, why the media ignored it.

Big Brother Is Reading Your Medical Records

Matt Margolis5 Comments

See, this is scary.

As part of its implementation of Obamacare, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a new federal regulation to require private health insurance companies to give the government all of the health records of every person they insure. The rule is shrouded in the usual bureaucratese, but, as Huelskamp pointed out in a Washington Examiner op-ed, “abstract terms are used to distract from the real objectives of this idea: no matter which ‘option’ is chosen, government bureaucrats would have access to the health records of every American — including you.”

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claims the government must have the records in order to evaluate the performance of health insurers. Aside from the absurdity of having federal health bureaucrats judge the job performance of anybody else, the proposal raises a gigantic red flag: Federal and state governments have proven repeatedly in recent years that they are all but incapable of fully protecting sensitive records of individuals.

Seriously, who can read this and think Obamacare was a good idea? How much more Orwellian nonsense is there?

Investigating Holder

Matt Margolis23 Comments

There’s a lot of investigating to be done. House Republicans need to keep up the pressure.

House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Eric Holder misled Congress during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious, Fox News has learned.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.

The question is whether Holder knowingly made false statements of fact under oath during a Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3. At the time, Holder indicated he was not familiar with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program known as Fast and Furious until about April 2011.

Speaking of Holder, check of this video of DOJ whistleblower J. Christian Adams discussing the politicization and radicalization he witnessed at Eric Holder’s Justice Department.