A
new Website devoted to the "lies" of Pennsylvania Democratic
Congressman Jack Murtha went live a few days early in order to post
"hateful" emails sent by readers of liberal blogs that were tipped off
early and had already begun digging into the site's background.
Although the original url for the Website was to be www.murthalied.com, a few days ago, one of the site's founders, retired Navy Captain Larry Bailey, purchased a new url at BootMurtha.com.
Bailey served as president of Vietnam Veterans For The Truth, which
attacked 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry's
military record, on the heels of the more well-known Swift Boat
Veterans For Truth.
In 2004, the term "swift boating" entered the modern lexicon, which the online community encyclopedia Wikipedia
defines as "an ad hominem attack against a public figure, coordinated
by an independent or pseudo-independent group, usually resulting in a
benefit to an established political force."
"Specifically, this form of attack is controversial, easily
repeatable, and difficult to verify or disprove because it is generally
based on personal feelings or recollections," Wikipedia continues.
Last November, Murtha authored a resolution to pull the troops out
of Iraq, and the Republican Party quickly turned on the conservative
pro-military Democrat, who retired as a decorated colonel in the
Marines. The Republicans put together their own resolution, which
varied from Murtha's, in order to "embarrass" Democrats into voting for
it.
At the time, Kerry warned those on the right not to attempt to "swift boat" Murtha.
"I won't stand for the swift-boating of Jack Murtha," said Kerry. "There is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha's character and conscience."
According to Bailey, "Murtha Lied" will be devoted to recent
statements made by the Congressman regarding Iraq, and, in particular,
the alleged massacre at Haditha.
"At the moment we don't know enough about Murtha's service record to say much of anything about it," Bailey said.
Murtha and Haditha
Murtha upset many on the right when he claimed that there was a
Haditha "cover-up," and some called him a liar since there was an
ongoing investigation. However, a formal military investigation wasn't
launched until March after Time magazine had begun investigating it.
"There was no firefight," Murtha said in a televised news conference
back in May. "There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our
troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed
innocent civilians in cold blood."
To this day, the official Marine statement on the killings still claims
that a Marine and fifteen civilians were killed by a roadside bomb
blast, even though death certificates, leaked reports and pictures
indicate that most of the victims - close to two dozen and some just
young children - were shot at close range in the head.
Expose those involved
Sean-Paul Kelley, editor of The Agonist, a community blog online
since September of 2002, was one of the first to "track down and
investigate and expose those involved in this enterprise," with the
help of his readers and fellow bloggers.
Kelley's post They're Gonna Swiftboat Murtha
contained an email address and picture for Amanda P. Doss, the site's
manager, along with information about her past work and connections.
"The person who set up the site is one Amanda P. Doss, and a quick google search turns up this site: www.operationstreetcorner.com, which is a wonderful site, as Billy found out, dedicated to: 'The Vietnam Veterans' Grassroots Campaign Against John Kerry and Jane Fonda, traitors to our country,'" wrote Kelley.
Earlier today, Doss fired back by posting some of the emails she
received which she characterized as "hateful and even threatening."
"I would like to share some of hateful and even threatening emails I
have recently received due to these blogs, before this website was even
created," Doss wrote. "Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican,
please feel free to email these 'sweethearts' and let them know how
proud of them you are for the way they represent the Democratic party."
"Interesting that a political whore would pick a name like
streetcorner'. I've wonder who you'll be doing on the corner," wrote
one emailer.
"You vile 'swiftboaters' (translation: idiot cowards and despicable
liars) will get your asses kicked all over the media this time, you are
the lowest form of human beings there could possibly be, and on top of
that YOU are just plain ugly," wrote another. "Please crawl under a
rock and die."
Liberal bloggers respond
"I don't regret putting her email address in my post because her email address was widely available," Sean-Paul Kelley said.
"What I regret was that people used her email to send her nasty
comments instead of trying to engage her in a substantive debate."
In fact, personal information about someone connected to Doss was
posted by one Agonist reader, and Kelley immediately deleted it.
Taylor Marsh, a blogger and author who hosted a radio show called
"The Antidote to Right Wing Talk" ("now on hiatus" according to Marsh's
Website bio), also has done some digging into "Murtha Lied."
"...Republicans like their soldiers serving, silent and standing for photo ops, not talking back," Marsh wrote at her blog. "When a vet speaks out he's targeted. Murtha is just the latest."
Jack Murtha is asking for an exit strategy from this administration.
Something that should have been done *before* we invaded Iraq. Jack
Murtha wants our troops equipped with the best body armor. Jack Murtha
visits the soldiers at Walter Reed every week. The people attacking
this man of honor are fools.
A
new Website devoted to the "lies" of Pennsylvania Democratic
Congressman Jack Murtha went live a few days early in order to post
"hateful" emails sent by readers of liberal blogs that were tipped off
early and had already begun digging into the site's background.
