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| Support builds for Murtha's wife to take U.S. House seat |
| 2010-02-15 |
| Among possible candidates to replace Rep. John Murtha, the Johnstown Democrat who died Monday, is his wife, Joyce. "While people have been mindful that this is a difficult time for the family, many have called to suggest Joyce as the perfect person to hold her husband's seat," Murtha spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said. Murtha represented Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. His term expires at the end of this year. Gov. Ed Rendell will decide when to conduct a special election for Murtha's seat. He told reporters he is leaning toward the May 18 primary to keep costs down. The state Democratic and Republican parties each would choose a nominee. Independent candidates also could enter the race. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #19 It goes back to the Democrats' Irish roots. A deep distrust of anyone with money (they must've stolen it) or anyone in authority (they'll steal everything and take care of their cronies at the expense of the little people). Except when it's one of their own - then it's all good. In the Democrat party, everyone's Irish. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-02-15 21:44 |
| #18 I just don't get the Democrats with their dynastic Congress fetish. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-02-15 20:13 |
| #17 Give Joyce Murtha the Seat - Johnstown is a dead Backwater Congressional District anyway === 89K population down to 20K any day now..... Last HU...RAH ! |
| Posted by: Daffy Speger7083 2010-02-15 19:01 |
| #16 The legend about the role of Mrs des Portes was very convenient both for Vichy and for de Gaulle since Paul Reynaud could be seen as an unfortunate paladin of keeping France in the war and in addition it was Reynaud who "made" de Gaulle, first by making from an obscure temporary 2 star general (aka General of Brigade, the lowest general rank in teh French Army) a secretary of state for war and later by sending him in a mission to London (where the armistice caught him). Since De Gaulle wanted to get rid of Reynaud's shade and of any debt towards him he contributed in his Memoires de Guerre to the legend of a Reynaud influenced by a defeatist mistress. |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-02-15 17:17 |
| #15 That was Hélène des Portes but she was not Paul Reynaud's mistress. Say that it was his future wife (botrh were divorced) and that war first and then her death (just 10 days after the defeat) prevented that marriage. Anyway it seems that contrarily to legend she didn't meddle in politics. For Paul Reynaud he opposed Munich, had been partisan of forming armored divisions, was against surrendering so it is unlikely that had she beeen a pacifist Mrs des Portes had ever influenced him. But on June 1940 when everything wxas going badly he was meetin g a lot of opposition in his cabinet. He resigned thinking he was the only one able to forma a cabinet and thus would be able to form one to his devotion, ie a belligerent cabinet who would have continued war in North Africa but in a kind of coup the partisans of armistice literally forced their way in the apartments of the President (they had retreated to Bordeaux) and intimidated him into nominating Marshall Petain. |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-02-15 16:54 |
| #14 Can't find my copy of Shirer's The Collapse of the Third Republic, but IIRC, one of the Govt leaders had a mistress, Helene somebody, who had a lot to say about decisions that led up to France getting screwed by the Germans in 1939. JFM, can you help me out here? |
| Posted by: mom 2010-02-15 12:47 |
| #13 Hey, Nimble beat me to it. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-02-15 11:21 |
| #12 Mistresses only do the private part of the job, JFM, not the public bits -- nor even those private bits which involve hosting his colleagues and their wives or being a guest in turn. Those are the skills necessary when one takes over the job of the deceased best beloved. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-02-15 10:37 |
| #11 It's a venereal transmission of power, like an STD. I suppose we ought to be grateful it isn't one of his spawn, instead, in a perverse display of primogeniture. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2010-02-15 10:35 |
| #10 Note to above comment. I wanted to highlight the idiocy of the whole thing |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-02-15 10:06 |
| #9 I've never understood the "elect the wife of the dead guy" idiocy. Why not his barber? Or his secretary? Or his mistress? Mistresses do about the same job and are usually younger and better looking. |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-02-15 10:05 |
| #8 is she an ex-Marine too? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-02-15 09:51 |
| #7 Americas descent into oligarchy continues. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2010-02-15 08:21 |
| #6 If mama knows where enough bodies are buried she gets the seat. Plus, she'll probably be on the ballot as Mrs. John Murtha |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-02-15 07:16 |
| #5 Joyce M Murtha - Background You have got to do some digging through sources. Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center seems to be her claim to fame, likely bought with your tax dollars ala John "Pork Barrel" Murtha. |
| Posted by: Slusosh Barnsmell6132 2010-02-15 07:14 |
| #4 However, no tenure. Still the lowest rep on the seniority list and the people who've been waiting in line for years are not going to 'make way for the lady'. Her ability to get pork is minimal regardless of what they think the name will carry in the district. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-02-15 06:50 |
| #3 "She would probably a very good candidate, in terms of holding the seat," The most important reason - hold the seat of power. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-02-15 05:24 |
| #2 Cause the fief must stay in the family, mojo. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-02-15 03:02 |
| #1 I've never understood the "elect the wife of the dead guy" idiocy. Why not his barber? Or his secretary? |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-02-15 02:55 |