Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Thu 06/19/2008 View Wed 06/18/2008 View Tue 06/17/2008 View Mon 06/16/2008 View Sun 06/15/2008 View Sat 06/14/2008 View Fri 06/13/2008
1
2008-06-19 Home Front: Politix
Haditha Marine prepares to sue Murtha over smear
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by DarthVader 2008-06-19 09:36|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ]  Top

#1 I hope he takes Murtha to the cleaners.
Posted by 3dc 2008-06-19 11:08||   2008-06-19 11:08|| Front Page Top

#2 X-Marine J.Murtha will get an ear mark to those cleaners.
Posted by Muggsy Gling 2008-06-19 11:20||   2008-06-19 11:20|| Front Page Top

#3 If Murtha isn't ruined by this accusation citizens should chase him down and tar and feather him.
Posted by Hellfish 2008-06-19 11:21||   2008-06-19 11:21|| Front Page Top

#4 If Murtha isn't ruined by this accusation citizens should chase him down and tar and feather him.

The fact that he won his last election even after his slander was issued speaks volumes about his electorate - none of it good. They're every bit as bad as the willfully blind, partisan sheepvoters in my state of Mass.
Posted by xbalanke 2008-06-19 11:41||   2008-06-19 11:41|| Front Page Top

#5 From Hot Air...

“If he leaves his realm of speaking from the congressman’s point of view … then he can be sued for libel and defamation,” Rooney said.

What he means is that Murtha’s eventually going to invoke the Speech and Debate Clause to try to get himself off the hook. Read the actual language of the clause and you’ll see it’s designed to shield congressmen “for any Speech or Debate in either House…” Minor problem for Murtha: He wasn’t inside the House chamber when he accused the Marines of having killed in cold blood. He was giving a news conference, which arguably is encompassed by the clause if it occurs within the Capitol building.

He’s ultimately going to have to convince some judge that the touchstone for the S&D Clause shouldn’t be where a congressman is when he’s speaking but rather where he is when he becomes privy to the information he spoke about. That is to say, so long as he’s talking about stuff he learned on the job, he’s free to be as irresponsible with it as he likes, wherever he likes. If he wants to hold a pay-per-view event in which he divulges details of some secret congressional report then it’s all good. The thing to bear in mind, though, is how gratuitous Murtha’s comments here were. A paradigm case for the Speech and Debate Clause would be if a congressman had some hard proof of government wrongdoing and feared being prosecuted if he revealed it; having the constitutional privilege to protect him would let him speak freely. Murtha had no proof of wrongdoing. He had a bunch of accusations and an agenda, and unlike the other 534 members of Congress, he simply couldn’t wait to let the legal process play out to push that agenda. And now he’s going to try to use S&D as a get-out-of-slander-free card. Perfect.

At least they can hit him big in the wallet and force him to spend big bucks on legal fees. Murtha would probably prefer letting them all line up and kick him in the balls.
Posted by tu3031 2008-06-19 11:42||   2008-06-19 11:42|| Front Page Top

#6 No, Murtha can just introduce legislation that extends the speech and debate clause to anything a Congresscritter says. William Jefferson will introduce an amendment to the bill to exempt Congresscritters from anything they do as well. Most of Congress will jump in and approve it, over Bush's veto, since it gives them immunity from anything.
Posted by Rambler in California">Rambler in California  2008-06-19 11:58||   2008-06-19 11:58|| Front Page Top

#7 At least they can hit him big in the wallet and force him to spend big bucks on legal fees. Murtha would probably prefer letting them all line up and kick him in the balls.

No he'll just give a few millions of earmarks to corporations who donate to his legal fees. In short us peasants will be stuck with the highly-inflated bill.
Posted by CrazyFool 2008-06-19 12:36||   2008-06-19 12:36|| Front Page Top

#8 /rant
The ruling class in my country the USA has forgotten who the Boss is.

We must regain our natural rights and powers as Citizens and put the TRUST & SERVE back into those elected to Congress.

Yes force them into their Place [OUT of Office and in prison in some cases]

This current crop of theives who are selling America both out the Back and Front doors have trampled on our Constitution and History.
Posted by RD">RD  2008-06-19 12:43||   2008-06-19 12:43|| Front Page Top

#9 The fact that he won his last election even after his slander was issued speaks volumes about his electorate - none of it good. They're every bit as bad as the willfully blind, partisan sheepvoters in my state of Mass.

I'm not just talking about PA. I'm suggesting any US citizen should do it.
Posted by Hellfish 2008-06-19 12:56||   2008-06-19 12:56|| Front Page Top

#10 Murtha will flick off any legal fees he incurs defending accusations of slander as though they were dried skin. How can he do that?

Simple. Murtha will simply raise his minimum asking fee on bribes.

And yes (sadly), his constituency will return him to office without regard to the truth of the hollowness of the man.
Posted by MarkZ 2008-06-19 13:59||   2008-06-19 13:59|| Front Page Top

#11 http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/mluphoup/Kerry_Murtha.jpg

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-06-19 14:13||   2008-06-19 14:13|| Front Page Top

#12 Just nobody go popping paper bags around the dishonorable SOB, or they'll hunt *ME* down.
Posted by OldSpook 2008-06-19 15:26||   2008-06-19 15:26|| Front Page Top

#13 Balloons OK, OS? ;-p
Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut  2008-06-19 16:01|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]  2008-06-19 16:01|| Front Page Top

#14 A damage claim can't be processed while he is in office, however, a suit can be filed.
Posted by Sputh B. Hayes3924 2008-06-19 16:25||   2008-06-19 16:25|| Front Page Top

#15 A damage claim can't be processed while he is in office, however, a suit can be filed.

Wasn't that Billy Boy Clinton's argument that didn't survive SCOTUS?
Posted by Procopius2k 2008-06-19 16:52||   2008-06-19 16:52|| Front Page Top

#16 A damage claim can't be processed while he is in office, however, a suit can be filed.

Wasn't that Billy Boy Clinton's argument that didn't survive SCOTUS?

No, it was the blue dress they filed.

Thank you! Thank you! I'll be here all week.
Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader  2008-06-19 17:04||   2008-06-19 17:04|| Front Page Top

#17 OS, courtesy of you the new "hood" line for doing someone in will be to "pop a cap bag on his a$$."

Be expecting the attribution to be in the O.E.D. soon.
Posted by Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 2008-06-19 18:35||   2008-06-19 18:35|| Front Page Top

#18 Meh ... a lawsuit is so ... Democrat. Just go all "Three Stooges" on him and poke him in the eyes!
Posted by crosspatch 2008-06-19 22:12||   2008-06-19 22:12|| Front Page Top

23:41 JosephMendiola
23:15 trailing wife
23:12 Abdominal Snowman
23:10 mojo
23:08 Frank G
23:05 Greamble the Kid6252
22:54 trailing wife
22:53 DMFD
22:51 trailing wife
22:48 FOTSGreg
22:44 FOTSGreg
22:41 trailing wife
22:39 Frank G
22:36 Eric Jablow
22:32 RD
22:30 Angie Schultz
22:25 trailing wife
22:24 RD
22:23 Redneck Jim
22:21 Beavis
22:20 Redneck Jim
22:12 crosspatch
22:11 crosspatch
22:06 Besoeker









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com