Murtha and Moran: Leaders of the Defeatist Democrats

John Murtha, the Democrats' lead advocate for total surrender in Iraq, is on a roll. Earlier this week he spoke out against the military, saying he would not join today:

"And I think you're saying the average guy out there who's considering recruitment is justified in saying 'I don't want to serve,'" [said] the interviewer. "Exactly right," said Murtha.

Well gee, this has been true since 1973, when the national draft became nonexistent. Nobody questions the right of a citizen to decide not to join the military--except kookish lefties like Michael Moore who do exactly that and confront public officials--Republican ones specifically--about the decisions their children have made concerning military service.

Fortunately (and for a bureaucrat, surprisingly) somebody at the Department of Defense observed the same thing:

Asked for comment, a Defense Department spokesman, Lt. Col. John Skinner, said: "We have an all-volunteer military. People are free to choose whether they serve or not."

Duh. Next point, Murtha.

Now Murtha's worried that a slow withdrawal of U.S. troops will make it look like we are victorious. You heard that right. Oh no!! What a devastation that would be to the hopes of Democrats everywhere! At a meeting promoted by the kook fringe lefty group MoveOn.org, Murtha said:

A year ago, I said we can't win this [Iraq conflict] militarily, and I got all kinds of criticism...I worry about a slow withdrawal which makes it look like there's a victory when I think it should be a redeployment as quickly as possible and let the Iraqis handle the whole thing.

Another elected official, Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia, was Murtha's companion at the meeting. Moran is the guy who blamed the Jews for the military offensive in Iraq. This keeps getting better and better. James Taranto is right to ask, "Does anyone still want to say it is unfair to characterize Murtha as rooting for American defeat?... The good news is that the 'antiwar' movement is not serious. If it were, it would not have to rely on fringe figures like Murtha, Moran and Cindy Sheehan."

Amen to that.

politics, democrats, liberals, john murtha, jim moran, kook fringe liberalism, iraq, defeatism