Murtha on 60 Minutes...

By Number Six

Monday, January 16, 2006 at 01:30 AM

Unbelievable. Mike Wallace sits down congressman John Murtha....

As interviews went, I was both proud and disgusted. Proud of Murtha, disgusted with Wallace, which is surprising, as eons back, the running gag used to go "You know your firm is in trouble if Mike Wallace is headed towards the main office..."

Murtha wouldn't back down once. He freely admitted that he, and so many others, had been dead wrong about the war in Iraq, and what's so wonderful? He's so logical about it that it's almost hilarious.

Wallace's "method" just about had me out of the chair pissed. Granted, a little "cross-examination" is part of the game, yes, that's to be understood, but it still touched a nerve, and sounded a little too much like shilling for a certain inept drunkard playing at God, and his equally inept policies.

Yet, it was also a nice thing: Just once, we heard what amounted to genuine dissent, genuine opposition to the BS we've been handed since Sept 12, 2001.

Dead, solid logic. Murtha points out that if the Iraqis really want democracy, then, they, like ourselves, France, et al...need no hand-holding by US forces.

"But, if we cut out, there'll be a civil war!"

Shut up, Wallace. I heard that same empty rhetoric a moon gone, and about something Murtha knows better than most: Vietnam. We cut out, and yes, Vietnam fell apart. Tough shit, ain't it? As a decorated war vet I know very, very well told me over a beer: "Democracy cannot be handed to someone, it requires a set of balls, a meanness and a dedication to a goal, and does not require anyone else in the mixture."

Murtha said about as much. If the Iraqi people wish genuine democracy, their first step is to send our kids home and at the earliest. Otherwise, it's a sham and little else.

This part? Had me in stitches, from the interview:

'Why has his policy not been endorsed by potential Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden or John Kerry?

"Because," says Murtha laughing, "they're afraid. They're afraid. They don't understand it. They think there's a safe way to work their way through this. And they're afraid to get out there and make a statement that later on might come back to haunt `em." ' (CBS News)

Hehehehehehe. Oh, no shit, John! I'm stunned that part made it to the air! Whoa! Calling Kerry, Clinton and Biden....well, lacking, um...intestinal fortitude? Gee, and we wonder why so many of us are sorely disappointed with Democrats? Thinking they're....worthless?

All in all, well worth the popcorn. A precious gem of solid truth that appeared in a place where the usual norm is more shilling for a would-be dictator.

Keep this up, CBS, and I just might start watching your stuff.