Controversial Democratic Rep. John Murtha and Republican challenger County Commissioner Diane Irey faced off last week on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. I apologize for not getting news of this encounter up earlier, but, hey - who watches Hardball? I would, though, if I knew these candidates were on, or if I needed a refresher course on the definition of "bloviating buffoon."

WJAC-TV has a written AND a video report:

"The voters in the 12th District are very upset with his rush to judgment with our soldiers," said Republican Diana Irey of her opponent.

Murtha, a Democrat, said American public "no longer supports the $8 billion we're having to spend throughout Iraq."

Matthews briefly steered the candidates away from the subject of war and discussed other issues constituents will soon vote on.

Irey said, "They (voters) disagree with the fact that he voted against the marriage protection. They disagree with him on the fact that he voted against defending the Pledge of Allegiance."

Read the rest at the link above, where you can also watch the video report with clips from the show.

Many conservatives expressed surprise when the new Rightroots effort to aid conservative Republicans in key races decided to add Diane Irey to their list of supported candidates. The district was on no one's list of "competitive" House seats, and Murtha had won reelection handily in recent years.

But Murtha's decision to label American Marines as "cold-blooded" killers of women and children before any investigations were completed may have changed the dynamic. Murtha has been sued by one of the Marines involved for defamation, but stands by his statements - apparently including his lie that he had been briefed by General Hagee before making the accusation. He had NOT been; his first briefing from Hagee came a week later.

One of the reasons Murtha was considered a "safe" Democrat was his Vietnam war record, which no doubt brought him the votes of many "Reagan Democrats" and of the considerable population of veterans in the district. His recent outrages like condemning American soldiers at Haditha, and accepting awards from anti-American groups like Code Pink, throw that rationale out the window.

Independently of Irey's campaign, bloggers have banded together to oppose Murtha's reelection. One leading anti-Murtha group blog is Murtha Must Go!

A recent post from Gary Gross reads:

Here's the statement that I've been pondering:

"It's a very serious incident, unfortunately. It shows the tremendous pressure that these guys are under every day when they're out in combat," he said. "One man was killed with an [improvised explosive device] and after that they actually went into the houses and killed women and children."

If "these guys" were under such "tremendous pressure", why haven't we seen this type of violence on a more widespread basis? If Murtha's theory that these were Marines that cracked under extreme pressure is right, then shouldn't we be hearing about this type of event in more places than just Haditha?

Read the rest at the link above.

Murtha's "war hero" status has run its course. We should honor his service, but recognize that it doesn't give him a blank check for perfidy in perpetuity.

I remember one of America's very first war heroes, the General who won more Revolutionary War battles than all our other Generals, including Washington, combined. Twice wounded at the front, he bore a permanent injury to his leg, but kept on fighting courageously.

His name was Benedict Arnold - our greatest war hero of the Revolution until he betrayed his country. By the thinking of some Murtha supporters, we have no right to criticize Arnold because of his earlier heroics.

I disagree.