Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 8, 2010

Pennsylvania's Rep. John Murtha has died at age 77 following complications from gall bladder surgery

This surprising news is just breaking… Pennsylvania’s controversial congressman John Murtha passed away this afternoon following complications from gall bladder surgery. He was 77.

May he rest in peace.

From Houston Chronicle, Rep. John Murtha, Iraq war critic, dies at 77:

HARRISBURG, Pa. — U.S. Rep. John Murtha, an influential critic of the Iraq War whose congressional career was shadowed by questions about his ethics, died Monday. He was 77.

The Pennsylvania Democrat had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. He died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said.

In 1974 Murtha, then an officer in the Marine Reserves, became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress. One of Congress’ most hawkish Democrats, he wielded considerable clout for two decades as the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending.

Murtha voted in 2002 to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, but Murtha’s growing frustration over the administration’s handling of the war prompted him in November 2005 to call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

“The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion,” he said.

Murtha’s opposition to the Iraq war rattled Washington, where the tall, gruff-mannered congressman enjoyed bipartisan respect for his work on military issues. On Capitol Hill, Murtha was seen as speaking for those in uniform when it came to military matters.

From MSNBC, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., dies at 77:

Murtha was a perennial target of critics of so-called pay-to-play politics. He routinely drew the attention of ethical watchdogs with off-the-floor activities from his entanglement in the Abscam corruption probe three decades ago to the more recent scrutiny of the connection between special-interest spending known as earmarks and the raising of cash for campaigns.

Murtha defended the practice of earmarking. The money, he said, benefited his constituents.

Murtha became chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee in 1989. The same year Paul Magliocchetti, a former subcommittee staffer, left Capitol Hill to found the now-defunct PMA Group. The lobbying firm, which specialized in obtaining earmarks for defense contractors, was one Murtha’s biggest sources of campaign cash.

From Politico, John Murtha dies at 77:

Rep. John Murtha, a Vietnam veteran who became one of the most powerful members of the House serving four decades representing western Pennsylvania, has died at 77.

Murtha was the longest serving member of the Pennsylvania delegation — a milestone he passed just this past Saturday. He had been hospitalized in recent weeks with a gall bladder infection and died Monday afternoon at Virginia Hospital Center at 1:18 p.m., his office said in a statement.

Murtha was chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and from that perch he controlled billions in Pentagon spending and was one of the most respected voices on military policy. Murtha was well liked on both sides of the aisle, often holding court in the back of the House chamber in what was known as “Murtha’s Corner.”

Critics derided Murtha as an unreformed pork barrel spender, and Murtha was unapologetic about steering federal money to his home district, a region of Pennsylvania hard hit by the loss of coal and steel jobs through the 1970s and ’80s.

He was very close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), both having served on the Appropriations Committee. Pelosi supported Murtha for majority leader in 2006 over Steny Hoyer of Maryland, but Hoyer prevailed.

Murtha made a national name for himself in 2005 by becoming one of the more hawkish members of the Democratic caucus to revoke his support of the Iraq war, which he had voted for in 2002. It was Murtha’s change of heart that inspired many Democrats to follow, marking a turning point in public support for the Iraq war.

From Ace of Spades HQ:

I am not going to pretend I care much about this guy. Which isn’t the same as dancing on his grave. I’m just not going to overcompensate and pretend I’m praying for him or whatnot.

The only reason I’m mentioning this guy is because he occupied a seat I’d like to have.

And that seat is now open.

Murtha’s death couldn’t come at a worse time for Congressional Democrats.

Or, for that matter, for John Murtha, but I think that’s obvious.

Related:
Gateway Pundit: JOHN MURTHA DIES- Controversial Anti-War Democrat Dead at 77 (Video)
Frugal Café Blog Zone: More Insanity from DC… John Murtha Puts Your Taxpayer Stimulus Money to Work
Patterico’s Pontifications: John Murtha Dead at 77
Gathering of Eagles NY: Ex Marine Murtha Titz Up
Michael Walsh, Big Journalism: ‘ABSCAM Jack’ Murtha, RIP
Breitbart.com: Congressman: Murtha’s intestine damaged in surgery
Publius, Big Government: Congressman John Murtha Dead at 77
Flopping Aces: BREAKING: Congressman Jack Murtha dead at 77
Columbia Journalism Review: “John Murtha Dead”: ‘Funny’? ‘Typical’? ‘Finally’?

Categories: Bless Our Troops, Government, Notable Deaths
Tags: anti-war, Congress, Democrat, gall bladder surgery, House of Representatives, Iraq, John Murtha, John Murtha dead, John Murtha died, John Murtha has died, Pennsylvania, political, politics, Rep. John Murtha