The Washington Post editorial board apparently believes Tom DeLay’s style of ruthless corruption is still around — because Jack Murtha picked up where “The Hammer” left off.
The action unfolded on the Republican side of the House floor May 17. That’s where Mr. Murtha, chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, laced into Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) for trying to stop a $23 million earmark for a drug intelligence center in Mr. Murtha’s district. According to Mr. Rogers, Mr. Murtha threatened him in an explosive tirade complete with a slew of F-bombs and a barnyard expletive here and there. The ultimate Murtha message: “You will not get any earmarks now and forever.” As a result, Mr. Rogers tried to get the BMOC of House Democrats reprimanded for such bald intimidation. That bid, unfortunately but not surprisingly, failed Tuesday. […]
Camp Murtha wasn’t inclined to respond to our inquiries about the Rogers confrontation. “He’s just not going to comment on it,” a spokesman said. But Mr. Murtha did reach out to Mr. Rogers on Wednesday. In a handwritten note, Mr. Murtha said he was sorry if his outburst offended Mr. Rogers.
For this incident, the Post describes Murtha as “Mr. Delay’s Democratic Party pork-barrel twin.”
To be sure, Murtha’s earmark threat was inappropriate, and he’s apologized. That style of politics has been common on the Hill for, say, a couple of centuries now, but the new Dem majority vowed to change the process.
But there’s a key detail the Post editorial neglected to mention — Murtha’s threat was entirely hollow. As Dana Milbank explained this week, “By tacit agreement between the parties, Murtha controls only the Democratic earmarks and lets the ranking Republican on the committee, Bill Young of Florida, handle GOP earmarks.” Murtha wasn’t in a position to punish Rogers, even if he wanted to.
When DeLay threatened a House colleague, he or she knew DeLay would follow through. Murtha’s threat was largely meaningless.
Comparing anyone to DeLay is a pretty low blow, but in Murtha’s case, it’s pretty silly.
