Honestly, I have a hard time writing anything about John ‘The Saboteur’ Murtha. The man disgusts me. I’ve written pages and pages about his lies and just as many pages about the high profile the old media gave his lies.

I have asked people what they think about the Marines who were involved in the Haditha incident. Most don’t remember the name ‘Haditha’, but when you remind them of the incident they respond that the Marines went into the village and killed innocent women and children. For people who don’t play that close attention to the news, that is what they believe to be fact. That’s the accusation that a United States Congressman made against a group of Marines. That’s the news that had headlines for weeks, if not months. If you don’t follow it as closely as those of us with a special interest in it, that’s what they believe.

That is not the truth and it is not what happened.

The truth of the Marines’ story may or may not be a quick comment hidden on page 15 of the paper. Its just a footnote. The accusation was the news.

John Murtha lied to the people of the United States. He lied about the Marines. He wanted to garner favors from his party when they took power in November. He wanted to be Majority Leader so he stood up before the American people and accused our Marines of murdering civilians in ‘cold blood’. Those Marines careers were ruined, their reputations stained and they spent two years in prison awaiting their court martials. On a party-wide scale, the purpose was to use that as a scandal against the President. On a personal level, those Marines were forced to make those sacrifices to further the career of a corrupt career politician.

Diana Irey worked hard to unseat Murtha in the last election. Her campaign didn’t have a chance against Murtha’s money and connections. The people of Pennsylvania voted him back into office regardless of his traitorous words and actions. He is proof positive that enough money can buy you anything, even votes.

I read over at Michelle Malkin that another GOP candidate is poised to take on Murtha.

A career Army member left the service two years short of retirement to move here and try his hand at politics by challenging longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha.

First-time candidate William T. Russell, 45, a Republican, acknowledged that taking on a popular, 18-term congressman in the 2008 election will be “an uphill battle.”

“But it’s one that must be fought,” Russell told the Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown.

Russell plans to formally announce his candidacy within weeks. Murtha has declined comment on the challenge.

Murtha, 75, has served in the House since 1974 and is known for bringing money and jobs — especially in the defense industries — to his district in rural Pennsylvania. A decorated Vietnam veteran and Marine Reserves colonel who previously had been hawkish on war issues, Murtha has criticized the Iraq war and pushed for the troops to be brought home. He became chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee last year.

Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey ran against Murtha last year, trying to capitalize on the backlash against Murtha’s views among conservatives. She was soundly beaten in the general election.

Russell, who moved from the Washington, D.C., area to Murtha’s district specifically to take on the congressman, has a long Army and Army Reserve career that includes tours of duty in the Balkans and both Iraq wars. He and his wife, Kasia, were in the Pentagon when a hijacked airliner slammed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001. Both escaped unhurt.

Murtha’s call for troop withdrawal from Iraq “is just flat-out wrong,” Russell said. Like Irey, Russell also criticized Murtha’s public allegations that unnamed U.S. soldiers committed “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” against innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005.

A small-business owner, Russell said he wants a local economy dependent on the free market. But he acknowledges some jobs may be lost if government contracts disappear.

At some point, surely, the good people of the 12th District of Pennsylvania will have had enough of the shame that is John Murtha.