February
8, 2010
John Murtha - "King of Pork" Goes to the Sty in
the Sky
John
Murtha, Pennsylvania democrat representative, died today of complications from
gallbladder surgery. His large intestine was damaged during surgery. No doubt
it was due to large chunks of pork deposited there. He was 77.
Known as the
"King of Pork" for steering millions of dollars in earmarks to his district
and his own businesses, Murtha spent his career hiding his political crimes behind
his military record.
Murtha was the unindicted co-conspirator of the FBI's ABSCAM
sting operation. It wasn't that Murtha didn't want the $50,000 bribe; he thought
it wasn't enough. On the FBI tape Murtha says, "We do business for a while,
maybe I'll be interested and maybe I won't." His greed kept him holding out
long enough to avoid the fate of six House members and one US senator.
Murtha's
death cut his 35-year career short. However, he would have been thrown out of
office by angry voters, if he weren't arrested for illegal campaign donations
first. He was barely able to eke out a victory in his last reelection bid after
calling his constituents "rednecks."
There is now one less pig at
the trough.
TLG
