Democrats Turning On Murtha?

From the liberal moderninvertebrate.com blog (I love that name) comes this very interesting piece, which I shall shamelessly present in full here (with proper attribution, of course). Short, two-bit analysis: John Murtha, darling of the Democrats, may be in line for the Joe Lieberman boot-in-the-arse treatment, and soon. Rumblings from the underbelly, presented a la carte for your enjoyment. The moderninvertebrate post follows immediately: US: Disturbing news in the new Democratic House Thursday, November 16th, 2006 We’ll see if the Democrats are really out to change America this time, or if they’re just going to sit back and collect the cash like their Republican counter parts. Based on the leadership race in the House, it ain’t lookin’ too good (from the AP):

But Murtha is also a controversial figure. He was investigated in 1980 as part of the Abscam bribery sting, but was the only lawmaker involved who wasn’t charged criminally.

Uh, there’s more.

Murtha has a record of not always being a leadership loyalist, frequently supplying votes to GOP leaders who were struggling to pass bills. The none-too-subtle trade-off: Murtha and his allies would do better when home-state projects were doled out by the Republicans. He has been criticized by ethics watchdogs such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who have said he exemplifies a “pay-to-play” culture of Washington. The group says Murtha has steered defense projects to clients of KSA Consulting, a lobbying firm that until recently employed his brother Kit. Clients of the firm are generous with campaign contributions.

So basically this quasi-Republican who just last year decided that he’d had enough of the Iraq War that he helped get us into — this is who Nancy Pelosi is supporting for the House 2nd in command? He should be on the short list of people to oust in 2008. But then again, this is not a party of progress. This is a party of status quo.

So there you go.