Rise of the NeoCop

I'm trying to formulate a "benefit of the doubt" defense for John Murtha's latest incredible statements that the U.S. military is "Broken, worn out," and "living hand to mouth."

I am failing miserably, as there seems to be only a handful of options to explain his behavior, and few of them are kind.

The first opinion is that Murtha is correct, that the military is falling apart. This statement is very hard to defend, as soldiers are re-enlisting at greater rates than targeted, and are optimistic about chances for success in Iraq.

The second option, highlighted by Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom, is that Murtha is one of a group of Democrats that has fallen prey to a sort of "insane calculus":

—which is the position of the Democratic leadership, at least in the House—argues, in essence, that going to war puts a strain on our troops, and that protecting ourselves is impossible if our troops are stretched thin from protecting us.

In other words, Murtha's unhinged defense is that the Army shouldn't be used to fight, because we might need them for war.

Another option highlighted by lawhawk at A Blog For All, is that of his own incompetence:

unless the Constitution of the US has been changed lately (and it hasn't), it's Congress' job to make sure that the Army is properly funded to provide for the common Defense (Article I, Sec. 8, Clause 1 and Clause 12). So, if there is a problem, it's up to Murtha and his colleagues in Congress to make sure that the military is properly funded so that it has the proper levels of equipment and supplies.

Congressman Murtha, ranking member and former chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is admitting his gross incompetence.

Or perhaps there is another factor in play entirely.

Murtha is emerging as one of several Vallandigham pretenders in the modern Democratic Party, willing to undercut the nation because they lack to fortitude to finish a difficult and necessary task. For them, failure is a constant, a mark on their characters they would sear onto the soul of a nation.

In the 1860s a group of defeatist Democrats were willing to sell the Union and the God-given rights of men away because they felt that the cost of war with the Confederacy was too high, that states rights had been abused, that racial equality was being unfairly forced upon the states of Confederacy. The traitorous Peace Democrats proudly referred to themselves as Copperheads.

Today's neo-Copperhead (NeoCop) Peace Democrats feel another war is not worth the price we've paid to secure basic human rights. Certainly, the ethnicity of the downtrodden has changed--Arab for African--but the message of racial indifference remains shockingly the same.