Pirate's Cove

Hey, y'all, Jebediah here. It's not Trackback Friday featuring the Surrender Monkey, however, the Official Surrender Monkeys cousin, Murtha Monkey, has agreed to join us today.

People (read lefties) constantly complain about the loss of Free Speech. Well, that supposed loss sure didn't stop Rep. John Murtha from talking his way into a lawsuit:

A Marine Corps sergeant who grew up in Connecticut and is under investigation in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha is accusing Rep. John P. Murtha of defaming him in public comments about the case.

Lawyers for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, who grew up in Meriden, Conn., argue in a suit to be filed Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich "of cold-blooded murder and war crimes."

The suit maintains that Pentagon officials "who have briefed or leaked information to Mr. Murtha deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information" and that the congressman subsequently "has made repeated statements …. that are defamatory" to Wuterich and his fellow Marines.

The suit accuses Murtha of spreading "false and malicious lies" about Wuterich and his squad that were "intended to serve his own private purpose and interests" and that Murtha's comments "have been reproduced by countless third parties throughout the world."

See, people are free to say whatever they want. I reckon there can be consequences to saying whatever the hell you want. Ask anyone who has threatened to kill the President. Ask anyone who has yelled "fire" in movie house falsely. Ask someone who has been sued for slander or defamation of character.

Congress shall pass no law about Free Speech. But the States sure can. And, ya know, the Framers were kinda protecting the Right to criticize the government without retaliation. I'm sure that they expected Free Speech to be factual, and truthful, too.

This is not just another case of "gimmee money!"

The claim for libel and invasion of privacy seeks damages to be determined, but not less than $75,000.

That is not a lot in today's lawsuit happy society, especially against a United States Congress Critter who has accused one of cold blooded murder.

Can one also say "undue command influence?" Technically, Congress is not in the chain of command in the military. Yet, they are part of the United States government, and are the only ones who can declare war. So a case can be made.

Furthermore, when you have a US Congressman stating that you are guilty before being even charged, hell, before the investigation was even close to being ended, it makes it hard to get a fair trial by a jury of your peers.

Murtha may have been a great Marine in his day, but now he is just another Surrender Monkey, who, like most of the vocal left, could care less about anyone who doesn't sheeple along.

Cao has more.