Transcript of interview on Fox News’ Happening Now. Jon Scott interviews Lt. Col. William Russell who is running against John Murtha to represent the 12^th Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

Jon Scott: On a day when the top U.S. commander and our ambassador in Iraq testify on Capitol Hill about progress there more than a dozen Iraq war veterans are running for Congress as Republicans, a show of support they say, for U.S. troops and presidential candidate John McCain. It’s similar to what Democrats did in 2006 with some success. I’d like to introduce you to Lt. Col. William Russell. He is running against Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha, obviously a leading critic of the Iraq War.

Lieutenant Colonel, and I guess I should say retired now because you got out of the Army, at least out of active duty about what, six months ago now?

Lt. Col. Russell: Yes, actually I left active duty. I’m still active with the reserves and currently serve with the 464^th Chemical Brigade in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Jon Scott: You have said that John Murtha has “emboldened the enemy” with some of his anti-war talk. What do you mean by that?

Lt. Col. Russell: Well absolutely. When he threw the Haditha marines under the bus he put the United States’ Congress’ ‘stamp of approval’ on enemy propaganda. And certainly, John Murtha of all people, should understand this, having served as an intelligence officer in Viet Nam, he should understand enemy propaganda. As a savvy politician he should understand propaganda, and when he takes the enemy’s side of the story; puts it out as gospel truth; accuses our marines of cold blooded murder; he has reinforced their message on the Arab street and certainly undermined the support for the troops at home.

Jon Scott: Yeah, the Haditha case was front page news in the New York Times and made the cover of Time Magazine when those four soldiers were charged. Now the charges have been dropped against three of them. And at least in the most recent case when the charges were dropped it was on page, I think, A8 of the New York Times. It didn’t get the same kind of attention.

Lt. Col. Russell: Exactly, and of course, one of the key points is that all the murder related charges have been dropped against these soldiers or marines and Mr. Murtha has so far failed and refused to apologize to them. Including one of those marines, Justin Sharratt, who is from our district.

Jon Scott: Well, you’re obviously taking on a force, John Murtha, a long-time Member of Congress. Do you think you have a prayer of unseating this guy?

Lt. Col. Russell: Surprisingly he is vulnerable. Although he’s brought home a lot of earmarks in the past thirty years, a lot of people are recognizing that perhaps this is not the way to go because they are beginning to recognize that effects of the earmarks he’s been bringing have not been reaching the average person in Johnstown. He’s not bringing in working class jobs, he’s not bringing in manufacturing jobs, and mostly jobs are going to outsiders who move into the district, build big houses, skew the property values and the property taxes of the area.

Jon Scott: Really quickly, you have been through both Iraq wars, what do you tell people, now that you’re a candidate, what do you tell people about the prospects there?

Lt. Col. Russell: Well certainly we’re making a difference. I’ve spent a total of three years in the Middle East. We recognize that things are not going to work the same. There are some cultural jumps. In Iraq we have a country that has lived under a totalitarian regime for thirty years before we liberated it. Naturally when you have all the leaders of any clan or any class that might have been a threat to Saddam or the Ba’athists were categorically removed, tortured, or murdered, it takes a while to grow leaders. Within the United States Army it takes us two years to grow a new lieutenant and twenty-five years or thirty years to grow a general of the caliber of Petraeus. And we’re trying to establish an entire government in Iraq in a matter of a couple of short years from scratch. So there’s going to be a chance.

Jon Scott: Lieutenant Colonel William Russell, we have to say goodbye. Thank you.

Lt. Col. Russell: Thank you.

Lt. Col. Russell’s website is here.

Tracked back to Stop the ACLUs Open Trackback.

Welcome Bostonmaggie readers!

About a year ago, Listerine’s Agent Cool Blue was recalled. We became unhappy in our house. We loved that stuff, and The Little Guy actually wanted to brush his teeth.

Today I took The Big Guy over to Wal-Mart to buy him some sand paper so he could smooth down the sword he’s making from some lath we bought at the lumberyard yesterday. I needed to get some Mylanta since I’ve been having some intestinal discomfort lately, and The Big Guy and I happened to go past the mouthwash section on the way to the antacid section. I saw something there that I immediately put in my basket.

Inspector Hector Plaque Detector! It’s blue stuff that you rinse with prior to brushing and it stains the plaque blue, just like Listerine’s Agent Cool Blue did. Just like those little red tablets you chewed in grade school turned the plaque red on your teeth.

Yay! Maybe we won’t have as hard a time getting The Little Guy to brush his teeth!

On history making:

Clinton wants to make history as the first female president of the United States. She’s already made history as the first former First Lady in an elected office. Even if she makes it as the first female presidential nominee or makes it as the first female president, she won’t be the first American female head of state. That honor belongs to Golda Mier. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On compensation for injury:

Real or perceived injury. Why do people feel that they are entitled to be compensated for every little thing that happens to them? So many so-called malpractice suits seem to me to be more demanding compensation for an adverse outcome than any actual malefeasance or negligence on the part of the medical professionals. People, listen. Bad things happen that aren’t necessarily anyone’s fault. You aren’t entitled to get money for every little thing, or even some big things.

On punitive damages:

If a “punishment” is indicated, shouldn’t the case be brought criminally rather than civilly?

Do we really want someone as President of the United States who “mis-speaks” when she’s tired to be answering that phone at 3 a.m.?

Via Althouse;

This morphed photo.

Can you tell which side is which?

Via DRJ over at Patterico’s we find this story about some people who certainly didn’t think before they acted:

“A pair of hoax ads on Craigslist cost an Oregon man much of what he owned.

The ads popped up Saturday afternoon, saying the owner of a Jacksonville home was forced to leave the area suddenly and his belongings, including a horse, were free for the taking, said Jackson County sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan.

But Robert Salisbury had no plans to leave. The independent contractor was at Emigrant Lake when he got a call from a woman who had stopped by his house to claim his horse. On his way home he stopped a truck loaded down with his work ladders, lawn mower and weed eater.

“I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back,” Salisbury said. “They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did.” [Source]

What is up with these people? Didn’t they think before going to someone’s house and taking stuff? Are these the type of people who’d buy swamp land in The Mojave? Or buy the Brooklyn Bridge?

Who taught these people anything at all? I mean, really. A Craig’s List ad as authority to take things that don’t belong to you?

Florida and Michigan “do-overs”. No. No do-overs. The DNC made a mistake when they decided to penalize Florida and Michigan of all their delegates. They should have followed the RNC’s lead and just docked them half.

That would have solved the current dilemma. Of course, the current dilemma wouldn’t be a dilemma if Clinton had taken the nomination on ÜberTuesday like she was “supposed” to. The only reason there is a dilemma now is because she’s losing and the race is close. If she were in the lead and the race wasn’t close, nobody would care about Michigan and Florida’s delegates (except maybe residents of those states) but if they could make a difference at this late date – then they are über-important.

The DNC has made their bed and now they must lie in it. Just as they short sheeted themselves by changing their rules after McGovern and again in the eighties regarding delegates and super delegates, they have put the blanket on sideways with their penalization of Michigan and Florida.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A wonderful song by Nicole C. Mullen

And another by the Newsboys

It’s just a little one, less than a foot tall.