By Michael Nedderman
John “Jack” Murtha has represented Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District for 36 years! How could someone last that long who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam scandal of the early 1980s, who is the most egregious serial abuser in the House of Representatives of what is known as the “earmark” scandal, and whose false accusations triggered a career-ending witch hunt of eight brave Marines merely for partisan purposes?
The answer is quite simple: John Murtha “gets away with it” by subverting the Democratic process through what is commonly referred to as “the power of the incumbent.” It consists of three main components collectively referred to as the “Incumbent Protection Act”: 1) the awarding of “safe political districts”; 2) the use of special legislation, “entitlements” and “earmarks,” which benefit (bribe) certain constituents who 3) express their “quid pro quo gratitude” with votes and campaign contributions. Those three factors have worked synergisticly to corrupt the entire body politic until we not only have out-of-control government, but much of the country seems to want more of the same.
Incumbents have crossed the line from legitimate partisan politics to now exercising the “power of the incumbent” as an unconstitutional usurpation (“to hold an office without legal right,” Dictionary.com) because, since 1990, almost all state legislative and federal congressional districts are computer gerrymandered to guarantee the preservation of “The Incumbent Status Quo” for five election cycles, or 10 years!
Let the meaning of that phrase sink in. When incumbents conspire to guarantee the preservation of “The Incumbent Status Quo” for five election cycles, they are overtly working against the people’s right choose their representatives in competitive elections where they have the option to hear and choose a viable challenger every two years. Having a “safe district” means safe from voters hearing and choosing a challenger. The key phrase is “safe from voters.” The incumbent’s slogan is: “Make every district a safe district” – and they have succeeded.
While they are not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, viable political challengers are an essential element and are clearly implied by the very nature of a democratic process that is meaningless without them. Can Murtha’s multi-generational tenure, renewed in 18 consecutive show elections in his computer-gerrymandered district be attributed to his popularity any more than that of Hosni Mubarak or Saddam Hussein, the duly elected presidents of Egypt (27 years) and Iraq (24 years), respectively?
Not unexpectedly, preserving the various elements of “the power of the incumbent” is one of the few areas of enthusiastic bipartisan cooperation. And that proves the main point of this column, which is that ALL of our elected leaders are either keeping silent or overtly acting in collusion to subvert the Constitution by debasing the electoral process to such an extent that almost every American has been de facto deprived of the right to self-government (at least with regard to the House of Representatives and to the state legislatures).
Not a partisan issue
The corrupt established order that Murtha protects is not a reference to one political party or the other. It is a reference to all incumbents who together refuse to change a system that protects both the minority as well as the majority party incumbents by making each and every one of them politically invincible to challenge – exactly the opposite of that which the founders intended with the Constitution they created.
While the majority party will try to cause problems for the minority when conducting a partisan redistricting, producing safe districts for its incumbents necessitates creating safe districts for a certain number of minority-party incumbents. And that’s exactly how the “Murtha Monster” was created by the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
 Republican 9th and 18th districts interlocking Murtha’s 12th (lavender in southwest). |
In his 2007 “State of the State” address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, while commenting on the need for redistricting reform, noted:
“In the past three election cycles, only four out of California’s 459 congressional and legislative seats changed hands (53 congressional, 80 Assembly, plus 20 of the 40 State Senate seats = 153 x 3 elections = 459). There was more turnover in the Hapsburg monarchy than in the California Legislature.” (parenthetical comment added)
That is less than 1 percent turnover. The comparison to the unelected Hapsburg monarchy is not hyperbole, but supports this author’s assertion that our democratic process has degenerated into an Orwellian theatrical performance given in a political Potemkin village.
That characterization is intended to convey all the implications of citizen and media ignorance and/or duplicity, as well as of intimidation and oppression of political challengers and of voters by all incumbents acting in collusion to strengthen the forces of unlimited and oppressive government over the people.
The following quotation about California’s bipartisan redistricting plan was presciently made in 2001 prior to the three election cycles referenced by Gov. Schwarzenegger:
“This new plan basically does away with the need for elections,” said Tony Quinn, a former Republican redistricting consultant. “These seats shouldn’t change (parties) over the decade.”
– “Lawmakers use creative license in redistricting,” John Wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 2, 2001
Today, most elections for the House of Representatives and for state legislative offices are “show elections” because the outcomes, with rare exception, are a foregone conclusion. Your vote is counted, but it doesn’t actually matter.
A national campaign for a local election
We the people may not have the control over our representatives sufficient to insist they surrender the power they have usurped, but the worst of the worst, like John Murtha, can be taken down one at a time and made a public example to intimidate and shame all others. Incumbents everywhere must be made to fear the avalanche of indignation that will bury John Murtha in November and that soon may visit them. The 2007 immigration debate is the template that says there is still hope. This issue is actually much more important than that one.
BeatMurtha.com seeks to motivate just such a national uprising against all incumbents who have seized power illegitimately, using the power of incumbency to guarantee themselves political invincibility, thereby becoming unaccountable to their constituency in violation of the very premise of the Constitution.
On the positive side, picking off the worst incumbents could be great fun. It could become a “mass participation reality show” similar to “America’s Most Wanted” except everyone gets to assist in the “arrest” by working to defeat the “perp” (the perpetrator of the crime) as we support challengers and this constitutional reformation movement. See the BeatMurtha.com website for details of “the plan” and for the free book that provides and in-depth treatment of this subject.
The success of this constitutional reformation movement depends upon those who are sympathetic getting friends, family, talk-show hosts and bloggers involved, and especially by interviewing Murtha’s challenger William Russell as often as possible between now and the November election. (His site is linked at BeatMurtha.com.)
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John Murtha is a caricature of all that is wrong in politics today. He deserves the honor of being this movement’s first project and namesake “poster child” to focus voter outrage and to direct it, just as a military special forces unit attacks an enemy’s critical point to have a decisive effect on its larger army.
The negative “poster child” is John Murtha, his face framed by the shameful shape of his diseased-looking congressional district as seen in the accompanying image and worn on the T-shirts and caps of supporters to promote this reform movement. Those supporters will also contribute to the success of the positive “poster child,” Murtha’s challenger, William “the dragon slayer” Russell. Lt. Col. Russell is ready, willing and able. However, he needs the support of everyone who would like to solve this national embarrassment, and he needs that help right now.
“Honor the troops, www.BeatMurtha.com.”
Michael Nedderman is a California based writer and can be reached at [email protected].
