Congressman Murtha is coming to my neighborhood. I am thrilled as can be about that. What troubles me are the circumstances surrounding the visit. The circumstances involve one NYC Congressman using Congressman Murtha as a tool while backstabbing another NYC Congressman, all to push the candidacy of a local politician. This is the stuff New York politics is made of and Congressman Murtha has been lured into a minefield apparently without his knowledge.
The culprit? Primarily Congressman Anthony Weiner, a man I supported in the past, and his chosen candidate for another Congressional seat, Yvette Clarke. Those who were screwed were my own Congressman, Major Owens (who is retiring) and Yvette Clarke's rivals for succeeding Major Owens--his son, Chris Owens, my City Councilman David Yassky, and State Senator Carl Andrews. (UPDATED AT THE END)
My Congressman is Major Owens. He has been one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war from day one. He is a co-sponsor of the Murtha Amendment. Etiquette requires that Major Owens should be invited to attend an event featuring Congressman Murtha hosted by another Congressman, Anthony Weiner, in Major Owens' district. But Major Owens was not invited. My Congressman was intentionally slighted by Anthony Weiner. Why? Because Anthony Weiner has an agenda that has nothing to do with the Iraq war or Congressman Murtha.
Anthony Weiner invited Congressman Murtha to discuss the Iraq war just down the street from me. But what he really is doing, is trying to boost the candidacy of Yvette Clarke who recently was embroiled in a scandal where she lied about graduating from college.
Yvette Clarke, who does not currently represent the area where the event is taking place in any way, is locked in a fierce battle to succeed Major Owens in Congress. Her rivals are Major's son Chris Owens, Councilman David Yassky, and State Senator Carl Andrews. These four candidates are very different. But the one thing where they are untied are in their support of the Murtha Amendment and opposition to the Iraq war.
So Anthony Weiner violates Congressional etiquette by refusing to invite a sitting Congressman to an event within his own district, and instead invites someone who doesn't represent the area. In a clearly desperate attempt to bolster Yvette Clarke after her recent scandals, Anthony Weiner insults my Congressman, my neighborhood and, as far as I am concerned, myself.
This is how low some people will go for political gain. This shows how low the very ambitious Congressman Weiner (who ran for NYC mayor last year and is rumored to be eyeing Hillary Clinton's Senate seat if she runs for President) will go to further his political ends. And it shows how either politically naive and foolish Yvette Clarke is, or how low she, too, is willing to go.
Knowing her campaign somewhat, I think Clarke knows full well how rude and sleazy she is being by holding this forum without inviting her rivals or the sitting Congressman.
And it may backfire. Many people, including my wife, have called Congressman Murtha's office to ask what's up with this and see if this is an endorsement of Yvette Clarke. His office seemed quite surprised and distressed that they had been lured into this minefield of local politics on false pretences. I don't blame Murtha for this. I blame the very underhanded Anthony Weiner and Yvette Clarke.
In the future, Anthonyt Weiner can forget about my support.
The word now is that Murtha is indeed endorsing Yvette Clarke. Congrats to Yvette. The problem is that the event is being billed as a "Town Hall meeting," not as an endorsement. That and the fact that Murtha's office was not willing to confirm yesterday (in fact specifically said to one caller that Murtha does not get involved in local politics) threw everyone.
Yvette Clarke has been making misleading statements for years now. Calling an endorsement announcement a "Town Hall Meeting" on the Iraq war is only the latest in her string of misleading statements. Should have known not to trust what her campaign was saying.