Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday became emotional over
the passing of John Murtha, named by
Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington as one of Congress' most corrupt
politicians. He lauded the Democrat as "
one of those guys who make the [House
of Representatives] work." [Audio available
here.]
Neither Stephanopoulos, nor Juju Chang, who filed a news brief on Murtha,
mentioned his 2006 smear that U.S. Marines killed Iraqi civilians "in cold
blood." Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic operative, reminisced as he tried to
maintain control: "
I'm going to get a little choked up. I miss him already.
You know, I went to Capitol Hill as an aide almost 30 years ago."
He cooed, "And he did it with such a sense of joy and fun and he taught me an
awful lot." Stephanopoulos skipped the following quote from Murtha in May of
2006 about a supposed massacre in Haditha, Iraq: "Our troops overreacted because
of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
NBC's Today also ignored this part of the Congressman's history and the fact
that the Marines involved have been
acquitted.
Instead, Today's Ann Curry referred to Murtha as a "tireless advocate for
veterans." On GMA, Robin Roberts also lauded, "And he was such a tireless
advocate for veterans." Murtha may have been a "tireless advocate" for some in
the military, just not the soldiers he smeared.
(In the D.C. area, CBS's Early Show was preempted for snow warnings. It's
unclear how they covered it. However, the CBS Evening News on Monday failed to
highlight the comment.) ABC and NBC's morning shows also failed to mention the
1980 Abscam bribery investigation that the Congressman was embroiled in.
A transcript of the February 9 segment, which aired at 7:17am EST
JUJU CHANG: And, finally, one of the most influential members of Congress has
died. John Murtha was a decorated Marine. He was the first Vietnam combat
veteran elected to Congress, a champion of the armed forces. He will perhaps be
best remembered for calling for an immediate pull-out of Iraq in 2005. Murtha
died from complications of gallbladder surgery. He was 77. And that's the news
at 7:17. George, I know you worked with him.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I'm going to get a little choked
up. I miss him already. You know, I went to Capitol Hill as an aide almost 30
years ago. He was one of those guys who make the place work. And he did it with
such a sense of joy and fun and he taught me an awful lot. [Trying not to get
chocked up.]
ROBIN ROBERTS: And he was such a tireless advocate for veterans.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Oh, man.
ROBERTS: And you are really- I can tell you are really touched by his moving
[sic].
-Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research
Center.
