Meet Jack Murtha: Official Saboteur of US peace efforts in Iraq (and parallels to programming)

Since last December, Mr. Murtha has become the hero of the antiwar crowd, and, as we've seen with other such individuals, scrutinizing their behavior is considered disrespectful. Few might recall (since many aren't even old enough to remember) that after the massive 1980 Abscam scandal, Mr. Murtha was named by the FBI as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Sez Murtha, "Once we get out of there, it will be more stable in Iraq." Oh, Really? Jack Murtha is an idiot. If he has his way and we get out of there, even many left-wing Democrats agree that all hell will break loose, and we will be in much more danger - not only from Al Queda, but from Iran and other destabilizing influences, than we are now.

Newt Gingrich: "It's conceivable that Murtha woke up one day a year ago and said, 'You know, if I don't start bashing America, and bashing the military, and repudiating everything I've stood for my whole life, these guys aren't going to allow me to be chairman of the committee that spends the money.'"

I have no problem with people wanting us to get out of Iraq. I want that too. But when you sabotage our best efforts through subterfuge and chicanery in such a manner as to not be held accountable for the results, that's not good public or foreign policy at all. Democrats? Where's the PLAN? I still don't see one.

The recent House vote, and the off-the-wall Liberal Democrats and spineless Republicans who supported it are at fault. These are the same liberals that believe that:

* Global warming exists as our fault just because Al Gore said it was a problem.

* President Bush went AWOL in the National Guard just because Dan Rather reported it on 60 minutes.

* All Christians are extremists.

* Universal healthcare will actually work here in the US.

* All conservatives are racist towards blacks and Mexican Americans.

* All conservatives are white, upper class males.

* Who protest for the sake of protesting, without a full and complete understanding of the issues.

I'm sorry to say it, but the American Left is not well -- it's driven by rage.

They're mad about losing the past two presidential elections, mad about losing their longtime monopoly on how news and information are disseminated. They're mad about increasing numbers of minority conservatives in the Republican Party. They're mad about patriotism, capitalism, religious freedom, our national heritage, and the war on terror.

Disagree? Sure, I expect you will. But, be careful, or I may sic Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter on you.

Some advice on politics - and parallels to programming:

It is the same with politics, programming, and criticism. For us as software developers, telling someone their code is "total crap" is not helpful. Telling them they misspelled an XML element name, have several places where they've repeated code, and they need exception handling in all of their methods is much more helpful. It not only allows them to improve their current code, but it may help them out in the future as well.

It certainly takes more time to itemize mistakes, but it's worth it. Liberals can learn to be leaders by not criticizing "Bush the President" and instead, offering constructive criticism and showing clearly defined, well - thought - out alternatives. Cutting off war funding or creating restrictions so onerous that they paralyze the Commander in Chief aren't "solutions".

It's easy to come into a situation and complain. It's easy to point out the flaws in everything. Democrats who complain and think the solution is a non-binding vote of no-confidence on the war in Iraq aren't providing any real help. Much the contrary -- they may be emboldening our adversaries and weakening our position with potential allies, unless they can present a clearly-defined path to success. Making policy by obstruction is the fastest path to failure.

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