John Murtha Dies.

It is not good to speak ill of the dead, so I'll try to bite my tongue on this one.

Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania--noted Abscam artist, "anti-Iraq activist" beloved by the HuffPost crowd, and most unforgivably, libeller of American troops who fought at Haditha,has gone the way of all flesh.

I note that his final illness was a consequence of incompetently provided government health care: he went into Bethesda for a gall bladder operation and emerged with an unrepaired slashed intestine.

It is regrettable that he has died. It is regrettable that he died the way that he did.

But with every death, as PDQ Bach once noted, there comes a vacancy: perhaps, like Ted Kennedy, that may be his greatest legacy.

ADDENDUM 2/15/2010

Michelle Malkin gives The Honorable Murtha an appropriate sendoff.