Marine Reserve Colonel Danny R. Bubp, who was alleged to have said of Representative John Murtha that “cowards cut and run, marines never do,” says his comments were misrepresented by Representative Jean Schmidt.
Colonel Denies Disparaging Murtha (NYT)
A colonel in the Marine reserves has taken issue with how his views were represented in a Republican attack last week on Representative Murtha. Speaking on the House floor on Friday, Representative Jean Schmidt, Republican of Ohio, asserted that the colonel had “asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, marines never do.”
But a spokeswoman for the colonel, Danny R. Bubp, said Ms. Schmidt had misconstrued their conversation. While Mr. Bubp, a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, opposes a quick withdrawal for forces, “he did not mention Congressman Murtha by name nor did he mean to disparage Congressman Murtha,” said Karen Tabor, his spokeswoman. “He feels as though the words that Congresswoman Schmidt chose did not represent their conversation.”
Asked to respond on Monday, the congresswoman’s office said only, “Mrs. Schmidt’s statement was never meant to disparage Congressman Murtha.”
While we’ll likely never know the exact details of the conversation in question, I tend to believe Budp here–especially given this obvious lie from Schmidt’s office. If “send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, marines never do” is not meant to be disparaging, then Schmidt is an idiot.
