John Murtha; Dr. Hendricks; Atlas Shrugged; Ayn Rand; Socialized medicine

There is irony to be found in the death of Congressman John Murtha this week. Congressman Murtha was a liberal Democrat who supported government growth and government pork for decades. He provided unwavering support to the Democrat leadership in Washington as they sought to nationalize the health care system.

The irony is that Murtha died from a medical mistake during otherwise routine surgery. Murtha died from something that will become all too common for every American in the coming years if the government completes its nationalization of medical care. Medical care will degenerate like every other government "service." Today's doctors will either quit or become government bureaucrats (or will take orders from bureaucrats). The fictional Dr. Hendricks told our future in Atlas Shrugged:

I quit when medicine was placed under State control, some years ago . . . . Do you know what it takes to perform a brain operation? Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. I would not let them dictate the purpose for which my years of study had been spent, or the conditions of my work, or my choice of patients, or the amount of my reward. I observed that in all the discussions that preceded the enslavement of medicine, men discussed everything - except the desires of the doctors. Men considered only the 'welfare' of their patients, with no thought for those who were to provide it. That a doctor should have any right, desire or choice in the matter, was regarded as irrelevant selfishness; his is not to choose, they said, only 'to serve.' That a man who's willing to work under compulsion is too dangerous a brute to entrust with a job in the stockyards - never occurred to those who proposed to help the sick by making life impossible for the healthy. I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind - yet what is it that they expect to depend on when they lie on an operating table under my hands? Their moral code has taught them to believe that it is safe to rely on the virtue of their victims. Well, that is the virtue I have withdrawn. Let them discover the kinds of doctors that their system will now produce. Let them discover, in their operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man whose life they have throttled. It is not safe, if he is the sort of man who resents it - and still less safe, if he is the sort who doesn't.

Atlas Shrugged, p. 744, 35th Anniversary Edition

So what was the situation with Murtha's doctors? Did they resent being dressed in white coats as props for Obamacare? Or did Murtha get the leftover doctors after the resentful ones quit?

Support William Russell; John Murtha is unopposed

I previously wrote about William Russell's campaign against John Murtha this year in Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district. It appears as if John Murtha has found a technical defect in Russell's filing papers and is using fake Republicans to file a challenge to keep Russell off of the ballot. Atlas writes more. Russell can get back on the ballot if he receives 1000 or more write-in votes on April 22.

The larger issue is that of the existence of the "Republicans" who would agree to be Murtha's front men for the purpose of denying the voters a choice this fall. History is full of examples of individuals who pretend to be what they actually oppose so that they can destroy their enemy from within.

Will Durant was an atheist who had broken with the Catholic Church, yet remained in the seminary. His intention (and that of his friend and fellow seminarian) was to become a priest and undermine the Church from within throughout a long career. Durant did not follow through on his plan (quitting to become an educator and historian), but his friend did.

Durant told his story in his autobiography, Transitions.



This is no casual example. Consider the commitment of one who spends his life as a Priest. He gives up marriage. He gives up privacy. He gives up all of the trappings of life outside of the church, including any possibility of wealth accumulation. It is understandable that one might do this if he actually believes in God. But to do it while believing that God does not exist requires a different kind of commitment. To be so committed to atheism that one could endure a fundamentally dishonest life is almost unimaginable to ordinary humans. Yet it has been done.

As another example, those who are not wilfully blind are aware of the actions of many Soviet agents who pretended to be "American" for the sole purpose of undermining America during the cold war.



There are many other examples. But now we have the example of individuals who would join a political party solely for the purpose of undermining its operations, keeping its candidates off of the ballot and denying the voters a choice. All while maintaining the appearance of kinship with the party of Reagan, Goldwater and Newt Gingrich.

I know nothing of the individuals that challenged Russell's nomination filing at the behest of John Murtha. But I can try to imagine how they attempt to integrate this political errand into their personal lives. With friends who might wonder how a Republican could do such a thing to the Republican voters, they have no choice but to feign indignance of their own and protest that they felt a need to right a terrible wrong. In order to justify their own betrayal, they resort to false accusation, slander and repeating of smears. Or they must pretend to be so angry about some recent issue, that they are compelled to take drastic action. These excuses and feigned emotions wear thin after a time. Eventually they learn to seek only the company of kindred spirits - leftists who will understand the need to live a lie for the greater goal of promoting big government and surrender to terrorists.

My point is that we should not assume that one is a "Republican" just because he can fill out a registration form. (No more than we should assume that one is an "American" just because he receives amnesty from the government.) To be a real Republican requires commitment to certain principles. If someone demonstrates outright hostility to those principles at every turn, it is a safe bet that they will betray the party in some important way in the future.

John Murtha faces opposition in 2008; Bill Russell

In 2008, John Murtha faces opposition from Bill Russell in the race for Pennsylvania's 12th District.


Pennsylvania's 12th District



Russell is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve. Russell and his then-pregnant wife were working in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 as Flight 77 hit the building. The Russells and their unborn son all survived. Russell has since served in Iraq. He now resides in Johnstown.

Lt. Colonel William T. Russell (USAR)












Russell's website contains a lot of relevant information related to issues.

Murtha's opponent from 2006, Diana Irey, has apparently decided not to run this year. The 2006 campaign, while unsuccessful, posed the first serious challenge to Murtha in quite some time.

We often talk about coattail effects from a strong Presidential candidate upon local races. In this case, the reverse might be true. A strong congressional challenge could help Republicans in the Pennsylvania presidential race. Even if Russell does not win, an issue oriented battle might spark enough enthusiasm to help the Republican presidential candidate.