Jack Murtha, the pork-stuffed corruptocrat infamous for libeling our troops, has now moved on to libeling voters in his own district.

He agrees with Barack Obama’s assessment that Pennsylvanians are nothing but a bunch of bitter, clingy, bigoted rednecks.

Why is this man still in office?

U.S. Rep. John Murtha said today he expects Democratic nominee Barack Obama to carry Pennsylvania in next month’s presidential election.

Mr. Murtha, a 17-term Democrat from Johnstown, told the Post-Gazette’s editorial writers he sees momentum building in Mr. Obama’s campaign across the state for the general election after he lost his party’s April primary to Hillary Clinton. He thinks Republican John McCain’s efforts have been stymied by the country’s economic crisis.

“I think Obama is going to win, but I don’t think it’s going to be a runaway,” he said. “I think he wins Pennsylvania.”

Mr. Murtha said it has taken time for the state’s voters embrace a black presidential candidate.

“There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area,” said Mr. Murtha, whose district stretches from Johnstown to Washington County. “The older population is more hesitant.”

(Link)

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Update:

Lt. Col. (ret), Bill Russell the Republican nominee in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, responded today to new comments from Rep. Jack Murtha calling Western Pennsylvania “a racist area.”

According to an article posted on Post-Gazette.com, Murtha made the following statements to reporters regarding Barack Obama’s prospects in the upcoming presidential contest: “There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area.” Murtha would make similar comments to the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review saying, “Obama has got the problem of the racist issue in Western Pennsylvania.”

Russell responded saying, “Once again Mr. Murtha is using the prestige and platform of public office to make wild, reckless statements about the people he represents in Congress.” Adding, “Because the people of Western Pennsylvania aren’t embracing Barack Obama’s values and positions on issues like the right-to-life, taxes and the 2nd Amendment doesn’t makes us racist. That’s the cheapest of cheap shots.”

Russell said Murtha’s latest comments reveal a “strange, arrogant disconnect from the people who live and work in Western Pennsylvania. He forgets that this is a melting pot of hard-scrapping immigrants. My wife Kasia is a Polish immigrant; my neighbors in Johnstown trace their ancestry to all corners of the earth. He needs to apologize. He needs to set the record straight.”