Rep. Jack Murtha, who has previously limited himself to slamming our men and women in uniform, now says his own constituents are “rednecks” and “racists.” He didn’t say this while sipping white wine in San Francisco—nope, he said it out loud:
Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Monday some of his constituents in western Pennsylvania are “rednecks” and the entire region just five to 10 years ago was “really redneck.”
The comments come one week after he called his own constituents “racist” in an interview with his local newspaper.
“What I said, that indicted everybody, that’s not what I meant at all. What I mean is there’s still folks that have a problem voting for someone because they are black,” Murtha said.
Murtha said the history of southwestern Pennsylvania is teeming with racism. “This whole area, years ago, was really redneck,” he told WTAE-TV Pittsburgh.
Murtha, a Democrat, apologized last week for calling the area “racist,” but challenger Bill Russell said it was a reckless insult to the people in his district and the “cheapest of cheap shots.”
I’d be inclined to wonder if Mad Jack is simply losing it, but I think that this represents how many people in Washington and New York regard the rest of the country. (I suggest, as an anti-dote, that you read Charlotte Allen’s fine piece on Sarah Palin’s Alaska.)