How Cute (And Telling)

I don't buy into the whole Obama campaign meme regarding Hillary and the divisive politics of old; it's an especially hollow line in light of recent events. But I'll say that Hillary has displayed a tolerance for some pretty questionable characters; as I noted last year, Alcee Hastings, an impeached federal judge, was her Florida campaign co-chair.

In that vein, the Post's Anne Kornblut reports that Clinton just snagged the nomination of Western Pennsylvania power-broker John Murtha. Murtha, of course, is among the most corrupt members of the House, being nearly netted in the infamous Abscam sting back in the '80s. Now he runs a "trading post" on the House floor, steering massive amounts of pork back to his district and generally abusing his position as chairman of the Defense subcommittee of Appropriations. He's also been an outspoken critic of the war, at one point suggesting that troops be redeployed to somewhere nearby (Okinawa, anyone?), although more recently he's seen some of the light on the surge.

I doubt that Murtha understands the meaning of principle, so I'll take this endorsement as an indication of the way the wind is blowing in the Keystone State. Everyone expects Hillary to win the April 22nd primary there, the only question is by how much.