Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., the congressman at the center of the battle last week over withdrawal of troops from Iraq removed the results from his own Internet poll on the subject after online voters overwhelmingly opposed his stance. Murtha posted the poll after he ignited a firestorm in the House that led to Republicans forcing a quick vote on the issue Friday.
While a revised poll page remains on the site, the link to it from his homepage has been removed, making the survey effectively invisible to the public.
The call for immediate withdrawal garnered just 12 percent of the more than 12,000 votes.
Following three hours of intense debate Friday, the House voted 403-3 to reject a non-binding resolution to immediately withdraw troops from Iraq. Responding to Murtha, House Republicans scheduled the quick vote to settle the issue and put lawmakers on the record. The Republican alternative by Rep. Duncan Hunter of California read: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately."
Democrats accused Republicans of changing the meaning of Murtha's proposal. The Democrat hawk has said a smooth withdrawal would take six months.
At his press conference Thursday, however, Murtha stated: "I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid-December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice: The United States will immediately redeploy ? immediately redeploy."
Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apparently interpreted Murtha's stance as a call for immediate withdrawal, saying such a move would be a "big mistake."
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One Big Ass Mistake, America
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
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