Washington, D.C. – Republican congressman Terry Everett of Alabama has unleashed an unusually harsh attack on a House colleague, calling decorated Vietnam veteran John Murtha of Pennsylvania a cut-and-run ``idiot'' who is ``no friend of the military.''
The remarks came in an interview Wednesday with Dothan radio station WWNT (1450 AM). In the interview, the retiring Everett questioned why any Republican would support Democrat Bobby Bright in the race to succeed him. Everett said Democrats have accomplished nothing the past two years, singling out Murtha, who is in charge of military spending bills.
Murtha's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Everett's remarks were reminiscent of comments by Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio, who suggested in 2005 that Murtha was a coward for supporting troop withdrawals from Iraq.
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