John M. Murtagh
Some Wine with Your Pork, Congressman?
In Washington, New York, and all over the country, it’s business as usual, as usual.
6 March 2009
Some Wine with Your Pork, Congressman?
In Washington, New York, and all over the country, it’s business as usual, as usual.
6 March 2009
When it’s time to pick a nice wine, I usually order beer. It’s not my fault, really. My people hail from the west coast of Ireland, not the west coast of France. County Mayo has many things to recommend it; vineyards are not among them. Still, I can enjoy the occasional playful Chardonnay or plummy Merlot now and again. And wine has been on my mind a good bit lately, since I’ve been wondering what vintage goes best with pork.
To find out, I may have to call Congressman Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat who seems to enjoy pairing the grape with the pork. How else to explain the $2.19 million in taxpayer dollars that he recently earmarked for the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, New York? Oh, I know what you’re thinking: “Here we go again, another congressman hiding hometown favors deep in a spending bill” (in this case, the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill that the House of Representatives passed last week). But Hinchey is hiding nothing. In a two-page press release, he unabashedly boasts that he’s “excited about all the great agricultural research” that these funds will buy.
To find out, I may have to call Congressman Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat who seems to enjoy pairing the grape with the pork. How else to explain the $2.19 million in taxpayer dollars that he recently earmarked for the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, New York? Oh, I know what you’re thinking: “Here we go again, another congressman hiding hometown favors deep in a spending bill” (in this case, the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill that the House of Representatives passed last week). But Hinchey is hiding nothing. In a two-page press release, he unabashedly boasts that he’s “excited about all the great agricultural research” that these funds will buy.
Continue reading, click below:
In the early hours of Feb 21, 1970 when John Murtagh was only nine years old, the terrorist group, Weather Underground tried to kill his family by bombing their home in Upper Manhattan. The specific target was Mr. Murtagh's father, a NYS Supreme Court justice who was trying a case involving the Black Panthers and their plan to bomb New York City landmarks and department stores. The Weather Underground's founder was Bill Ayers, who subsequently became a mentor to Barack Obama.
To read Mr. Murtagh's recollections of that night, click below:
http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=2601
http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=2601
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