UPDATE: Per Media Matters, via Atrios, it's not totally clear what the story is about Murtha and the NYT.
Interesting catch from The New Republic's blog.
Military hawk, and now Iraq war opponent, Cong. John Murtha (D-PA) apparently called the New York Times to urge them NOT to run last week's story about how Bush is spying on private bank records. As TNR notes, this seems to contradict what conservative bloggers were alleging, that Murtha urged the Times to run the story. But what they also note, which Joe and I were actually talking about the other day, is that Murtha, while our hero on the war (now), is a rather conservative fellow sometimes - but sometimes not, it's a pretty weird mix. Check out his rankings on the following congressional scorecards:
17% - Human Rights Campaign (gay civil rights)
0% - NARAL (pro-choice group)
34% - Humane Society
44% - ACLU
74% - NAACP
50% - John Birch Society (insanely conservative)
50% - Eagle Forum (Phyllis Schlafly)
53% - Christian Coalition
100% - National Education Association (they're a good education group)
56% - League of Conservation Voters
78% - Children's Defense Fund
45% - US PIRG
92% - National Rifle Association
