MoveOn.org: By midnight, over 12,000 people had donated $500,000—more than we’ve raised any day this year—for our new ad calling out the Republicans who blocked adequate rest for troops headed back to Iraq. Keep On, MoveOn, Firedoglake, 9-21-07
Hard Rain Journal 9-23-07: MoveOn is My Party Now
By Richard Power
MoveOn's "General Betray Us?" ad simply asked a question.
It is Gen. Petreaus himself who seems to be determined to provide a disappointing answer.
Why wasn't Gen. Petraeus sworn in for his testimony?
Why did he grant an exclusive interview to Fox News immediately after his testimony?
Why is the life story of Gen. Petraeus the subject of a one hour Fox special?
Petraeus is a counterinsurgency expert. But tell me, is his assignment to fight Iraqi insurgents or US public opinion?
Meanwhile, something is terribly wrong in the U.S. Senate. Perhaps something much worse than political cowardice or the unsavory influence of lobbyist cash. Is this a hostage situation? Are we looking at Stockholm syndrome? Is the "coup of December 2000" more than just a metaphor?
Why would over half the Democrats in the US Senate either vote for this ridiculous bill, like Sen. Webb, or runaway from taking any stand on it at all, like Sens. Obama and Biden?
The Senate voted by a wide margin Thursday to condemn a controversial anti-war advertisement accusing Gen. David Petraeus of betraying the country. Only 24 Democrats, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, voted against the symbolic resolution.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), both of whom also are seeking their party's presidential nomination, joined Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in declining to take a position for or against the MoveOn ad.
[Sen. Jim] Webb was among the Democrats who supported the measure condemning MoveOn. Raw Story, 9-20-07
Why wasn't this bill blocked from reaching the floor for a vote?
Memo to Democrats: you control the Congress. That means you can decide what bills come to the floor for votes--and what don't. So why, in a week where Republicans blocked the restoration of habeas corpus, voting rights for DC and adequate rest time for our troops between deployments, did you allow Republicans the opportunity to score a cheap PR stunt by approving a resolution condemning a week-old newspaper ad by Moveon.org--on the same day Republicans once again voted to keep indefinitely continuing the Iraq war?!
It boggles the mind. I have no idea what Harry Reid was thinking. ...
MoveOn has been one of the most effective and persistent voices pushing for progressive change inside the Democratic Party. They helped elect politicians like Jon Tester in Montana and Jim Webb in Virginia, who today stabbed the group in the back. Ari Berman, The Nation
Why didn't the Democratic leadership listen to George Lakoff?
MoveOn's "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" ad has raised vital questions that need a thorough and open discussion. The ad worked brilliantly to reveal, via its framing, an essential but previously hidden truth: the Bush Administration and its active supporters have betrayed the trust of the troops and the American people.
MoveOn hit a nerve. In the face of truth, the right-wing has been forced to change the subject -- away from the administration's betrayal of trust and the escalating tragedy of the occupation to of all things, an ad! To take the focus off maiming and death and the breaking of our military, they talk about etiquette. The truth has reduced them to whining: MoveOn was impolite. Rather than face the truth, they use character assassination against an organization whose three million members stand for the highest patriotic principles of this country, the first of which is a commitment to truth. George Lakoff, Huffington Post, 9-15-07
I urge you to sign MoveOn's "I will fight back" petition and also to donate to MoveOn's vital work.
MoveOn is my party now.
See also Hard Rain Journal 9-11-07: Did you know that Petraeus did not testify under oath? Do you know how contorted his metrics are? Did you know ...
Click here for a Words of Power Archive of posts on 9/11, Terrorism, Etc.
Cheney, Bush, Iraq, MoveOn.org, David Petraeus, George Lakoff, Richard Power, Words of Power