Did MoveOn.org Have A Stroke?

A couple of months ago I was singing MoveOn.org's praises for having the balls to run their Petraeus ad, which was morally correct in my book. Now I ask you: Did the collective mind at MoveOn.org have a stroke? A community brain injury is the only way I can fathom why they might have sent an email asking their group to thank Hillary Clinton for taking the energy and climate crises seriously. They had to thank her for basically taking the right position.

Is the point of this e-missive that it's such a surprise that Hillary has done the right thing? Could be. But look at it this way: Her advisors and focus groups must have given her the green light for taking an actual stand on these issues. And brothers and sisters, don't forget there's still plenty of time for her to equivocate. As we know from her past performances, just because she's said something or even voted some way doesn't mean she won't ignore or triangulate her record if she feels it will hurt her chances of hanging her hat in the White House again.

The mere fact that the earth deserves saving doesn't necessarily mean it would be high on Hillary's priority list. Her staff must scientifically divine how voters feel about an issue first and how it will or will not translate into a vote for Herself. They have to decipher and promote the Clinton Un-Leadership as efficiently as possible to win the election. It's a tough job for Hillary and her staff to produce her un-stands on issues, so her tail is effectively wagging her dog and attracting as many milquetoast or go-with-the-flow voters as possible.

This isn't including the people who still have the greatest respect for her husband and see him as a co-president if she were elected. No one talks about Hillary's candidacy or potential presidency without mentioning Bill as being part of the package. Why do you think her campaign trots him out so often? Besides the fact that he owes her Big Time.

At the end of the MoveOn.org email the upshot is: "This year we have been engaging with all of the presidential candidates -- urging them to stake out progressive positions on key issues and supporting them when they do... Hillary's the last of the Democratic candidates to announce her energy plan. It's now clear that the Democrats are united in making the climate crisis a priority. All of them would lead our country in the right direction if elected."

So if all the Democrats are right on about this issue and Hillary was the last to turn in her stance, maybe MoveOn.org is just glad she didn't sign up for the Republican energy and climate point of view like she did with her shameful vote on the recent Iran measure, which will likely mean the United States will be at war with Iran before the next president takes office. George, Dick, and their rabid Neocon fans are chomping at their bits, and we all know the Dimocrats won't stop them.

Perhaps MoveOn.org is throwing Hillary some bait or attempting to train her like Pavlov's dog. Trying to show her that if she acts like a progressive Democrat and takes actual positions that do the right thing (and this is hard to imagine but let me extend this idea for your consideration) she might diffuse some of the burgeoning conviction of many independents and Democrats (people who could or ought to be her base) that she's whole-heartedly calculated and disingenuous. She could try to contain the growing disaffected who believe that leadership is one strength she doesn't possess and that she's turned into a supporter of Republicans. Not that the pure Hillary hatred will ever change or go away.

I refuse to take the cynical position here that the Clintons must have called in a marker with MoveOn.org to send this email that in an off-handed way gives Hillary this organization's endorsement with the connotation of the critical Iowa vote attached. I cannot let myself imagine that MoveOn.org has knowingly signed up to help Hillary distract people from her un-perfect performance in the last debate that pointed out her un-stands on other issues.

I will not let myself go down that path.

Comments

[dfinLA]

The moveon.org email glorifying Hillary's energy policy sickened me. You may not want to go down the path, Beth, but the first thing I wondered was "How much did Hillary's people pay moveon.org to basically endorse her campaign?"

All the other candidates put their energy policies out there and moveon didn't highlight their main points or encourage us to congratulate any of them. Moveon should provide equal "free targeted email" campaigns for all the other (more) progressive candidates, or moveon will lose all credibility in the eyes of citizens who don't happen to support Hillary for President.

I for one will not be participating in any other Moveon.org activities or donating to them ever again. This partisan email was my breaking point.

[Ryter]

Phew! thank you Beth for pointing out the Emperor's new clothing. Hillary has a plan " stop the freaken" presses. Every other Democratic candidate had a plan at least six months ago " and far move aggressive than Hillary"s plan. MoveOn, I am convinced is a shill for the Democratic party, not democracy. they do owe the Clinton's. But they owe the American peeps more.

A look at Hillary"s plan reveals that it is more conservative than breakfast with the Cheney"s. Among the many problems with her plan: she calls for "alternative energy," not "renewable energy," leaving the door wide open for LNG, nuclear, liquid coal. She welcomes oil companies to push their patents first, leaving nascent technologies out of the loop.

This is not the first betrayal by MoveOn. Moveon conducted a dishonest member "poll" back in March which deliberately left out the Barbara Lee Amendment that would have limited new spending to a "fully funded withdrawal" of our troops by the end of the year.
http://www.democrats.com/move-over-moveon

Will someone please stand up and tell the Emperor to put on some cloths!

[altohone]

MoveOn was wrong to support the Dem leaderships approach for the "big September showdown" on Iraq that failed to change a thing, and they are wrong to provide cover for Hillary.

If she quacks like a neocon, and votes like a neocon, she's a neocon.

MoveOn is dreaming if they think their members will ignore Hillary's warmongering because of her environmental rhetoric du jour.

I guess it's inevitable that a 3 million strong group's leadership would be co-opted by the establishment, throwing their core values under the bus in exchange for insider power-player status... even though said establishment leaders voted to condemn them and hasn't acted on any of their previous priorities.

Just like the unions, moveon is doomed if they allow DLC'ers to claim their support.

[progresemulo]

Hillary is not the devil. 99% of the criticism on her is mindless junk from right-wing knee-jerks who are terrified at the idea of a woman as president. This point was made before, but it bears repeating: if elected, Hillary will be the most progressive president since Carter.

[olephart]

Many of Hillary's avid supporters are like Bush's 29 percenters and refuse to be confused by the facts. Her recent vote for the Lieberman - Kyl resolution is a case in point. Like her vote for War with Iraq, she voted to give Bush authorization to attack Iran. Of all her faults, stupidity is not one of them. It is therefore intrinsically obvious to even the most casual observer that since she is pro War, pro Military/Industrial Complex, pro Wall Street, pro big Insurance, big Pharma, "Free Trade" and every other Republican issue there is that Hillary is a Republican. If she gets the nomination we'll have our choice between tweedle dum and tweedle dee.

[Desiderata]

Hug your gut, Beth, and your gut will hug you back.

[dexxjones]

i have a new policy of donating to whoever does something that makes me happy. after the petreaus ad i made a donation to moveon.org. i havent had a reason to since.

i am now matching my itunes/unbox spending (which is embarrassingly high) dollar for dollar with a fund for contributions. this week? bought my shows, a ton of mp3s and made donations to ron paul and chris dodd.

donating is now part of my hobby and i think if more people did this with politicians, pacs and lobbying groups, they would ALL start to do the right thing. even if its five bucks.

[hopeless277]

Amen.