In Defense of MoveOn -- No More Arrows in the Back

There is a huge problem of "risk aversion" in progressive culture, and nothing exemplefies that more clearly than what happened to MoveOn in the wake of their Petraeus/Betray Us ad in the New York Times. Matt Stoller points to one particularly infuriatingly yet typical email from The Truman Project, in which they encourage their progressive veterans to denounce MoveOn:

Those of you who saw the NYTimes today saw that MoveOn took out a full page ad equating Petraeus with "Betray Us" and accusing him of politicizing the military.

In one fell swoop, they have undone massive work by countless progressives trying to bridge the gap with the military and reconnect.

What's this "we," kemosabe? MoveOn is always out there, fighting the good fight, they've done more to move the anti-war dialog in this country than just about any organization I know. They will, as a result, inevitably be a target of the right. I do think it's possible to have differences of opinion in good faith about the ad, but when people start to claim the progress made by "progressives" as their own, and MoveOn is somehow suddenly outside of that, it's just arrogant, spurious nonsense.

I'm sorry, John Kerry, but you don't help the right wing out. Ever. Now they've got Diaper Dave Vitter out there leading the battle cry, trying to reclaim himself by introducing resolutions to denounce MoveOn. Does Kerry really not know how it works at this point? Paul Krugman does, and he lays it out extremely well in a review of Jon Chiat's new book:

Jon talks at some length about the media, and in particular about the Republican ability to get journalists to harp endlessly on supposed character flaws of Democrats, while their own candidates get a free pass. He emphasizes the right-wing echo chamber, but there's more to it than that. It's also - as I can report from my own experience - a result of asymmetrical intimidation. Quite simply, if you point out character flaws in a conservative, there will be an all-out effort, involving major media as well as blogs and talk radio, to discredit and ruin you, personally. This just doesn't happen on the other side.

So journalists feel that it's safe to ridicule Democrats, even if the supposed character-defining episode never happened; they choke up and shy away when it comes to Republicans. That's why even the most grotesque stuff, like Giuliani's claim that he's a rescue worker too, or Romney's remark that his sons are serving the country by helping him become president, doesn't get picked up.

One of the most frustrating things about getting involved in the political process as part of the Blue America PAC is that we have to confront on a daily basis how little our representatives know about how the media works, how thoroughly it has been gamed by conservatives and how easily they get played. They're so anxious to please, to seem "reasonable," that their reflex is to repeat canards about "those crazy blogs" (or MoveOn or anybody else trying to build progressive infrastructure) without any awareness that they are planting a knife squarely in the back of the only message machine that exists to combat a rabid right wing that doesn't just want to see them disempowered, it wants them destroyed. Permanently.

I realize many Democrats are just as frightened of the progressive movement as they are of the Republicans and were probably quite gleeful about getting to take MoveOn down a peg, but this only goes to underscore how woefully out of touch they are with what is going on in this country and how distant the perspective of the voting public is from the wisdom of the beltway brahmins. Markos Moulitsas fielded the question of the MoveOn ad beautifully on Hardball:

To me, you know, way out in California, it's almost amusing to see how in Washington DC, everybody is all up in arms over an ad. You know, we're in the middle of this bloody war, almost 4,000 dead, half a trillion dollars spent, and people are going to talk about how inappropriate an ad is? I think it's patently ridiculous. And most people, outside of this sort of Beltway environment really don't care about an ad. They want to see our men and women coming home, safe and sound to their families.

The MoveOn ad said what Democrats could not and survive politically -- Petraeus is acting as a politician, doing a politician's job of spinning and his actions are not above criticism just because he's got a bunch of ribbons on his chest that George Bush would like to hide behind. And it traveled. To join with the right and start firing arrows into their backs is both destructive from a movement perspective and displays tremendous naiveté about what it's going to take to end this war.

So unless there is some mysterious wisdom in taking one's messaging cues from Diaper Dave, people who want to be part of the solution and not a part of the problem should find another way to engage in this conversation. One that doesn't leave progressive fighters fearful that their own side will turn on them when the GOP attack dogs decide to lunge.

Jane Hamsher blogs at firedoglake.com.

Follow Jane Hamsher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/janehamsher

Comments

[Janelynne]

Move-on has been feared for two election cycles, because it has galvinized many to stand up to group-think. When Move-on held a contest for a TV ad to play at the Superbowl, THE AD WAS NOT AIRED. Despite that it carried the gentle message that we were leaving our children with debt, it was deemed TOO POLITICAL for the Superbowl. (Forget that Janet's Boobs made the cut for their appropriateness.) The media elite fears Move-on and the entire grassroots blogosphere because the media elite think they run the entire show. Now it was perfectly ok when the swift-boaters smeared Kerry's service to this country, and the media elite aired it, apologized for it, and approved it. Now the media elite, along with their POTUS, not necessary ours, pretend they are up in arms over equating Petraeus with betrayal. The mainstream media has betrayed us, and so has the POTUS. The hypocracy is stunning. The Petraeus hoopla is another side show served up as another wedge issue to keep us from focusing on the real issues. How stupid do the POTUS and his media elite lapdogs think we are? If betrayal were snow, we wouldn't get out for months.

[spectator27]

Chris Matthews is an example of repeat something often enough and it will be accepted as truth, also known as The Big Lie. Example:m "Why do regular guys hate Hillary so much?" "Why don't the Democrates end the war, since that what they were elected to do?'" Meantime, his regular visiting experts are Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan. He and his ilk initially backed this war aqnd now blame others for not stopping it.

[TheShoveler]

Jane Hamsher wrote: "The MoveOn ad said what Democrats could not and survive politically . . ."
But this has now become precisely the point. The Boooosh-Petraeus circus has been analyzed to death the entire week, and we know it's an outright fraud, and we know what Boooosh is up to: he's poisoning the waters for his successor, whoever that might be, to ensure that we stay mired in Iraq indefinitely. The onus is now on the Democrats, and the choices now narrow down to between those who are willing to chart a middle course, and those who insist on cutting off funding and completely withdrawing within no-more-than, say, six months after January 20, 2009. Any extended disengagement stretching beyond that period will only mean that the next administration will have adopted the war as its own.
In other words, the near-term future of this debacle depends upon how much support the Democrats can build for what will amount to the effective repudiation and abnegation of Booosh's policies -- a de facto censure, if you will -- that will send the man back to Crawford in disgrace and humiliation, not in a way that pejoratively implies defeat, but in a clear assignment of error and a rejection of his entire conduct, and that will ensure substantial Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate. In this sense, the 2008 elections now become a referendum on Boooosh and Iraq. Nothing else is more important, or will have more significance for the future. And as with referendums by nature, the choice posed must be clear-cut to obviate any spin of the outcome.
Frankly, I think that would be one of the most astonishing developments in American political history. It's going to require the kind of guts, aggressiveness, and clarity that the Democrats have not yet shown. But the way I see it, Boooosh has handed them a gift, not a dilemma, if only they have the cajones to take it.

[Americano]

Moveon.org only stated the obvious, this general was the front man for Bush doing the same sell job to the American people that shamefully general Collan Powell did at the UN.
Moveon.org had every right to expose this President's trickery and the general's foolishness to please power.

[OtayPanky]

MoveOn.org ad draws Elizabeth Edwards' criticism
By TONY LEYS
Des Moines Register Staff Writer

September 14, 2007

MoveOn.org made a mistake in labeling Gen. David Petraeus “General Betray Us” in a controversial newspaper ad, Elizabeth Edwards said in Des Moines Friday.

“Someone who’s spent their life in the military doesn’t deserve ‘General Betray Us,’” said Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

Elizabeth Edwards spoke in an interview after a Des Moines campaign appearance. She noted that her father was a career naval officer, and she grew up on Navy bases, so she said she respects military service.

MoveOn.org is a liberal, national group that supports many of the stances that John Edwards has taken in his campaign, including criticism of the Iraq war. The group ran a full-page ad in the New York Times this week, taking a shot at Petraeus, who is the top military leader in Iraq. The ad ran on the day the general was to testify to Congress about progress he sees in Iraq. Its headline sparked angry protest from Republicans, who said it smeared an honorable man.

Elizabeth Edwards said the group could have made its point by simply using Petraeus’ own previous words about purported good news in Iraq without insulting him personally.

She said she generally supports grass-roots organizations like MoveOn.org for giving average people a voice. “But I’m probably not going to agree with everything that any one group says.”

Her views on the ad were similar to those expressed Thursday by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin. The Iowa Democrat told a Des Moines Register reporter that the MoveOn.org ad “was a bad choice of words. I would have said, ‘Petraeus, mistaken again,’” Harkin said. “But ‘Betray Us?’ That’s going too far.”

The group continued to tout the ad on its Web site Friday.

[sokolowmus]

I agree with Jane. And if a general twists the facts to politically benefit his president, to the detriment of his soldiers' and his country's safety, isn't that betrayal?

[sokolowmus]

I totally agree with Jane. Also, if a general talks nonsense and twists the facts to politically back up his president, to the detriment of his soldiers and the country's security, is he not betraying us?

[bayruss]

There is no defense for the tasteless add. Move on gets no more of our household monies.
they no longer have my attention.

[Barryji]

O.k., the Democrats don't have the votes to effect any change in D.C. right now. So what are they doing about changing the minds of the electorate so they will have the votes after 2008? Not enough as I view it.

Move-On seems like a P.R. agency; it recognizes the 2-second attention span of the average American.

Our politicians might do well to cut down on the blather and become a bit more P.R.-slick themselves, n'est-ce pas?

A lot of good it has done so far trying not the hurt the feelings of the military . . . .

You go Move-On!

[TexasDem0]

Jane, “You know, we're in the middle of this bloody war, almost 4,000 dead …,”
How many have been maimed for life, or lost limbs? There are perhaps 1,000,000 dead Iraqis. Millions more have been displaced, or fled the country outright. If millions of Americans fled the United States, would the media ignore that too?

I don’t think the Arab world, or the Moslem world is ignoring the facts. People need to understand that George Bush is the greatest recruiting incentive al Qaeda ever had. The only way that will happen is when the media overcome the intimidation of the GOP slime machine and start reporting the truth.

[hontonoshijin]

Couldn't agree more.

Anybody else not particularly upset about the ad? Insofar as Petraeus is spouting the party line, which is an out-and-out lie, he IS betraying us. He doesn't get a pass just because he is a general, and W doesn't get a pass just because he is president.

[coloneblog]

"Moveon's" Betrayus ad was appropriate, effective and truthful; qualities not seen from the other side. It's no wonder it upset Republicans.

[iluvsam]

The truth hurts.

[VoteOrDie]

Here's the real problem. The entire country has been hijacked by the wacko right. The media, the government...if you really talk to people and keep the politics out, everyone wants basically the same thing. Good schools for their kids, safe/affordable drugs, The Raven's to win another Superbowl!!!

All this division is the smoke screen to keep everyone on the "left" or "right", while I would say the vast majority in this country are "liberal" by definition.

Screwed up voting machines=Bush.
No questions Iraq war=Death
Evil law suits=Higher Health care
Evil doers=Unchecked Presidential powers
Gay marriage=Repukes in office
I want someone to speak to me about whats really going on the our country, how your going to fix it and how as the next President your not going to put your girlfriend, or Horsey judge or golfing buddy in charge of agencies that are really Life and Death decisions.

Joe Biden love em..actually speaks English, maybe a little windy, but talks about the "real" world. Check him out. Still love Hilary, but afraid she has been "body snatched" as well being in DC to long.

[Ragtimer]

Being right by teling the truth is not like a traffic accident, where you can be "dead" in the right.

Telling the truth is the most powerful position to have.
But you have to stand up to the opposition, relentlessly and never never ever let the opposition off the hook and never never let them (the NeoCons) redirect the subject. The Demos. always do this!

MoveOn was absolutely correct in their stratege and approach. If any of those that saw the Ad went to the web site to get behind their reasoning you will ahave seen and understood (if you are half intellegent) how the ad did punch the Bush system in the teeth.

Well now that their teeth are out, every Progressive must keep the the punching going until we knock them out off balance and on their asses. Let's take Vitter to the mat. Qualify his Politically incorrectness.

This bantering is important because Progressive incorrectness should be the counter punch to every incorrectness that the opposition vollies.

Now you watch, the Repubs. will ignore the opposition as soon as they start loosing ground. That's when you prop the basters up and finish the job! Don't let them hide in the corner. (they haven't even finished "my Pet Goat yet")!

MoveOn, Jane Hamsher, RightOn!
Just stay on your toes, keep moving and keep pounding them (even if it's below the belt! We're going to be the referre here). Because we have to start showing them we've got the balls! and their bag is dried up!

But have compassion for Peteaus. He's taking all the punches and his tag team partner is too scared to get into the ring. Good idea to jump out of the ring and chase him down with a chair! You know who.

But watch out for the next bout , Cheney is about to jump in to the mix. Blast him with the impeachment punch and the whole teasm will fall.

Now start slamming Vitter! Go in thar and get'm.

[bjorne]

I am ready to give up. I think that Bush is going to do what he wants, regardless of what Congress does or the "American People" want. He doesn't have to run again and is "Dead Certain" of his own opinion and strategy being right. Reality has no place in his thinking. I'm glad MoveOn is out there to say what everyone is thinking, but I'm afraid it will not have any effect on the outcome of this war or anything else. I used to think that politics was a way to make things better, but now it seems to be a game that's played by big money and out of touch morons. After all, I'm still a Minnesotan who adored Humphrey/Mondale/Wellstone, and I'm waiting for a new leader that I'm afraid won't come. (Maybe Al Franken?)