Craven Fools
Craven fools. The 22 Democrats and supposed Republican moderates who paid homage to the right-wing slander machine by voting to disavow Moveon.org yesterday once more demonstrated why they're considered sunshine patriots who can't be trusted when things get tough.
This isn't anything new. Republicans, stuck with defending an unpopular president intent on continuing the worst foreign policy debacle in U.S. history, look for ways to distract. Moveon.org published an ad with an unfortunate title — "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" — but correctly indicting Gen. David Petraeus, the ambitious political general wired to the White House spinners, of cooking the books on Iraq. The Republicans revved up their attack machine, enlisting everyone from Rush Limbaugh to the shameless president, who disgracefully charged that the "Democrat Party" is more afraid of "irritating a left-wing group like Moveon.org" ... than "the United States military."
We've seen this before. This is a patented right-wing ploy. They grab on to a random event, inflate it into a national scandal, intimidate the media, and chuckle as Democrats fall for it. The Republican attack squad in 2004 turned a butchered joke by Sen. John Kerry into a measure of Democratic hatred of the military, and the entire Democratic establishment turned on Kerry. They've libeled Moveon for years because one of thousands of participants in a 30-second ad campaign contest submitted an entry comparing Bush to Hitler. Now, they get 22 Democrats in the Senate and the supposedly independent Republican moderates to line up and waste time passing a resolution condemning Moveon for its newspaper ad. They do this only to prove one thing - that Democrats are too spineless to stand up even for their allies. That they will cut and run at the first sign of fire.
Why would Democrats do this? One hapless aide suggested that they were fearful of the electoral consequences of not disavowing Moveon. Pathetic. Republicans are using filibusters to block majority support for ending Bush's disastrous venture in Iraq, to deny soldiers the guarantee of basic home rotations vital to their mental health and military training, to block restoration of basic habeas corpus rights, to block empowering Medicare to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs for seniors. They are defending an occupation that has cost 30,000 U.S. casualties and nearly $1 trillion while isolating us from our allies, emboldening our enemies and providing a recruiting boon to a reconstituted al Qaeda. They are wedded to a casino economy that doesn't work for most Americans. They are responsible for so disemboweling our regulatory agencies that our children and pets are being poisoned by deadly imports. Their legislative caucus has made closeted corruption and hypocrisy their trademark. And Democrats are worried about a newspaper ad? Would you want these quails in your foxhole?
Of the presidential candidates, senators Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd sensibly stood up and voted against. Joe Biden and Barack Obama didn't vote, Obama describing his absence as a "protest against this empty politics." Liberals in the Senate weren't much better. Led by Barbara Boxer, they wrote their own version balancing disavowal of "an unwarranted personal attack" on Petraeus with criticism for Republicans for Swift Boating Kerry. That garnered the votes of senators Clinton and Obama, raising doubts about Hillary's claim that she knows how to stand up and fight the right, and concerns that Obama's call for a new bipartisanship may involve more retreat than reform.
It doesn't matter what you think of the Moveon.org ad or title. Individually Democratic politicians can say whatever they like. But we're trying to end a foreign policy catastrophe in Iraq. People are getting killed. Billions are being squandered. Our security is being eroded; our military weakened. Minority Republicans are blocking majority support for bringing the troops home. They are denying troops a guarantee of decent home rotations. That Senate Democrats would allow them to consume the time and the attention of the Senate and hijack that debate to vote for criticizing an ad by an independent group is simply craven and foolish.
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Is the senate ready to censure Canada's Maclean's magazine, too? Perhaps a diplomatic venture?
For those who haven't seen it yet, the latest issue morphs Pres. Bush into Saddam....
Sorry, the only "fools" in this incident are the folks at MoveOn.org. If they want to be taken seriously, they shouldn't issue political ads that sound like they were written by a 12-year-old or, admittedly, Ladyrantsalot when she's having a bad day. I am under no obligation to support an organization that plays into the hands of the Republican spin machine. MoveOn should wise up or shut up.
We have been governed for 6 years by a fool who sounds like a 12 year old every time he opens his lie hole. Move On didnt play into the rethug spin, the spineless Democrats did. Move on...Im sending a check so you can go after THEM too.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
Sorry, they managed to change the subject away from Iraq. Go ahead and send them a check if you want. As a lot of pundits have observed, creating distracting controversies like this one is the way organizations like MoveOn.org raise money.
MoveOn.org and others know that
Bush-Cheney Republican actions are about:
USA = WELFARE STATE FOR THE RICH.
It's way past time to break the MEDIA STRANGLE HOLD by rightwing radical, fascist republican freaks.
BUSH-Cheney methods destroy family life & all opportunities for the un-rich, and create a avast ongoing WELFARE STATE FOR THE RICH.
Bush-Cheney's support creates war profiteers, disaster opportunists, big oil, prison builders, private armies, etc.
If you do not fit into the category of multi-millionaire/billionaire, or war-profiteer, to whom Bush shovels Taxpayer Dollars by the trillions, you should think now about getting out of USA.
Consider moving to somewhere more sane & affordable like Scandinavian countries not run by greedy crazy power trippers
The truth hurts!
MoveOn.org Using "Betray US" for General Petraeus is a simple truth. The general is a big boy living a general's life. He's not a boy scout helping an old lady across the street. He is a military commander in charge of ordering operations that kill civilians. We used "Waste more land" for General Westmoreland because of his policy of using napalm and agent orange to burn and clear the jungles of Vietnam. (Along with any civilians that might just be trying to live there) I think what MoveOn was trying to do was to wake up the people of this country before what happened in Germany in the 1930's happens in this country.
The German people ALLOWED Hitler to TAKE their country. He didn't take over Germany with a military coup. The people gave him the power to protect their Motherland from a bogeyman he got them to believe in, the same way we have given Bush and his gestapo the powers to protect us from terrorist. (I'm not comparing terrorist to the Jews Hitler killed. Terrorist are a real threat but a war in Iraq is not protecting us from them)
Oh wait a minute. MoveOn already made this comparison too, and the repugs yelled about that too.
WAKE UP people.
Bush and his crooked buddies aren't TAKING your country and our freedoms.
WE ARE GIVING IT TO THEM! Freedom by freedom.
It is so frustrating to see our so-called Democratic leadership become the victims of the Republican propaganda machine. Why are they so damned passive? They cave far too easily. And in the process, the public thinks that they are weak. And, you would think that with one of the most corrupt Republican administrations in our nation's history, they would have the confidence to speak up -- and speak up LOUDLY. Instead, they passively move along while they allow the Republicans and the corrupted mainstream news media tear them to shreds.
Have any of you noticed how the mainstream news media now characterizes the Democratic congress? They seem to have a vested interest in seeing that the Democrats do not gain a strong majority. As an example, I find it curious that they often lead with headlines like, "Once again, the Democratic congress has failed to pass legislation...blah, blah, blah" instead of leading with, "The Republicans, once again, have blocked Democratic attempts to bring the troops home"...or, "The Republicans have once again resorted to filibustering to block Democratic attempts...", etc., etc.
Clearly, it is obvious to even a casual observer that the Republicans seem to have a vested interest in making the Democrats appear feeble and ineffectual. Why won't the media address this important aspect of the Republicans' strategy. Instead they cooperate with the Republicans, apparently in an effort to dilute or reduce their popular support.
Again, by using certain headlines, the media can make the Democrats seem so incompetent and ineffectual, while refraining from drawing any attention to the purely obstructionist Republicans.
This shit happens near every election cycle. The only exception seemed to be the 2006 elections when the pathetic and profoundly corrupt and arrogant 109th Republican congress went our of their way to alienate voters.
Awesome post! My wife and I contacted Ken Salazar's office (Alleged Democrat from Colorado) and voiced our displeasure with his gutless vote. I would encourage others who are stuck with spineless representation in the Senate, to do the same.
Im waiting for the senate to condemn
Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command
for calling petreaus a 'chicken shit ass kisser"
http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39235
Both of my senators voted in the minority against the condemnation of moveon.org, so I'm not sure I have the right to weigh in here. Anyway, I am sad to see the Democrats called spineless when the truth is that they are trying to avoid debasing the party by using the tactics used by Gingrich and Delay. If they were to sink that low, I'm not sure I could call myself Democratic. Let Republicans go on record time and time again with their support of this president and his war. 2008 elections are not all that far away, and they'll pay the price then. Sadly, meanwhile, our soldiers suffer and die.
You are absolutely correct.
Hillary had it right the first time when Giuliani taunted her for not denouncing the ad: pivot and attack.
As long as Dems keep being such wimps, we're going to have a tough time getting elected, let alone governing.
When someone attacks your character, your patriotism, or your values, voters expect you to fire back with heavy guns. Heaven knows, there's plenty to attack.
Her is the rest if it:
4. According to the Associated Press, there have been more civilian deaths and more American soldier deaths in the past three months than in any other summer we’ve been there.
Is this Associated Press report true? If so, how do you reconcile the statistics that you are presenting with this report?
5. We’ll hear of neighborhoods where violence has decreased. But we won’t hear that those neighborhoods have been ethnically cleansed.
To what extent do you attribute the ethnic cleansing of areas of Iraq as the cause of the decrease in violence? If the sides of the conflict have already separated themselves from each other, what was the benefit of our troop surge in relation to the stress that it has put on our military preparedness and on our resources?
It is never too late for the Democrats to figure out the questions that they should have asked. I am still waiting.
This is from my web site:
Sep 21, 2007 General Petraeus or General Betray Us?, the Sep 10, 2007 ad by Moveon.org. The Congressional Republicans arrived at the Iraq War hearings prepared to attack the ad and divert attention from the ad's accusations. The Congressional Democrats arrived completely unprepared. In the 10 days since the ad ran, the Congressional Democrats have still not prepared.
I am starting to wonder what the Congressional Democrats think they are doing. Apparently the following Democratic and independent senators voted to condemn the ad: Baucus (MT) Bayh (IN), Cardin (MD), Carper (DE), Casey (PA), Conrad (ND), Dorgan (ND), Feinstein (CA), Johnson (SD), Klobuchar (MN), Kohl (WI), Landrieu (LA), Leahy (VT), Lincoln (AR), McCaskill (MO), Mikulski (MD), Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), Pryor (AR), Salazar (CO), Tester (MT), Webb (VA). Apparently Obama and Biden thought that refusing to vote on the measure was the way to go.
Not one Congressional Democratic had the sense to say the following during the hearings:
My Republican colleagues seem to be very upset by the ad placed in the New York Times by MoveOn.org. To put this matter to rest, I am going to give you, General Petraeus, an opportunity to address each of the charges in the ad.
1. The Pentagon has adopted a bizarre formula for keeping tabs on violence.
Can you give us a written description of the exact methodology that the Pentagon is using to generate the graphs that you have presented? Can you summarize the methodology for us now?
2. For example, deaths by car bombs don’t count.
Do your statistics count deaths by car bombing?
3. The Washington Post reported that assassinations only count if you’re shot in the back of the head - not the front.
Can you explain to us how you determine what incidents you count as assassinations?
Yes, Republicans have this symbolic indignation down to a science. They lambast liberals for not supporting the troops, while Republicans deny them extended home stays between deployments. The president's press secretary, in fact, argued such a measure would put the troops in harm's way. Yes, while staying at home they might be run over by their lawn mowers when doing yard work.
The Republican agenda is getting meaner as Mr. Borosage articulately expresses: denying habeas corpus, blocking Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices for seniors, vetoing a children's health care bill, and spending a trillion dollars in Iraq while our infrastructure and schools crumble. How can one support such regressive policies except to point with false indignation toward an ad in the New York Times which supposedly criticizes a general?
Who will eventually support Republican policies besides those on the Forbes 500 list of richest Americans? It is a party of economic elists that ironically plays to a base in middle, red state America.
Great Post!!
I am so discusted with the democrats who voted against the Moveon.org ad. The ad told the truth Gen Patreous is just Bush voice box. Why are the democrats such whimps. Millions belong to and support move on.org. No one said a word about the ads posted by the republicans to besmirch the Senator from Georgia nor John Kerry and the swift boat ads. Why is it ok for the republican party to post this kind of ads and not the democrats at least the moveon.org told the truth and I support it. Someone in this Country has got to tell the American people the truth about this war in Iraq and Congress is too lilly-livered to do it.
The Republicans just defeated an amendment that would have given our troops more rest between what are slowly becoming endless tours of duty in Iraq. The Democrats might have gotten some political traction from the Republicans shameful treatment of the men and women in uniform who are now serving 15 months or longer in the war zone before being shipped home to be shipped back out again for another 15 months. Some soldiers are on their third and fourth tours. Instead of holding onto this resolution and condemning the Republicans for their blatant disregard for the welfare of the troops, the Senate leadership instead allows a vote on this disgraceful and meaningless resolution. The Democrats who are chastising MoveOn.org over this ad are opportunistic, spineless, and wrong-headed.
Even Jon Stewart demonstrated that Patraeus was nothing but an administration stooge. If the Democrats meant business, they should have put Betrayus and Crock under oath and dispensed with the dog and pony show. The Pentagon report released after they testified contradicted them on nearly every count. Where is the outrage over their mendacity? Where is the outrage over their fabrication of the evidence? Where is the outrage over the false information that Bush and the other liars have fed the American people since they started screaming WMD, mushroom cloud, aluminum tubes, and immanent threat? Where is the outrage over the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda that Cheney and Bush too, repeated several times before finally claiming that he had never made that connection? Where is the outrage over the nearly $9Billion which vanished during the last days of the provisional authority and where is the outrage over the nearly $6Billion more that has disappeared? And finally, where is the outrage over the Inspector General who continuously stalled and stonewalled every attempt to investigate the fraud that continues unabated in Iraq today?
None of that outrage seems to have found its way to the Senate floor, or into a non-binding resolution. Instead we have 22 Democrats voting with Republicans against MoveOn.org. They should be ashamed; all 22!
The Republicans just defeated an amendment that would have given our troops more rest between what are slowly becoming endless tours of duty in Iraq. The Democrats might have gotten some political traction from the Republicans shameful treatment of the men and women in uniform who are now serving 15 months or longer in the war zone before being shipped home to be shipped back out again for another 15 months. Some soldiers are on their third and fourth tours. Instead of holding onto this resolution and condemning the Republicans for their blatant disregard for the welfare of the troops, the Senate leadership instead allows a vote on this disgraceful and meaningless resolution. The Democrats who are chastising MoveOn.org over this ad are opportunistic, spineless, and wrong-headed.
Even Jon Stewart demonstrated that Patraeus was nothing but an administration stooge. If the Democrats meant business, they should have put Betrayus and Crock under oath and dispensed with the dog and pony show. The Pentagon report released after they testified contradicted them on nearly every count. Where is the outrage over their mendacity? Where is the outrage over their fabrication of the evidence? Where is the outrage over the false information that Bush and the other liars have fed the American people since they started screaming WMD, mushroom cloud, aluminum tubes, and immanent threat? Where is the outrage over the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda that Cheney and Bush too, repeated several times before finally claiming that he had never made that connection? Where is the outrage over the nearly $9Billion which vanished during the last days of the provisional authority and where is the outrage over the nearly $6Billion more that has disappeared? And finally, where is the outrage over the Inspector General who continuously stalled and stonewalled every attempt to investigate the fraud that continues unabated in Iraq today?
None of that outrage seems to have found its way to the Senate floor, or into a non-binding resolution. Instead, we have 22 Democrats voting with Republicans against MoveOn.org. They should be ashamed of themselves.
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