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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Democrats have become such herd animals!They've seen their fellow herd members (Kerry, Clelland, Gore etc.)captu
They will cower each time they are "attacked" and will do so until one or moe of the "herd" break ranks. Sad to see a great party self destruct. What would FDR do?
Right you are Garee. The Dems are still thinking that this is a democracy, where reasoned discussion is the order of the day. The Republicans ("Lie"-berman included (Someone PLEASE flame me, for this!)) know it ain't so.
This country is now a fascist dictatorship, enforced by media manipulation at the behest of rich media owners, who want (and have created) a stupid public who will become enraged on cue over anything with a slim chance of bringing back reasoned debate.
hey joe we are a repubic who do you think voted in these facist folks.
the american voter who ranks as the most brainwashed voter in the industrialized world.
talked to a middle class voter and he stated he does not have time for politics as he works three jobs.
want to bet he would vote repub if he had time.
BUllshit
Dems stand up for themselves all the time and the media ignores it
Moveon.orgg published an ad with an unfortunate title — "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?""
why are you buying into this "unfortunate title" thing?
from what i've been reading, half the military brass seems to have been referring to this guy as "general betray-us" for the past couple of years. why is it that so many on the left with a platform like yours won't stand up and say "yes, move-on dot org! thank you for saying what we're all thinking!"
don't water your message down like this, robert. the strong language that moveon.org used is textbook for what we as progessives need to be doing to take our country back.
Once again it takes a Liberal to start making up facts. You stated "from what i've been reading, half the military brass seems to have been referring to this guy as "general betray-us" for the past couple of years."
PROVE IT...WHERE IS THE LINK...WHE
TruthSlayer, please unwad your panties. Here is *a* link (although I'm sure you will question the "kerning", or something, of this one):
http://www
Let me explain something to you. Here in the reality-based world, "facts" do not just become nonexistent, simply because our brains cannot accept them.
Totally agree.
We are led to believe that the "blogosphere" is shaping American politics today. That remains to be seen, but....
What troubles me is that, for the most part, there is NOTHING in America and NO INSTITUTION IN GOVERNMENT which is satisfactory to the blogosphere.
The Bush administration, well...
Congress? Routinely condemned. Any member of congress who does not toe the "blogosphere" party line is "craven and foolish."
Of course the Supreme Court is corrupt, having "given" the 2000 election to Bush.
Now, the military is likewise corrupt. General Petraeus is characterized as "betray-us
The constitution itself is attacked as an irrelevant document - calls for a new constitutional convention are routinely made from the "blogosphe
Of course the "Mainstream Media" is reviled and characterized as malignant for failing to accurately report the news.
In fact, the majority (or near majority if you will) of Americans who elected Bush twice are routinely characterized as stupid, ill informed, or worse...
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, if the Democratic presidential candidates truly hold to the blogosphere party line, and if they truly believe that every institution in American government and every aspect of American life is corrupt, then who will be in charge of the political agenda if they are elected? The Kosites, Huffposters, and MoveOn'er?
Which is why this vote was significant. We can now see who clearly gets their marching orders from the likes of MoveOn.org.
"What troubles me is that, for the most part, there is NOTHING in America and NO INSTITUTION IN GOVERNMENT which is satisfactory to the blogospher
when we are completely satisfied with our system of government, it will be because we have all been lobotomized. you may not be aware of this, but you're in the united states of america where dissent and criticism of the federal government is your patriotic duty as a citizen.
anyone who thinks there's a "blogosphere" party line is simply not reading what's being said. we're at each other's rhetorical throats in here! and rightly so!
your leap from fact-based criticisms of an obscure general who's suddenly got two extra stars on his lapels and is running the show in Iraq to a condemnation of the entire US military is incredibly poor logic. nobody here (or anywhere, except for the republican who said 'if the troops want to come home they should win the war') is saying the military is all bad. that's like saying "because you, susan, don't like george bush, you're saying every white male needs to be shot!"
your logic simply doesn't stand up to analysis. better luck next time.
I agree that dissent and criticism of the federal government is your patriotic duty as a citizen. However, the premise of this blog post is "...The 22 Democrats and supposed Republican moderates ... once more demonstrated why they're considered sunshine patriots who can't be trusted." There you have it - fail to come to the defense of MoveOn.org and your patriotism is called into question. Yes, we've seen this tactic used by the opposition. That doesn't make it noble. I would hope that "dissent and criticism" of the government could be carried on at a higher level than to simply question the patriotism of those with whom you disagree.
In regards to the "blogosphere" party line, I suppose that maybe there has been a blogger on the Huff post or Daily Kos who has written in support of continued U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Perhaps I missed that one.
And no, I have not seen wholesale condemnation of the entire military by the liberal blogosphere. Yet.
Such drivel. No one could possibly be upholding the issue of free speech? No one could possibly be commenting on the new unfairness doctrine where these sort of insults are a common weapon for the right but are condemned when used by the left? The vote shows one thing--who in the senate cares more about politics than about free speech.
You spent an awful long time on that post without really saying anything other than "I don't like MoveOn (or liberals).
Fearful of being labeled unpatriotic or anti-military the Dems go along with this stunt.
Since fear is the main tactic of the Repub party they should be considered terrorists.
As much as the headline and the incisive point about how the GOP practices distraction--in place of the missing party policy--his concise statement of our current conditions rings loud and clear. Yes, it's that bad!
These Democrats are either too stupid, or too spineless to vote for. I give up. Count me as an Independent. If they wonder why they are rated so low, it's not because they "can't get anything done because of Republican obstructionism", it's because they won't force the Republicans to filibuster, they won't impeach,(won't do their jobs...gre
Dems have no balls, it's simple people vote for leaders, bad, good or indifferent. I am a life long Dem, but I did not think they were ready to take control of congress because there's too many republicrats in the party. Any of the senators can block legislation simply by putting a hold on it.
This reminds me of a comic about the national conventions:
The Democratic National Convention had a banner that read: "Too Stupid to Govern".
The Republican National Convention banner read: "Just Plain Evil".
It's sad when life imitates art, especially when that art is cartoons..
Best post today.
I have to agree -.-
Woody, the author's article is named, "Craven Fools." He's got it just about perfect. The saddest part of this whole Republican nightmare foisted on us over the past several decades (since Reagan) is not the actions of these sociopaths masquerading as "conservative republican
The situation is one of dread, not simple depression.
Damien, it's done by defining the range of choices acceptable by the more controlling personality in the mix; which is almost always the personality with more to loose by compromising, since control is at the core of their self-concept.
Republicans see compromise as ego-death, whereas more liberal, let-be types see nothing wrong with compromise in principle. So, one guess: who ends up compromising? The comparison with Nazi Germany is appropriate here, because it was progressive compromise that let the Nazis get where they got.
People who can't see reason can't be reasoned with, pure and simple. When someone (Dems in Congress) persist in thinking that reason will work if they keep at it, it just lets the other side corner them by half-steps.
It's not a question of balls, but of thinking that intelligence and reason can penetrate willful ignorance. Wrong.
The Dems would be fine, if they didn't have the monomaniac Reps setting their agenda. Dems do something reasonable; Reps frame reasonableness as treason (against their own fanatic version of loyalty to Country and Capitol); Dems backpedal to find new ground for compromise.
Trouble is, there is no such word as compromise in the Republican dictionary.
Republicans hate it when we say it, but they are fascists. They know best, and everyone else can go twist, is their guiding worldview.
FN funny
It would be a simple exercise in political math if all of the 22 Democrats who voted for this silliness were from conservative states, but that isn't true. Feinstein, Casey, Leahy, Mikulski aren't from conservative states. How do they explain their vote? Is this vote the result of the dumbest consultants on earth? You know, the ones that Democrats keeping hiring? How is it that Reid allowed this package of shit to even get on the Senate floor? How is it that Republicans remain in control of the government when the voters threw them out of office last November from sea to shinning sea?
I hope all of you are writing these Senators and telling them what craven fools they are.
Every one of the Democratic Senators who voted
for this - should LOSE their Seats in the next
election. They are "digusting," and need to GO!
Of course it's a classic right-wing misdirection play, but MoveOn set itself up for it by publishing a stupid and tasteless ad. Calling somebody who disagrees with you about the war is exactly what the right-wingers do; descending to their level is not going to score any points. If the headline on the ad had said "General Petraeus, Don't Betray Us" there would have been no problem.
I also believe the Democrats were right to condemn the ad; otherwise the RepugniCONs would have been able to keep the distraction going.
That said, if you want to read something REALLY disgusting go to the Vanity Fair web site and read the investigative report by Barlett and Steele about how NINE BILLION DOLLARS in cash simply DISAPPEARED down the Iraq rat hole, and the criminal Monkey Boy administration has no interest at all in finding out what happened to it. (Actually it seems terrified that somebody WILL find out what happened to it. My hunch is a big chunk of it ended up in numbered bank accounts belonging to Monkey Boy and Dickwad Cheney.)
Bottom line is that MOVEON.ORG only represents the LUNATICS on the left. The report was not even given by the General before the AD was ran. I am 100 percent postive that unless the report would agree with the Lunatic left the General would be attacked politically. The reality is that the liberal wackos have taken over the NEO-RAT party and the far right has taken over the NEO-CON party.
If your logic held water then every democrat would have voted against that stupid Corynhole amendment but it passed so obviously the democrats are not ruled by the so-called lunatic left...can
This of course is the same crap the DC establishment has been pouring out about MoveOn ever since MoveOn became a true alternative voice of progressive voters in this country ... a group which, unlike the Neo Cons had no voice before.
I may not agree with every stance MoveOn takes, but so what. I'm with them 80 percent of the time, which is more than I can say for that bunch of corrupt wimps that call themselves the Democratic National Committee.
And, of course, all this faux outrage has done is raise the profile of MoveOn even further and fill their coffers with new donations to purchase more ads and provide a genuine public voice for progressive voters.
So rave on, you corporate, BushCO shills in congress. Rave on, weep and beat your breasts about how we members of the LUNATIC left hate the troops. Just keep in mind that 90% of Americans know how full of crap you are ... but, hey, the 11 percent who think Congress is doing a fine job are still 100% behind you.
MOVEON is not a voice for progressives but is a voice for LIBERALS. Liberals is a word you cannot stand so you keep trying to call yourselves progressives to make you feel better.
You are peddling a huge, steaming, load of crap there, TruthSlayer. Once again, butchering the truth like an old pro. Well done you.
The bottom line is if your president had not politized General Petraeus, and done the job himself, the general would have never been put in the position to be critized. The lunatics are the ones in charge, and the number one lunatic, is the "decider in chief", the same idiot you so liberally defend. Keep up the koolaid. You will need it, unless of course, you are already braindead.
The ad was about Petreaus's testimony to Congress, and wasn't, before the fact.
Right on Starboy, I first thought the ad was a little childish, the play on Petreaus's name and all, but it looks like MoveOn should keep up such ads. They are truthful and concise. MoveOn can't afford to be seen as cherrypicking the facts, so honesty and accuracy is of the utmost importance. Congress is a shameful collection of spineless fools, too narcissistic to do the right thing. How dare they assault the freedom of the press, and permit the assault on free speech???
HELP WANTED: Sixty senators with balls. Job starts January 20, 2009. Scaredy cats, wishy-washers, need not apply! By the way, you do not necessarily need balls to apply. If you have ever been called "a bitch" you will qualify!
What does it mean for a Republican Senator to make a resolution condemning a citizens' organization for doing something that's Standard Operating Procedure for the Republicans? You have Saxby Chambliss morphing a picture of then-Sen Max Cleland--a disabled Vietnam Veteran--into Osama bin Laden. You have the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth publishing lies about John Kerry's war record. Last week, you had Fred Kagen writing in the National Review that the soldiers themselves were lazy--that if they wanted to come home, they could win the war--as if they simply hadn't thought about that.
This whole resolution is about condemning MoveOn.org for practicing Republicanism without a License.
"This whole resolution is about condemning MoveOn.org for practicing Republicanism without a License."
Again, the ad from moveon.org simply was NOT republicanism. It was fact-based, their sources were cited and the stand up to scrutiny. Please don't fall for the "they're acting like republicans" schtick. If they had been acting like republicans, they would have been LYING.
Excellent point, Susan. The really scary thing here is the US Senate condoning the assault on free speech, and freedom of the press. This is just more disgusting fawning, and preening to the republicans, out of fear of being accused of being anti-military.
When will these fools realize that the only right thing to do, to protect our military and our Treasury is to get out of Iraq NOW.
America is in a very bad way.
Judge,
Looked at Kagan's two articles in NRO last week and cannot find the statement that the soldiers were lazy. Which article and where?
I would love to add that to my collection of Repug slanders.
Thanks
"Judge,
Looked at Kagan's two articles in NRO last week and cannot find the statement that the soldiers were lazy. Which article and where?
I would love to add that to my collection of Repug slanders."
Courtesy of Glenn Greenwald at http://www
"If troops want more time at home, Kagan says, there is an easy way to achieve that: 'win the war we're fighting.'
It could be that Kagen didn't intend for that to sound the way it came out, but he is blaming the troops for not winning. I mean, if winning was easy, wouldn't the troops have done it already? Why would Kagen say winning was easy in the face of our not having done so in 4 years, if he wasn't blaming the troops?
Enough already.
MoveOn
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