MoveOn Rigs Its Own Vote; Betrays Its Membership

http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh06032006.html

Stooping to New Lows to Sabotage the Antiwar Movement

this article is by:

John Walsh keeps up with MoveOn in an attempt to bring the war to the forefront of its agenda and in an increasingly deseperate hope that something will change there. He can be reached at John.Endwar @gmail.com
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The first email.

On May 17, I received an email from MoveOn.org signed by Ben Bradzel, Matt and Eli (Pariser) inviting me to a "trial" house party to begin creation of a "positive agenda" for 2006. The house party was the very next day, May 18. According to the email, the "positive agenda" to be created had to come "from the grass roots." While the email suggested that we could decide on anything that we liked ("The sky's the limit."), it named three possible elements in the "positive agenda": "universal health care" (not specified as single-payer), "clean energy," "publicly financed elections." (Remember these three.) Later in the email it was made clear that there should be 3 points to the new agenda."

It was striking to me that there was no mention of the war on Iraq or Iran in this email--striking but not surprising in light of MoveOn's long-standing failure to call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Moreover, at the end of the missive the reasons for developing the "positive agenda" was made clear. Not only were MoveOn members asking for it, but the MoveOn bosses considered it crucial to "getting people to the polls" and "winning in November" which meant that "Democrats" would "gain seats in November. There was no question about whether the Democrats deserved to win seats in November. This was a goal slipped into the "p.s." of the email to be taken as a given. We were also told in passing that the "conversation" at the house party would be "guided," which meant directed by a script which as we shall see also failed to mention the war.

The second email.

I was curious but unable to attend that "trial" house party, but the following week the real thing emerged. The next week on May 22 another email appeared, announcing a series of nationwide house parties on May 24. I decided to go. But I was disappointed that once again there was no mention of the war in the email. So I decided to call a staff contact that we were given. She was young, enthusiastic and dedicated but inexperienced. I asked her why there was no mention of the war. I pointed out that a clear and ever growing majority of voters were for that. And I informed her that Karl Rove essentially conceded that the war was Bush's Achilles heel. So if MoveOn wanted to defeat the Bushies, why not raise the war? Silence came over her. She then said, as if recalling something, that opposition to the war was "negative" and we had to have a "positive" agenda. I asked whether "Bring all the troops home now. Peace now." would amount to a "positive agenda." Silence. She did call the national office for me, but they had nothing to say in response.
-snip-
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there are four emails in total

I know nothing much about MoveOn but know many DUs have an interest.

I recently took issue with MoveOn for failing to even mention much less take a stand on, in any of their campaigns that I can recall, the issue of impeachment. As I expected, I received no reply to my email. I do feel that MoveOn has done some good things, but they're beginning to seem a little too much like the DLC for my liking.

I don't see censure as an acceptable alternative to impeachment. Should we really only slap the wrists of a traitor and mass murderer?

wouldn't it? :shrug:

:) I'm game!!

although I am willing to concede that it certainly could be. My concern is that with the well documented number of DINOs in Congress and a complicit media, the unfortunate upshot of censure would likely be nothing more than,



Personally, I had something a little more substantial in mind.

illegal!! :rofl: I hear you but censure would sure NOT make him look good!;)

"There was no question about whether the Democrats deserved to win seats in November."

It's a Progressive Democratic (mostly) group!! :rofl:

Snip-->
http://www.moveon.org/about.html
A short history

MoveOn.org Civic Action was started by Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, two Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs. Although neither had experience in politics, they shared deep frustration
with the partisan warfare in Washington D.C. and the ridiculous waste of our nation's
focus at the time of the impeachment mess.
On September 18th 1998, they launched an online petition to "Censure President Clinton
and Move On to Pressing Issues Facing the Nation."
Within days they had hundreds of thousands of individuals signed up,
and began looking for ways these voices could be heard.

In 1998, MoveOn PAC was formed as a political action committee so that like-minded,
concerned citizens could influence the outcome of congressional elections,
and in turn, the balance of power in Washington, D.C.
Now known as MoveOn.org Political Action, this organization provides individuals,
who normally have little political power, an opportunity to aggregate their contributions
with others to gain a greater voice in the political process, and brings people together
to take important stands on the most important issues facing our country.

The MoveOn Peace campaign was founded independently by Eli Pariser,
a Maine native and recent graduate of Simon's Rock College of Bard.
In the days following September 11th, 2001, he launched an online petition
calling for a restrained and multi-lateral response to the attacks,
which was quickly signed by more than half a million people.
Eli joined forces with MoveOn soon afterward,
and is now MoveOn.org Political Action’s Executive Director. <--snip

About MoveOn.org Political Action

MoveOn.org Political Action, one of the largest Political Action Committees in the country,
brings real Americans into politics to fight for a more progressive America and elect
progressive candidates. It conducts major campaigns, from its work to protect the Supreme
Court from a hard-right justice to its campaign to defeat the right wing and elect moderates
and progressives in 2006. But in contrast to most PACs, which funnel industry contributions
to candidates in exchange for access, MoveOn.org Political Action brings hundreds of thousands
of small donors together to elect candidates who will represent the American people.

BTW --->

http://www.moveon.org/success_stories.html
"Out in '06" Petition Deliveries a Success
MoveOn members delivered 400,000 petition signatures to 285 district congressional offices,
urging support for an exit strategy plan with a timeline to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

Photos and Comments » http://political.moveon.org/iraqdelivery/results.html

"Bring Home the Troops" Petition Deliveries

On Wednesday, December 14th, thousands of MoveOn members delivered over 400,000 petition
signatures calling for an exit plan from Iraq to 285 congressional offices.

Events took place in every corner of the country; in Battle Creek, MI; Hays, KS;
Defiance, OH; Starkville, MS; Humble, TX; Loveland, CO; Burnsville, MN; Walterboro, SC;
Coeur d'Alene, ID; Hickory, NC; Norman, OK; Cookeville, TN; Peoria, IL; Martinsburg, WV;
Prairie du Sac, WI, to name a few places.

Volunteers say the deliveries were a resounding success.
Most events were led by delegations of veterans and military families.
More than half had media there.
Together, our efforts brought Congress face to face with the growing majority of Americans
calling for a plan to bring our troops home from Iraq.

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Members Put A New Iraq Ad On TV
Last week a real debate about how to change course in Iraq started in Congress.
Now Republicans and the Bush administration are lashing out--trying to smear their critics.
Don’t let them get away with that.
To maintain our momentum in the Iraq debate we've put together a new TV ad.
Watch the Ad » http://political.moveon.org/donate/thanksgiving.html

I didn't want to spend time sifting throught "reams" of old emails from moveon.org

I just went to the website and clicked on Campaigns and Archives.
;)