What the heck is this????!!! Senate to Condemn MoveOn?? When did they condemn the Swiftboaters when they impugned the character of John Kerry?
From my email:
This morning the Senate is expected to vote on a resolution condemning MoveOn.org.1 Can you call Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer IMMEDIATELY and ask them to vote no?
Dear MoveOn member,
This morning the Senate is expected to vote on a resolution condemning MoveOn.org.1 Can you call Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer IMMEDIATELY and ask them to vote no?
This is the same Senate that has done nothing to change President Bush's policy on Iraq. Yesterday, they couldn't even pass a bill to give soldiers enough leave with their families before redeploying.2 But they have plenty of time to crack down on folks who criticize the war. It's ridiculous, it's un-American, and it's wrong.
Call Sens. Feinstein and Boxer: Tell them this is a right-wing intimidation campaign aimed at all of us who've spoken out on the war—and every honorable Senator should stand up against it.
Here's where to call: (Note from poster: This is my senator, call senators from your states.)
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Phone: 202-224-3841
Senator Barbara Boxer
Phone: 202-224-3553
Then, please report your call by clicking here:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSCA_1.FSCA_2&cp_id=587&id=11265-3966098-guEZfP&t=3Republicans have been on the attack since we ran an ad last week accusing General Petraeus of betraying the public trust by "cooking the books" and presenting politicized facts to Congress.3
Why? They're flailing. Last week's Bush Administration PR blitz completely failed—the percentage of Americans favoring withdrawal from Iraq actually increased.4 Meanwhile, vulnerable Republicans are sinking lower and lower in the polls (or announcing their retirement). Bashing our ad is a way to distract the public—and intimidate war critics.
Sixteen brave Americans died in Iraq in the last week.5 The whole country is looking to Congress to stand up to Bush and get our troops out of Iraq—and instead, they're spending time on a newspaper ad!
Maybe you liked the ad. Maybe you thought we should have worded it differently.
But at its heart was a painful truth—President Bush is using General Petraeus to mislead the public about how things are going in Iraq, just like he used Colin Powell in 2003. And Republicans are trying to make sure we pay a heavy price for saying so. As strategist George Lakoff says:
MoveOn hit a nerve. In the face of truth, the right-wing has been forced to change the subject—away from the administration's betrayal of trust and the escalating tragedy of the occupation to of all things, an ad! To take the focus off maiming and death and the breaking of our military, they talk about etiquette. The truth has reduced them to whining: MoveOn was impolite. Rather than face the truth, they use character assassination against an organization whose three million members stand for the highest patriotic principles of this country, the first of which is a commitment to truth.6
They're trying to use the full force of the U.S. Senate to shut us all up. To send a message that if you speak unpleasant truths about this war, you'll pay.This is what we expect from right-wing bullies like Fox, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity. But the Senate should know better.
Call Sens. Feinstein and Boxer today: Tell them that in a democracy, we revere the truth—before generals, before presidents.
Thank you for everything you do, every day, to get the truth out.
–Eli, Justin, Wes, Nita, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Thursday, September 20th, 2007
Sources:
1. You can see the resolution text here. Absurdly, it claims that MoveOn (with hundreds of thousands of veterans and military family members among our ranks) "impugns the honor and integrity of ... all the members of the United States Armed Force.":
http://pol.moveon.org/cornyn_amendment.html?id=11265-3966098-guEZfP&t=42. "Effort to Shift Course in Iraq Fails in Senate," New York Times, September 19, 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/washington/20cong.html?hp3. You can read the ad text, the facts behind it, and why we ran it here:
http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus_ad.html?id=11265-3966098-guEZfP&t=54. "Poll: Most Say Bush Iraq Plan Falls Short" CBS News, September 17, 2007.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2978&id=11265-3966098-guEZfP&t=65. iCasualties.org
6. George Lakoff. "Whose Betrayal?" Huffington Post, September 15, 2007.
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