Split in anti-war left

[babylonsister]

Split in anti-war left
By Manu Raju
August 08, 2007


Congress’s failure to secure a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq has split anti-war activists on the tactical question of whether to attack Democrats, who now control Capitol Hill.

The split has also underlined accusations among some activists that MoveOn has abandoned its credentials as an issue-based advocacy group and now instead provides cover for Democratic Party leaders.

Anti-war activists throughout the country are united in spending August pressing lawmakers to bring U.S. troops home. But tensions within the movement have been bubbling for months over tactics and whether their fire should be aimed exclusively at Republicans.

The divisions underscore the tough position Democrats are in — short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass binding restrictions on the war and far shy of the two-thirds majority in both chambers required to override a presidential veto.

Some activist groups say MoveOn is giving a pass to Democratic leaders, whom they say are not taking a hard enough line to stop funding U.S. involvement in the war.

more...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/split-in-anti-war-left-2007-08-08.html

[kenfrequed]

1. Sure...

And if the media spent even a tenth as much time reporting some of the under the radar stories you pick up at DU, Moveon, or Crooks&Liars the Republicans would be a third friggin party.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I guess I am in the anti moveon group

I see them doing more and more things that do NOT help end the war.

The most recent example: moveon sent an email out to everyone in this area inviting them to a meeting last night to discuss what they can do to end the war. The meeting was scheduled at the same time as the debate last night. HELLO???

I emailed moveon and I emailed the person hosting the meeting. I told them that we already have 4 anti-war rallies a week in this town and instead of planning MORE, we need more people coming to the rallies we already have. Of course, I got no reply.

In March, moveon sent out a massive email asking everyone to come to a rally for the Iraq War anniversary that was scheduled ONE DAY AFTER the rally our task force had spent months planning. They used all our information - the time, the place, the speakers, but the wrong date. We spent days trying to contact moveon and ask them to send out a correction. FINALLY, a couple days AFTER the event, someone from moveon replied to us and said no the date in their email wasn't wrong, moveon wanted everyone in the country to have a rally on the same day. And we should have just changed the date of our rally!!

We had the smallest crowd we have ever had at a war anniversary event and the next day our task force received several emails from people angry because they had showed up on the date moveon sent out only to find no one there.

So mark me in the group that has had it up to here with moveon.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. Don't forget that yesterday they started a campaign for people to sign a petition

to have the Democrats fix the new FISA Amendment. Why they hell didn't they do it before the Amendment was voted on. (I signed the petition anyway)

They have also not approached Impeachment.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Actually they did agree to do a poll on impeachment

They sent out an email to some of their organizers about a month ago telling them they had been swamped with requests to address impeachment.

But they have yet to do that poll. hmmm

[EFerrari]

11. Is it my imagination or do they do stuff like that all the time?

It's like crowd control or something.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I don't know

A friend of mine is an organizer for them and she forwarded the email to me. It was when I was in Texas, the weekend after the 4th of July. I even announced it to my friends at Camp Casey. We all cheered. And a month later, nothing.

[roody]

3. I unsubscribed long ago to dontmoveon.

[RufusTFirefly]

18. So did I. And I joined them right at the start

Funding the war was the last straw for me.

[EFerrari]

4. Do you ever notice that if anti war activists are referenced

as demonstrating against Junior, we're "extremists" but, when the corporate media wants to use us against Democrats, we're just "the anti war left"?

Funny how that works.

[jacksonian]

5. bingo, we have a winner - yep, funny how that works (nt)

[EFerrari]

6. They've already started the "splintering" meme. No matter

what real disagreements we have, it's a good thing to notice.

[KoKo]

13. Article was from "The Hill" and they tend to headline against Dems and Frame

in a way that always disparaging to Dems.

[loudsue]

20. Dems on Hill staff are DLCers.

Bashing the base is par for the course for DLCers.

:kick:

[Madspirit]

17. Great Point...n/t

[leftchick]

7. why would they go after repubs?

who controls 'the purse strings'? sheesh!

[EFerrari]

10. I think it's a false premise. We do both. But, watch the media

keep pushing the idea that we splitting the base,

[KoKo]

14. Shouldn't there be room for both "Move On" and "United for Peace & Justice?

Isn't it possible to work with both groups? I signed the MoveOn petition and promoted it here...because I still believe we have to do what we can with whatever tools are available to us. It's possible MoveOn exists to give us out here a way to vent without having to do much else. And, that would make many feel it's not worth bothering with them. But, whether one went to DC to protest and it was organized by "UT&J" or A.N.S.W.E.R. or we sign Move On's Petitions....it's something. And, Move On did sponsor Al Gore's speeches. Maybe Al Gore is just another bought off Political Hack. Maybe we should just not do anything. But, connecting with folks of like thought is possible when we participate in group actions.

Until we all march in great anger on the WH with Pitchforks and the rest of the peasants who are just now waking up...then what do we have available to us? Just my 2 cents for why trying to do something with the tools we have right now is worth it...until more tools come along that we can use. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

15. Sure. I don't belong to MO any more but I attend their actions.

Oh, and free the Cuban Five! :hi:

[Madspirit]

16. 5th k&r...n/t

[jtrockville]

19. Moveon will distribute a report on the cost of war next week

in an effort to get congress to pull the plug on funding. There are no guarantees on how successful it will be, but I'm willing to participate in the effort. Doing nothing is the only action that comes with a guarantee.

[jgraz]

21. I suspect this weekend's vote on the FISA bill went a long way toward mending that rift

It's getting tougher and tougher to convince people that it's only the Rethugs who are the problem.

[endarkenment]

23. Indeed. The water fell out of that argument.

At this point those holding on to 'its only the Republicans' are looking more than foolish.

[Hydra]

22. It's not a split

It's that some of us were told to sit down and shut up while the "grownups" worked their "strategies."

As much as I hate being talked down to, I bit my tongue and gave them room to work.

The anti-FISA bill and the Blank Check war funding are the last straw for me. How is it that Bush is getting everything he wants while the "grownups" are getting our support? How are their "strategies" working against Commander Little Boots?

I'm a better tactician than this, so I refuse to shut up and let someone else keep screwing things up in my name. I think I'm not the only one here that feels that way.

If the former obstructionists can't lead us, then they can follow.