Moveon.org - Wall St. Journal - Lables Gore Audience as: pro-Saddam and

[otohara]

far-left....They are asking that we write letters to the Right-wing Journal..

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal characterized MoveOn and its members as "far-left" and "pro-Saddam." This is outrageous and inflammatory. Write the Journal today and let them know what you think about being called "pro-Saddam."

In the Journal's online affiliate, the Opinion Journal, editor James Taranto argued that presidential candidate Senator Joseph Lieberman should leave the Democratic Party and become a Republican. Contrasting Lieberman to his one-time partner in the presidential election, the Opinion Journal noted Al Gore's speech this morning, hosted by MoveOn:

"Meanwhile, Lieberman's erstwhile running mate, Al Gore, seems to have gone off the rails. The New York Post reports Gore will be speaking to a gathering of MoveOn.org--the far-left, pro-Saddam group whose online 'primary' gave Howard Dean a victory over second-place Dennis Kucinich--at New York University on Thursday."

Describing MoveOn as "far-left" misrepresents the diversity of MoveOn's membership. Describing MoveOn as "pro-Saddam" is simply unacceptable.

Our call for UN inspections in Iraq was never based on sympathy for Saddam Hussein or his dictatorship. As one of our bulletins affirmed "Saddam Hussein is a fearsome and despotic leader."

Rather, MoveOn members saw the inspections as a workable, humane, and less costly means of eliminating weapons of mass destruction. We recognized that war would mean inevitable civilian and military casualties and that the loss of human lives could be prevented through the rule of international law. And we opposed the doctrine of unilateral, pre-emptive war as bad military policy.

It is outrageous to characterize our opposition to the Bush administration as "pro-Saddam." Not only does it insult our members, it distracts from the failures of the Iraq war: high death tolls, chaos, poverty, and occupation with little sign of democracy to come.

ACTION: Write a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal demanding accurate representations of MoveOn and its members. You might describe yourself politically and explain why you opposed the war in Iraq in order to give them a more accurate picture of who we are.

Remember that polite, brief letters are more likely to be published. Be sure to include your name and address, and especially your phone number. Editors need to call you to verify authorship before they can print your letter. They won't print your phone number.

Send your letters to:
[email protected]

Even if you don't have time to submit a letter for publication, make your thoughts known to the Opinion Journal staff:
[email protected]

REPORT YOUR LETTERS AND EMAILS:
After you write in, please let us know what you said at:
http://moveon.org/mediacorps/opjournal_dash.html?id=1578-1363265-Qq7o947ERvFIwxLC.FaZXw

Your action will be registered on your Media Corps dashboard page:
http://moveon.org/mediacorps/dshbd.html?id=1578-1363265-Qq7o947ERvFIwxLC.FaZXw

[madfloridian]

1. Mine is written.

Got my email a couple of hours ago. Done.

[Pallas180]

2. If Move On was serious they shouold sue WSJ for libel. That might

make them investigate a little bit before shooting off
their poison typewriters.

[HawkerHurricane]

3. I 'like' thier logic:

To be anti war in Iraq, one must be pro Saddam.

One I've used on reich wingers: You dislike Hitler? You must be pro-Stalin! Points out the logical disconnect in a brutal fasion.

[hippywife]

4. Done!

Dear WSJ Editors...

As a member of this organization, I truly resent the characterizations of its membership as "pro-Saddam." Are you kidding?? Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am "anti-war" when no evidence exists showing that this action of last resort is merited. Instead of spinning a totally unearned reputation for myself and my fellow members of this organization, please try sticking to the facts: No justification for this administration's drive to war has been shown to have any basis in truth, save one. Saddam is an evil person who is responsible for the slaughter of his own people (with weapons and support he garnered from this country, lest we forget.) We all recognize this fact but this was not the main justification of "imminent danger" the administration marketed so strongly. There has been no proven link between Iraq and Al-Qaida, no link between Iraq and 9/11 no matter how many times this adminstration repeats these insinuations. We are not anti-America, unpatriotic, or pro-Saddam. I support our troops and this country. I stand for the principles this country was founded upon. I cannot support the imperialistic leanings of this administration nor its erosion of my constitutional rights. One of which is to voice my dissent against its policies.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
Theodore Roosevelt
The Kansas City Star - May 7, 1918

I tried to report this on the moveon site and I got an internal error so I think that portion of it didn't work.

[Gingergal]

5. Right wing is scared of MoveOn.org

At the rally in Austin against redistricting, I saw a few freepers with a sign that said "Why does the Communist Party have a link to MoveOn.org on their website?" So now they are also falling back on the old smear of Communists. Pathetic!