MoveOn fires back

[babylonsister]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/moveon-fires-back-2007-09-11.html

MoveOn fires back
By Klaus Marre
September 11, 2007

MoveOn.org, the liberal group that enraged Republicans this week by alleging that Gen. David Petraeus was “cooking the books” with regard to the situation in Iraq, is asking its members to engage in a grassroots effort to help bring U.S. troops home.

In an e-mail to supporters, the group said Petraeus “misled the country” in his testimony before the House on Monday. MoveOn wants its members to write letters to the editors of local and national newspapers and question the findings Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker presented to Congress. The group provides talking points to support its view that Petraeus “used faulty statistics and cherry-picked intelligence to argue that American troops should stay in Iraq for the foreseeable future.”

An ad placed in The New York Times by MoveOn referred to Petraeus as “General Betray Us” and caused a major stir in Congress. Measures have been introduced on both chambers of Congress to condemn it, and several Republicans have referenced the advertisement during the hearings. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who sponsored the Senate measure condemning the ad, called it “abhorrent.”

However, the group appears undeterred. It compares the testimony of Petraeus to that of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, who made the case for an invasion of Iraq before the United Nations in 2003. MoveOn said that, had it run a similar ad back then, Republicans “would have done the same thing — but sometimes it’s important to set the facts straight.”

The White House weighed in on the matter Tuesday, with Bush spokesman Tony Snow saying that the ad, coupled with pictures of anti-war activists disrupting the hearings on Iraq, were not good for the Democrats.

[Sparkly]

1. They sure got their money's worth from that ad!!

Seems like every GOPer has mentioned it yesterday and today, critically lumping it together with "anti-war Democrats" in general, of course.

If they were really so outraged by it, I doubt they'd keep repeating and referencing it for political points.

[babylonsister]

8. Yes, money well spent! And rethugs had nothing else to kvetch about

from what I've read, or used it as a distraction. Guess that backfired. :evilgrin:

[liberaldemocrat7]

43. I consider Moveon a paper tiger.

While I support moveon and code pink in their speaking out they appear more or less paper tigers. I do admire the code pink women who take the risk and speak out against the war in a congressional hearign room. I do admire that.

However the Repuublican wheels keep turning on their War and death machine which figuratively runs on oil.


When will people at moveon and code pink learn that Republicans get their money from major corporations ad they should take their fight to the corporations that fund them and sponsor phone in campaigns to these corporations and massive boycotts.

Unfortunately these organizations only give us lefties bread and circuses while the Republiklan party sociopathy continues.

[ProfessorGAC]

48. Yeah. This Is An Unusual Political Mistake For Them

They're drawing too much attention to it. Perhaps they are just too used to be the attackers rather than the "attackee".
The Professor

[OzarkDem]

2. Congress can't investigate

stolen elections, criminal behavior in the executive branch nor violation of civil rights by the CIA, but they can find the time to condemn a newspaper ad?

What chickenshits. These elected officials are the kind that give politicians a bad name.

[ThomCat]

5. This certainly shows their priorities.

Propping up the egos of insiders is more important than actually serving the people.

[Cha]

21. Yeah, no time to Impeach..

They make me say.."THROW THE BUMS OUT!"

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I have written more letters than I can count

But I can't force the newspaper to publish them.

[ThomCat]

4. Good for MoveOn!

I hate that false politeness of pretending that liars and criminals are honorable. x(

[KoKo]

39. And....How Many Blabbering Repugs including Mispeaking Bush are going to say Betrayous by Accident!

They've spent so much time on this ad that it will become an Ear Worm and out of their mouths on the floor of Congress..."General Betrayous" is bound to be a tongue slip and the P-Resident isn't going to ever be able to put that "P" back in his General's name! :rofl: Even I slipped and said Betrayous to a friend yesterday and had to catch myself...

[ThomCat]

40. That would be a nice side effect of all of this.

I hope his professional reputation is shot to hell. I hope his career is over because he's such an obvious puppet. I hope the general opinion of him among the people who work in the pentagon tanks.

[NanceGreggs]

6. "faulty statistics and cherry-picked intelligence" ...

Hmm, that sounds SO familiar. Where have we heard that phrase before?

:shrug:

[babylonsister]

9. Oooh! Ooooh! I know! Pick me!

Could you possibly mean a general who has a last name that begins with a 'P'? :hi: Or maybe even a 'B'??:D

[NanceGreggs]

31. I think you're on the right track ...

:hi:

[sarcasmo]

7. Great PR for Move on and it sure ruffled some feathers.

Which leads me to believe it's true.

[Mr. Ected]

10. So It's Only the Democratic Congressmen Who Are Anti-War?

Hmmm. That seems to leave out the Republicans who have, one by one, decried this war as a travesty.

And the vast majority of American citizens, whose voices have been muted by this fascist regime.

[robinlynne]

34. which republicans will vote against funding this war? If they would, it would be OVER.

[HughMoran]

11. 'Bout time we raised this a notch

All the naval gazers who have alternatively been screaming about stopping the war should be ashamed of themselves. This is activism - too scary for ya?

[Yavin4]

12. The Ad's Intention Was Good, But The Execution Was Poor

A better and far more effective ad would have been a side by side shot of Gen. David Petraeus next to Colin Powell's picture at the UN in 2003, and I would have had the title, "Summer Sequels Continue", or "The Big Lie II".

IOW, attack the Bush strategy of using "military men of integrity" to lie for them instead of attacking Gen. David Petraeus directly, which played right into the right wing's hands.

[babylonsister]

17. I think they did just fine and got the attention they were going for, if not

more.

[Tesha]

52. Well next time, perhaps you'll write it/fundraise for it/get it published, ehh?

DUers are long on talk, short on action, and very quick
to criticize when somebody else actually grabs the ball
and acts.

Tesha

[Demit]

13. I'll tell you what. I deliberately sent MoveOn a donation today, because of the ad.

I got the email last week asking for money in order to get the ad in print, but ignored it. I don't particularly agree with their choosing that headline—I mean, speaking as an old ad person, I wouldn't have concepted the ad that way—but after watching all the phony outrage on the part of the adolescent Republicans in Congress yesterday, I decided to show my support. Twenty-five bucks, and I wish I could've written Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's name on it. If the Republican whiney-ass-titty-babies keep it up, I just might send more. They want to do purple heart band aids? This wasn't half as bad as that stunt.

[tularetom]

24. I just sent 'em a contribution too

Thanks for giving me the idea. It was worth the few bucks I kicked in to see the panicky reaction to the ad on the part of some of my favorite repugnantcan asswipes.

[Irishonly]

41. So Did I

Stupid rethugicons. Whine like little babies anytime something happens. I was one of the people who wasn't sure about the ad untill all of the crying started. Then I fell in love with it.

[JanLip]

51. DemItAllAnyway...

Republican whiney-ass-titty-babies!! Thanks for that one...it made my day...We use to call one another titty babies when we were kids. Now I'm old and it's funnier than it was back then....I love it...I love reading these posts. Jan

[RiverStone]

14. If Congress refuses to act upon the lies that led us to war

Then the people must.

Congrats to MoveOn for calling the American people to at least pay attention to something --- even temporarily --- which does NOT feed the war mongering propaganda machine.

David Patraeus's facts were manipulated to paint a far cleaner and more optimistic picture then the truth on the ground. MoveOn is simply showing the GUTS to hold a corrupt administration accountable for lies; unlike many on The Hill who refuse to put impeachment on the table and refuse to withhold more Iraq war $$$ unless we have a FIRM timeline to end the damn war.

Since my Representative won't represent my anger and desire to end the war; then I must applaud MoveOn for taking up the slack! :applause:

[Breeze54]

15. Here's my e-mail from Move On! (Thanks for the reminder!)

From: Nita Chaudhary, MoveOn.org Political Action
Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 12:27 PM
Subject: General Petraeus and the Truth


Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday, General David Petraeus misled the country.

He used faulty statistics and cherry-picked intelligence to argue that American troops should stay
in Iraq for the foreseeable future. The general said we're making major progress1—and we have to
stay the course. Sadly, independent assessments show that things in Iraq have gone from bad to worse
(see below for more on how Petraeus stretched the truth).

Some of you have emailed to say it reminds you of the day four and a half years ago when
President Bush sent General Colin Powell to the U.N. to make a trumped-up case for war.

Powell's WMDs helped justify the invasion of Iraq, and Petraeus' version of "progress"—if it
goes unchallenged—will justify keeping troops there for years. Can you take a few minutes to
write a letter-to-the editor reminding folks that the "surge" didn't work—and that the
responsible thing to do is bring our troops home?

http://pol.moveon.org/lte/">Letter to the Editor: Don't let Gen. Petraeus convince Congress to keep the war going. Enter zip code first.

Petraeus based much of his assessment on the claim that violence in Iraq is dropping. 2

That just isn't true:

Petraeus is using "funny math." According to the Washington Post, Petraeus and the Pentagon are
using a bizarre formula for measuring violence in the country. For example, deaths by car bombs
don't count.3 And assassinations count only if you're shot in the back of the head—not in the front.4

Iraqis believe the surge has failed. According to a massive new ABC/BBC poll, every single
Iraqi polled in Baghdad, the primary target of the "surge," said it had made security worse.
Iraqis themselves overwhelmingly think the situation in Iraq is deteriorating, in terms of
security, political cooperation, the economy, and other measures. Overall, 70% think the
escalation worsened rather than improved security conditions. 5

The independent GAO report found that violence is up. A comprehensive Government Accountability
Office report ordered by Congress found that "average number of daily attacks against civilians
have remained unchanged from February to July 2007."6 In August, things got worse, with civilian
casualties rising according to the Associated Press7 and the Los Angeles Times.8

For our troops, it's the bloodiest summer yet.
More U.S. troops died every month this year compared to the same month last year.9

Petraeus claimed that he compiled his report without conferring with the White House.
But the Washington Post recently reported that Petraeus or his staff joined daily conference
calls with the White House and former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie this summer to "map out ways
of selling the surge." The Post reported that Gillespie's White House political unit was
"hard-wired" to Petraeus' military unit.10

We would all like to see life improving in Iraq. But it's not—it's getting worse.
And if US forces stay in Iraq both Americans and Iraqis will pay a terrible price.

Today is the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history. The wounds of 9/11
are still fresh for many of us. After 9/11, President Bush used fear, lies and trumped-up
intelligence to stampede us into Iraq. Now, America is bogged down in an unwinnable civil war,
and Al Qaeda has regained enough strength to once again menace the United States.11

It would be a tragic irony if, six years later, the administration used skewed intelligence
to head off the growing momentum for an exit strategy from Iraq.

Please write a letter reminding America and Congress not to fall, ever again,
for White House lies — we need a timeline to bring our troops home.

http://pol.moveon.org/lte/">Letter to the Editor: Don't let Gen. Petraeus convince Congress to keep the war going. Enter zip code first.

Thanks for all that you do,

–Nita, Karin, Laura, Eli, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

P.S. Yesterday, MoveOn members sponsored an ad in the New York Times debunking Petraeus' claims.

Click here to see the ad—and the evidence to back it up:
http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html?id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=4

The ad stirred a controversy on Capitol Hill—it accuses Petraeus of "cooking the books."
And it charges that Petraeus is betraying the American peoples' trust by spinning the facts
to support the White House. Some Democrats were uncomfortable with such strong language,
and Republicans attacked MoveOn.

We're sure if we'd run an ad debunking Colin Powell's testimony in 2003, they would have
done the same thing— but sometimes it's important to set the facts straight.

SOURCES
1. Washington Post, "Petraeus Backs Initial Pullout," 9/11/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2958&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=5 2. Ibid.
3. New York Times, "Time to Take a Stand," 9/7/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2941&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=6
4. Washington Post, "Experts Doubt Drop in Violence in Iraq," 9/6/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2938&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=7
5. ABC News, "Iraqis' Own Surge Assessment," 9/10/07
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=3571504
6. Washington Post, "Experts Doubt Drop in Violence in Iraq," 9/6/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2938&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=8
7. Associated Press, "1,809 Iraqi civilians killed in August," 9/1/07
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20543737/
8. Los Angeles Times, "Iraqi civilian deaths climb again," 9/1/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2956&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=9
9. http://www.iCasualties.org
10. Washington Post, "Among Top Officials, 'Surge' Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting," 9/9/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2957&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=10
11. Washington Post, "Scarier than Bin Laden," 9/9/07
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2959&id=11221-2919065-kkHvDD&t=11


PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

[babylonsister]

18. I looked for mine and haven't received one (may have been

unsubscribed in a fit of rage in my past). Could you post your e-mail in its own thread for more exposure? :hi: :thumbsup:

[Breeze54]

22. I'll get my ass kicked!!

by the 'polite' ones. :P

If you think I should! lol....

[babylonsister]

23. No you won't; look at this thread. I'll protect ya!

[Breeze54]

26. Done!

Go see!! ;)

[Larkspur]

16. The Rethuglicans follow the Goering Principle

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

And when Progressives cave into Rethuglican bullying, they embolden the fascists.

Bravo to MoveOn.org for standing up to these thugs.

[Disturbed]

25. The Rethug PR Machine along with their US Corp Media

lackeys are at War, not only in Iraq & Afghanistan but in Amerika against the American people.

[malaise]

27. Bravo indeed

Move On :yourock:

[Cha]

19. I totally agree and they

could be playing that "ad" right now, too!

[followthemoney]

20. Do you think the capitalist media will replay this ad for free in the news...

Over and over and over again, week after week for free the way it did with the SWIFTBOAT ad?

If only the capitalist media weren't such righties.

[judaspriestess]

28. the only reason why the repukes are 'enraged'

is because they have been exposed once again as the lying sacks of shit they are. They need to bathe in their own fucking filth.

[Parche]

29. Who Cares What Corny R-TX Says

This is the kind of ad that will get the whole country talking and opening up
to help bring the soldiers home...........:hi:

[Breeze54]

30. Can you all read this and then follow what it says?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1786807

Thanks! ;)

[riverdeep]

32. Doesn't anyone get it?

The pubs get 'outraged' when things work. Why do you think Loofah Bill yaks about MoveOn constantly? Besides that he's starved for topics that don't make the administration look bad, they're effective. Was it the perfect counter? No. But the perfect is often the enemy of the good.

Did Congress issue a declaration when the RNC aired ads about Harold Ford Junior in the 2006 Tennessee race? The one where the white woman mouths 'call me' into an air phone (Ford being black)?

Thank you MoveON.

[robinlynne]

33. and the man sitting right next to Colin Powell that unforgettable day was....Patreus!

[theredpen]

35. "Not good for the Democrats"

Isn't it nice of the Rape-ublicans to be soooooo concerned about the poor Democrats.

[redqueen]

47. And so nice of some Dems to hop aboard the Repuke Spin Express.

:bounce:

[autorank]

36. I'm Impressed!

Very nice. A group in opposition that doesn't cave to the normal "scare" totems wagged in their face.

When I heard about this just recently I thought it was a bad move but since they're standing by it,
that's significant. After all, it's not like the guy is some national hero. He's one of just a
very few in the military who would do this.

[Swamp Rat]

37. Geaux MoveOn!!!!!!!!!!

:D :D :D Free publicity ON TOPIC!!! :D :D :D

KICK ASS!!!!! :kick:

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:



:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[go west young man]

Ditto! Great job MoveOn! Keep up the good work!

[go west young man]

38. Ditto! Great job MoveOn! Keep up the good work!

[trashcanistanista]

42. Loved that ad!

I really loved that it pissed of Cornryn and the rest of the scum and got a special mention in the Senate hearings yesterday, not once but twice! MoveOn got more than their money's worth out of it.

[redqueen]

44. WOW! I never knew so many DUers would agree with Tony Snow!

:wow:

[trashcanistanista]

46. Did Tony also like it as much as we did?

:7 Maybe there is some hope for him!

[redqueen]

49. I meant the Dems who agree with him that the ad was bad for Dems.

:crazy:

[Raster]

45. You Go MoveOn!!! Patraeus did betray us! His "testimony" was a farce, as expected!

Wake up, America!:kick:

[bdamomma]

50. since when is Dissent not patriotic Tony Snow

you can not shut us up!!!!!!!!

[mainer]

53. Ran across this great response on a blogsite:

"Republicans are angry that the left is saying this decorated officer may be less than honorable in his report to Congress about success in Iraq. And I sympathize with them. To a point.

Then I remember another decorated soldier who was in the news and during the GOP convention, these same worked-up Republicans made light of the Purple Heart the man received in a war our present CINC ducked, even went so far as to put the Purple Heart on band-aids and laughed, oh how they laughed, because he was injured in combat but apparently didn't bleed enough for this howling pack of sunshine patriots. Yeah, funny. Ha ha. Ha ha.


So when they get their knickers in a twist over a childish play on Petraeus' name I just think of those band-aids and I say fuck them.
Fuck them all."


http://terrenoire.blogspot.com/

[bjobotts]

55. Hey great point, thanks for posting

[emanymton]

57. Trust US. Have US Every Lied To You Before?!?

.

Reputation for leadership and integrity - before





afterward? Do you feel like you've been had?


.

[bjobotts]

54. Bloggers have been calling him Betray-us for 6 mos. Snow Blows

The move-on org is not far left anymore they just seem that way to the far right who falsely believe they represent middle America. The political background has changed and these goobers are way far behind. The add showed that progressives know when they are being snowed by a dog and pony show. Those protesters forced out of the "public" viewing area demonstrate the desperation of the majority of Americans trying to make our voices heard. Democrats only look bad by allowing this to continue. And the general has been turned into a political cheerleader by this WH and is willing to twist the facts to promote Bush's policy. This occupation has got to end and Bush will never leave no matter how many soldiers die, or how many protest, or if the Iraq government fails completely, or if sectarian violence becomes massive, no matter what BUSH WILL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ UNLESS HE IS FORCED BY CONGRESS TO WITHDRAW...got it...never! Only 3 ways out 1)impeachment, 2) cut the funding, 3) republicans join democrats and get a veto proof majority to withdraw. 1) Pelosi has blocked 2) Reid has blocked 3) repubs want to help Bush push the war off on the next democrat president so they can blame them for all problems associated with ending Bush's mess and win back the WH in 2012.
Reid and Pelosi have the power to stop Iraq but refuse to do what is necessary to stop Bush. 2)Don't need 60 votes...only need 40 votes to cut the funding for anything but troop withdrawal; 1)Pelosi would get the votes she is shy for impeachment if she would just start the process; 3)too many repubilcans are only concerned about the 2012 elections and only care about the massive profits they have gotten for their buddies from this war and the only light they see is shining from 2012 and will never give the democrats a veto proof majority.
Just because Dems can't get the votes for withdrawal doesn't mean the republicans automatically get the funding. It should be seen that republicans in the senate cannot get enough votes to continue the funding. Dems have what Bush wants...not the other way around. Continued funding means getting more of our soldiers killed needlessly.

[HuffleClaw]

56. gotta love that good old fashioned feigned indignation or as i call it FREE PUBLICITY

they really wrong-footed this one. it only served to demonstrate just what a toady the general is.