Move On represents the people of the United States of America, not the Democratic Party. Move On is an activist wing of the Blue Left, and if the Democrats can’t get their collective mind around that, then too bad for the Democrats. I can’t believe those spineless wimps in the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, rolled over for the little Fuhrer once again.
Cowards.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Betty Jo 09.25.07 at 9:48
The ad falls into the “What were they thinking?” catagory.
The White House has tried for years, to wrap their IRAQ policy in the flag
and then set it on the shoulders of our Generals. Petreas is but the most recent.
They know well who the real “Decider” is, they know well that the army’s only part
in this is to try to implement the policy of our Commander in Chief.
The policy is not the army’s fault.
And so, of course, MoveOn’s criticising the policy by attacking the troops is
not only misdirected but rude and stupid.
The creators of this ad fell right into the trap
baited by the Prez. Some adolescent thought their word play cute.
It wasn’t.
For Pete’s sake.
That ad reminds me of those equally stupid emails I get about “support the troops by
flying the flag”. Makes people feel like theyre doing something. Well they aren’t.
If they want to feel good about doing something to support the troops, how ’bout writing
congress demanding better services for our Vets? If MOVEON wanted to feel good about
doing something about stopping the war, then how ’bout keeping their focus on policy makers
not the poor guys and gals serving in Bagdad hell?
The ad was not OK. It was not clever,
it was not helpful and it made me mad.
Betty Jo
Frank Paynter 09.25.07 at 10:58
I see where you’re coming from, Betty Jo, but Petraeus has assumed that awkward position straddling political and war leader, neither fish nor fowl. If he had been honest and resigned, he would be above criticism. I’m not sure he had the option of respectful disagreement with his commander-in-chief, an option that would have permitted him to retain his honor and do his duty. But lacking that option, he could have resigned. He didn’t. “Only following orders” at that level puts him in the same camp as his civilian leadership and opens him to criticism. I agree that the word play was adolescent. But there is no longer any such thing as TOO PROVOCATIVE. These people must be brought down, and dozens of Senators, including Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl missed the opportunity to create a fine distinction between supporting the military in a time of war and permitting military leadership to propagate lies and to justify petro-imperialism.
And this is an aside but I offer it as at least tangentially related… Where do the mercenaries fall in the chain of command? Is Petraeus responsible for their tactical deployment? What do the Joint Chiefs have to say about regulating mercenaries? Or has that matter also been ignored by military leadership and put exclusively in the hands of the decider?
The generals are not above criticism, and criticizing them does not disrespect “the poor guys and gals serving in Bagdad hell.”
George Lakoff writes
General Petraeus appeared before congress to testify regarding “the surge.” MoveOn contends,
Petraeus lives at the top of the chain of command where political criticism meets Monday morning quarterbacking. We must hold him accountable when he misleads the public to support the Bush administration. I recommend clicking on the two links I’ve provided above to enter a more nuanced study of the situation with the MoveOn advertisement than I can provide on this blog.