Bravo to MoveOn 
I got to watch much of the testimony of General Petraueus in Congress early this week.
The Republicans kept showing off a MoveOn.org ad in the NY Times that asked if General Petraeus was really General Betray Us. It worked. Now every time I hear his name I hear the MoveOn slogan.
Betray Us Betray Us Betray Us.
Goodbye Bush.
I think the next MoveOn ad should be a straight FAQ on Iraq.
Q: Is it making American safer?
A: No.
Q: Could the money we’re spending in Iraq be put to better use?
A. Yes, of course. To say nothing of the American and Iraqi lives that are being wasted.
Q: Did the President commit impeachable offenses in selling the war in Iraq?
A: Yes, of course.
Q: Will we win or lose in Iraq?
A: No. We are occupying Iraq. There’s no enemy that we’re trying to depose. There’s no victory possible, as there is no losing possible.
Key point: Nothing any of us could say would get Bush to say “Oh geez, you’re right, we really fucked up. Let’s fix this as soon as possible.” So stop arguing with him as if this could possibly happen.
Just focus on what we believe.
Scripting News Annex 
Posted by Jake on September 12, 2007 at 4:06 pm
George Bush will be leaving office in 2009. Are you expecting something sooner? From what? Grade school attack ads.
If the Congress or the Senate or the Democrats or the slate of candidates running for their party’s nomination for president wanted to stand up and force and end to the war, then why do they continue to fund the war. What has prevented Congress from not passing the special war funding appropriations?
Posted by Jim Forbes on September 12, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Be Tray US?
Get back to me when you’ve had to bag a fellow soldier that you shared your life with under horrid conditions. Or, after you’ve written their next of kin assuring them even at the time of their loved one’s death, they were among friends, who took the time and care to make sure that the brother, husband or father was escorted reverently by his brothers in arms to a medical collection point. After you’ve had that life experience, get back to me. OK Sport?
Comments like the one you made about General Petraeus disgust me no end, Dave.
Oh, I am a lifelong Democrat and unlike most Dems in my age bracket who lived and worked in Silicon Valley, I served the Constitution of the United States, led brothers in arms in combat, and made sure that in death, those men were remembered to their families. I also shed blood in combat at a place called Khe Sanh.
David, I do focus on what I believe and foremost among those things is respectful behavior where its appropriate. I spent a career covering people with whom I had little in common, including political beliefs. But at all times, I made sure I treated them respectfully and honestly.
I felt th MoveOn ad was devisive and disrespectful.
Best wishes,
James M. Forbes
Posted by Dan on September 12, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Wow. Amazing that you conflate Dave’s statement — which bears on how the war supporters in the Republican Party have become the bearers of the “Betray Us” message — with disrespect for those serving us in the military or the hardships they suffer.
You know, given the experience you’ve related, I’d think you’d want to make damned sure it was absolutely necessary — no ifs, no ands, no buts, and no weasel words — to subject soldiers to similar sacrifices. And that’s the problem in a nutshell: The troops and many others were thrown into harm’s way when it was manifestly unnecessary.
Posted by thegoreyears on September 13, 2007 at 6:15 am
Yes, but focusing on Patreus is a simple minded approach. It’s not Patreus’s fault we’re out there. He’s just trying to do his job, and, like any sane military commander, wants as many troops as he can get his hands on to do it.
The person who should be getting grilled in front of Congress is Bush. And Jake, it’s not so easy to just cut off funds for the war. You do that, and the troops find themselves with no water in their canteen. Congress blew it early when they approved the war in the first place. They like to blame it on Bush’s deception, and I agree that he deceived, possibly to the point of high crimes, but their own stupidity is what led both parties to approve this war.
Posted by lemon obrien on September 13, 2007 at 9:11 am
its all bullshit.
Posted by Jake on September 13, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Al:
I understand that it is not so easy to just cut off funds – but Congress has not even tried. They have not even forced the issue. Sure, they pad the appropriations with little re-election gifts for back home, but is that all it takes to throw all conscience out the window?
Congress cuts USDA funding. USDA cuts school lunch (or breakfast or dinner) programs. Programs roll back. Someday our military will come home – they would know how to come home if the war funding dried up.