Lying about the state of war is a terrible betrayal. Attacking truthtellers is betrayal as well

[madfloridian]

There has been a lot of denial here today. I used the word lying because we have been lied to for years. When a group points it out, they are condemned and ridiculed.

We can pretend there was nothing to that amendment the Democrats voted for and passed against a group that has done nothing but good for America. We can pretend it was ok for those who got hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from MoveOn to turn around and stab them in the back with that Yes vote.

We can pretend there was nothing at all wrong with the leader of the majority party allowing a vote like that to come to pass.

Or we can be honest. A deep and unpleasant underbelly of our Democratic party was again exposed to view today. It has happened before, and the denial is usually swift just like today. We can ignore it, or we can discuss it openly and come to terms with it. Perhaps we can even get some in the party to see it.

Here is the wording:

Cornyn Amdt. No. 2934; To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.

Now let's see how a Professor of Linguistics discusses that ad.

Whose Betrayal?

MoveOn's "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" ad has raised vital questions that need a thorough and open discussion. The ad worked brilliantly to reveal, via its framing, an essential but previously hidden truth: the Bush Administration and its active supporters have betrayed the trust of the troops and the American people.

MoveOn hit a nerve. In the face of truth, the right-wing has been forced to change the subject -- away from the administration's betrayal of trust and the escalating tragedy of the occupation to of all things, an ad! To take the focus off maiming and death and the breaking of our military, they talk about etiquette. The truth has reduced them to whining: MoveOn was impolite. Rather than face the truth, they use character assassination against an organization whose three million members stand for the highest patriotic principles of this country, the first of which is a commitment to truth.

Lakoff makes it clear this kind of betrayal is of a life and death seriousness. Because the president and his men betrayed us people keep dying.

Betrayal is a moral issue, and with respect to war, mass destruction, maiming, and death, it is a moral issue of the highest order. Betraying trust is a matter of deception that knowingly leads to significant harm. There is little doubt that the Iraq War and its aftermath have done considerable harm -- to our troops, to the Iraqi people, and to our nation as whole. It is equally clear that there has been a considerable amount of deception in the instigation of the war and throughout the occupation. In short, there has been, and continues to be, a considerable betrayal of trust. It goes well beyond the general and the fudging of his figures.

He points out The Politeness Trap that was used against the liberals by the right wing in their vicious attacks on MoveOn.

In a country that takes its freedoms seriously, freedom of speech must be maintained. Betrayal through deception is much worse than being impolite. Where tens of thousands of deaths and maimings are concerned, it is immoral not to point out betrayals when they are real. It is patriotic to root out betrayal on grand scale wherever it occurs.

The American people have been betrayed by the architects and apologists for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. By avoiding the politeness trap in a patriotic, direct, and factual way, MoveOn correctly framed the betrayal of trust for what it is.

There were various levels of betrayal, but the MoveOn ad was not one of them. MoveOn was betrayed by the several Democrats who voted yes, and specifically they were betrayed by those who took money from that group and then voted to shame them publicly.

Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Cardin (D-MD), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Conrad (D-ND), Dorgan (D-ND), Feinstein (D-CA), Johnson (D-SD), Klobuchar (D-MN), Kohl (D-WI), Landrieu (D-LA), Leahy (D-VT), Lincoln (D-AR), McCaskill (D-MO), Mikulski (D-MD), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR), Salazar (D-CO), Tester (D-MT), Webb (D-VA)

Our Democrats became afraid of the right wing, and they pandered. They turned on a group that has done nothing but good things for the party. They did it because they feared the wrath of the right wing still, and they could not summon the courage to stand up to them.

[cspanlovr]

1. I couldn't agree more. I just made a contribution to MoveOn. It felt so good!

[madfloridian]

2. I thought about how our Democrats use words of war so much now.

Words of peace and words of war. Lines blur between parties often now.

In it are mentioned not only the war words of today, but the more peaceful words from 1963.

I have . . . chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived-yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children-not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women, not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

Towards a Strategy of Peace, June 10, 1963

[noise]

3. This resolution was outrageous

What kind of sick party props up a 'leader' who is totally unfit for high office? Who are these Senators fooling with this vote? It's sick as hell for a pathetic rubberstamp GOP to act in such a blatantly dishonest manner. The Democratic Senators that voted for this OWE the soldiers a better showing. Buying into GOP propaganda is not acceptable.

From The War as We Saw It:

Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched.

(snip)

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal.

Until that happens, it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit. This suggestion is not meant to be defeatist, but rather to highlight our pursuit of incompatible policies to absurd ends without recognizing the incongruities.

LINK

[AtomicKitten]

4. I wish Democrats would stop buying into this manipulation by the GOP.

They should have told the GOP to piss off and in a legislative sleight of hand kind of way dispose of this crap resolution. They should have never even entertained it, much less voted on it.

[L0oniX]

5. Shut the FOX up!

Lying about the state of war is what FOX CBS NBC ABC and CNN are all about. Looks like they are steering the general population to wards their favorite politicians too. The big media is our enemy.

:rant:

[ralphmich3]

6. Petraeus Report - not independent, unbiased

He betrayed Congress and the American people... maybe we should start phone-calling and protesting these wayward Senators...

[madfloridian]

19. I have been doing some of it. Getting nowhere.

They only care about the Republican votes.

[McCamy Taylor]

7. MoveOn.org couldn't BUY publicity like this. Congress is full of chicken sh*ts.

As I post in my journal today, this ought to make John Edwards the clear Democratic nominee, because he is the only front runner who is not associated with this pathetic loser, do nothing Senate.

It doesn't matter if Hillary and Obama didn't vote for it. Where was the leadership? Where was the oratory? Why didn't they stand up for freedom of expression on national TV for all of us to see? Why haven't they taken charge of Congress? They are going to have to take charge of the country if they are president.

[madfloridian]

8. Reid fell way down on the job.

Sad to say. His office seemed to think it was sufficient that he voted no. I said that was not what I asked...I asked why it was allowed on the floor.

I felt like I was talking to the wall.

[Raster]

9. If you can't attack the message, by all means attack the delivery.

Notice you don't see the White House nor their shreiking heads address MoveOn's add point-by-point. THEY CAN'T! They have to attack the delivery.

[catlbob]

10. Are the dastardly 22 betrayers, too

The keep bleating about how they have to placate the "moderates." What the hell is moderate about a posisiton that is at oods with 70% of the populace?

[ralphmich3]

22. Dem Betrayers; Sens. Dodd, Pryor, Nelson

All three of these Senators voted against the Levin-Reed amendment today - the amendment was not passes because the vote was tied 47-47. Had any one of the Dems voted for the amendment it would have been attached to the Defense appropriation bill and Bush would have a very difficult time vetoing a defense appropriation bill.

BTW: There are two Dem. Senators with the last name Nelson and I don't know which Nelson voted which way...

[madfloridian]

11. This statement by Wes Clark in an interview today bothered me some.

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1467

"Wes Clark: Well, I think for Chuck Hagel, who's a sitting Senator who wants to criticize a General, that's fine. That's his right to do so. As far as Admiral Fallon was concerned, if he's got a personal quarrel with Petraeus, you know, that's between the two of them. Petraeus works for him, obviously he feels cut out and to some extent I've known situations like that, but, um, as for Moveon.org, it was a mistake.

Matt Stoller: But why can a sitting Senator criticize a General and millions of grassroots activists not do that? That's really what Moveon is, it's not like it's an entity.

Wes Clark: Moveon's an organization, and when it does that it distracts from the dialogue that the Senator's trying to have. Frankly, I think the better course of action is to bring out all the statistics and challenge Petraeus directly to explain how he can say that in the face of all these statistics. Did we do that? Did Moveon do that? Did they lay out the statistics and say 'Petraeus says this, here's the other fact he doesn't tell you, General Petraeus come back to us and explain to us.

Matt Stoller: Absolutely they did that. That's what the ad was, was there anything in the ad that was factually inaccurate?

,,,,"Matt Stoller: So how do the millions of people who feel lied to by General Petraeus express themselves? What's the appropriate way to express themselves?

Wes Clark: Send emails, write editorials, call Senators, write Op-Eds, letters to the editors, but make them substantive, serious letters. If you feel like he has lied to you say so, but don't make the pun on his name".

I disagree. We have had 6 years for Democrats to stand up to the lies. They haven't. Today they furthered them by attacking the group that told the truth.

I disagree. On Edit...it seems to say that the "people" should be cautious in criticizing military. Most of us have had such letters sent and even printed for years. It did no good. The Move On ad got the attention that was needed to further discussion.

[Totally Committed]

15. I disagree with Wes on this.

With all due respect to him, that statement bothers me, too.

TC

[madfloridian]

16. Thanks, just saw your Borosage post...heading that way.

I like his work.

[Tom Rinaldo]

18. Clark's core message on this regarded political effectiveness

He called the use of the "betrayed us" distracting, which obscured the substantitive content of that ad giving Republicans a chance to close ranks and go on the offensive. All of us can and should think it through and reach our own conclusions on whether or not Clark is correct in that appraisal. There is room for honest debate on that, and Clark was asked his opinion on that debate in that interview and he gave it when asked. I don't think it fair to fualt him for having his opinion on the issue of effectiveness. A lot of people are (and should be) mulling that over. In Clark's mind Move On made "a mistake". Others think that ad was the best thing since sliced bread. Opinions will differ.

The key aspect of caution that Clark urges when being critical of the military is not to allow the civilian leadership to shift the glare of the spot light off of them, when it is civilian leadership that is driving the options the military is being ordered to implement. I note and appreciate MF, that you did claim that Clark says the military should not come in for criticism. He supported challenging the conclusions that Patraeus reached in his testimony with facts. But the core political message Clark is stressing here, since we are debating how to be politically effective afterall since that is the bottom line motivation of Move On, is that we need to keep the primary blame for the disasterous war in Iraq on the civilian chain of command where it belongs. This is George Bush's war, not General Petraeus' war. Bush sets the policy, not Petraeus, AND Bush is the guy American's now love to hate, not Patraeus.

Bush WANTS the focus put on Petraeus, not himself. It serves his purpose. Clark knows that. That is why he continually has accused George Bush of trying to hide behind Generals, of not taking responsibility for setting the policies that the Armed Forces are ordered to implement, for not providing the diplomatic support to the military in the region that would lesson the hostilities that they are tasked to confront, not fuel them as is currently the case. Clark is furious at Bush for not owning up to the fact that this is his war, that Bush keeps shopping for Generals with skill sets that compliment the policies Bush has already determined he will push, and then stepping back and saying I am only following the advice of my Generals. The Bush Administration is extremely unpopular now with the public, our military is not. Politically if Bush is able to shift the political framing so that it appears as if Democrats are battling military brass rather than him, it breathes new life into his policies because the public is more likely to support a General in the field than this Commander in Chief. Clark thinks it is a political mistake if Demorats play right into Bush's hand on this, and for that reason he called that aspect of the Move On Ad, not the factual case that it made, a mistake.

[madfloridian]

12. Looks like McCaskill's really catching heck for her vote.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/washington/story/3D6179C9FC7146318625735D000760E3?OpenDocument

"MOVEON.ORG CONDEMNED

"But when the Missouri Democrat, as one of her first steps after taking office, signed onto a non-binding resolution written by Warner expressing opposition to the president's surge plan, MoveOn.org activists flooded the Senate Democrats' campaign arm with outraged calls and e-mails, saying it was a too-weak approach. She probably further alienated the group when she voted Thursday to condemn its ad calling General Petraeus "General Betray Us," a move McCaskill had called "stupid."

A lot of activists donated to her through various groups.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. She has been a huge disappointment

Our DFA group went above and beyond to get her elected. She now doesn't take our phone calls. Several area Iraq vets made commercials for her. One was absolutely crucified by the right wing on local blogs. He is no longer welcome in her office.

And her voting record absolutely sucks.

[madfloridian]

14. I thought she would be more independent and courageous in her votes.

Instead she seems to follow along. We donated to her, but I think we have learned lessons well now.

We will be highly skeptical from now on.

[madfloridian]

17. Interesting. MoveOn made a lot of money off Lieberman

Liberal Group Encourages Lieberman To Keep Raising Money — for the Other Side

"Is he a Democrat — he does chair a committee — or an independent, as he’s referred to in the Senate? Or is he — as the liberal group Moveon.org suggested Wednesday — a pro-war senator intent on helping pro-war Republicans get re-elected.

Moveon.org jumped on Lieberman for helping Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, raise money for her 2008 re-election campaign.

.."But liberal groups also see Lieberman as a liability, not a help to GOP candidates. Moveon.org says it was able to raise a whopping $355,000 during a 24-hour e-mail fundraising campaign for anti-war House members Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Patrick J. Murphy, D-Pa. Allen plans to challenge Collins for her Senate seat

“We encourage Sen. Lieberman to do fundraisers for other Republican senators who support the Iraq War,” said Moveon.org Executive Director Eli Pariser."

[Time for change]

20. It is very sad indeed

Anyhow, MoveOn's criticism of Petraeus wasn't a "personal attack" at all. Rather, it was an attack specifically on what he did.

Come to think of it, in that sense one could argue that the Senate's resolution has nothing to do with MoveOn.

"honor and integrity" indeed!!

[donkeyotay]

21. Thank you for this. I am still half incoherent with anger.

Sometimes the tipping points are seemingly small things. Somehow the dems caving on this has just flooded me with all the battles we've been fighting, trying to stop the war, end the war, bring fairness to the way we spend our money...Somehow, someway, I feel like I've hit the damned - oh, GOD damn wall. "Disgusting" the president said. Oh yeah, I'm disgusted all right. I am disgusted that he has not been held accountable.

"I used the word lying because we have been lied to for years. When a group points it out, they are condemned and ridiculed."

"There were various levels of betrayal, but the MoveOn ad was not one of them. MoveOn was betrayed by the several Democrats who voted yes, and specifically they were betrayed by those who took money from that group and then voted to shame them publicly."

To echo your words, I am tired of being condemned, shamed, and ridiculed for trying to do what's right for our country, trying to prevent a war, stop a war...Thank you for expressing some of what I am feeling. I called my Senator, who did not vote for this, and tried to express this to him. I don't think I did as good as job as you have, but I told him I am re-registering Independent.

[madfloridian]

23. I don't do well on phone calls, like yesterday.

I must have started calling before the offices knew what was going on...they sounded so clueless. I had to explain so much, and I found myself getting angrier.

I told one they had betrayed us so reprimand me.