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.