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September 13, 2007
Move On Ad... Who Cares?
We read with some amusement yesterday this piece over at Politico, detailing the "uniting" effect on Republicans of Move On-dot-org's latest controversial ad, which suggests General David Petraeus may have betrayed the American public by "cooking the books" on the status of the Iraq War for the Bush administration. Our good friends over at Professors R-Squared had also chimed in on the subject earlier in the week.
Um... are we missing something? OK, we agree the ad was in poor taste. While we think General Petraeus' report is being misused to validate a failed policy in Iraq, we also know he's a highly respected career officer who is ultimately following orders. But the ad wasn't purchased by a presidential candidate, a member of Congress, or the Democratic Party. It was created by Move On, an outside organization that frankly has been lambasting Democrats for months now for not doing enough to get out of Iraq. No Democratic elected officials that we've seen have embraced the ad, in fact most have distanced themselves from it. This is just a group with money expressing itself, however undiplomatically.
And sorry my conservative friends, but contrary to all the hype, the whole Petraeus affair has caused nary a blip in polling about the Iraq War. The fact is, the American public has made up its mind about President Bush and the war, and has essentially stopped paying attention. Larry Craig and Brittany Spears' MTV Awards train wreck are apparently far more captivating stories for average Americans. Hey, we wish folks would stay attuned on this vitally important issue (the war, not Brittany), but what can you do?
So, we're guessing most folks don't even know what Move On is, much less that an offensive ad was created. We realize that the GOP would welcome a distraction, any distraction, from the disastrous press it has endured in recent months, but this ain't it.
Posted by houtopia at September 13, 2007 10:03 PM
Comments
Since when is the military exempt from the First Amendment? And following orders as an excuse or even an explanation should have gone out with Vietnam if not Nazis.
If he is pulling a Westmoreland he is wrong no matter if he is a career soldier. Wrong is wrong.
The buck doesn't stop with him, it stops with Bush and he shouldn't hide behind a soldier. He is the commander in chief, so it is his fault, his lie, his mistake.
Posted by: jaye at September 16, 2007 12:32 AM