On the contrary, their ads are getting noticed, and as I have been reading from various critics and pundits, the very fact that their Petraeus ad has been at the receiving end of such furious ire from the right shows that they are hitting a nerve right where they should be. That the response is a measure of their success is an observation that I absolutely agree with.

Please remember that we replicate and confirm the arguments of the right when we say that such messages as those of MoveOn are unseemly.

The right has been very successful at controlling and framing the discourse for many years, and we have to make ourselves aware when we unthinkingly enter into their traps.

And remember that a large majority of Americans polled have said that they believe that Petraeus would just give us the administration line when he presented his report. Only a minority believe he is telling the truth.

They are having a similar conversation about MoveOn's ad in the This Modern World letters section, where many are saying that the ad was offensive and went against the public mood, and someone even referred to MoveOn's politics as "unserious" (!). I mean, come on.

As I posted, these people are falling straight into the trap that was set for them:

MoveOn did NOT fuck it up. On the contrary, their ads are getting noticed, and as I have been reading from various critics and pundits, the very fact that their Petraeus ad has been at the receiving end of such furious ire from the right shows that they are hitting a nerve right where they should be. That the response is a measure of their success is an observation that I absolutely agree with.

Please remember that we replicate and confirm the arguments of the right when we say that such messages as those of MoveOn are unseemly.

The right has been very successful at controlling and framing the discourse for many years, and we have to make ourselves aware when we unthinkingly enter into their traps.

And remember that a large majority of Americans polled have said that they believe that Petraeus would just give us the administration line when he presented his report. Only a minority believe he is telling the truth.

....I just looked at Glenn's updates and it seems to me that these pundits' comments just reek of desperation. They know that their onslaught against MoveOn and anyone anti-war has not moved public opinion one bit. So what do they do? They scream louder. What was that I heard about the definition of insanity?...

THE Biggus Dickus? The same Biggus Dickus that is married to Incontinentia Buttocks?

I know that man.

It is long, long past the point where holding my nose when voting for these capitulating, cringing, opportunistic bastards is enough.

If I were to vote for a Democrat in 2008, I'd have to wear a frikkin Hazmat suit covered by full body armor just to keep the toxic stench away.

But, of course, I am not voting for any one of these bastards. Thanks for the idea, Obama. I am going to abstain from voting. For Democrats.

And by the way, thanks for the fascist state.

I laugh some more.

The needed remedy for Congress’ shameful actions last week is to rescind the resolutions they already passed. --Zack

Zack - on a scale of 1 - 100, with 1 being "absolutely impossible" and 100 being "certain," what do you think the liklihood is that this will happen? --Glenn

I agree with Glenn that this will never happen. Indeed, I don't see the Dems changing anything at all if they gain the presidency, not habeas corpus, not the spying program--nothing. Not without a fight from us. They will always have some excuse.

Did anyone see Rahm Emanuel on Bill Maher last night? The guy was desperate to avoid any conversation about the many ways that his party has betrayed the Democratic base. You could almost see him sweating. He kept trying to steer the discussion toward critiques of the Bush administration. But then he was asked about getting out of Iraq, and guess what he said? No one here will be surprised that he repeated the rightwing talking points about "supporting" the troops by spending money on better armor and equipment, etc. Well, the audience exploded at that. People were screaming at him from their seats. My peeps! It did my heart good to hear it.

But Emanuel's behavior and the audience's response to him made me think back to Bush's inauguration, when Bush, in his armored car, had the driver and Secret Service agents around the car speed up to get past the group of protesters in the crowd as fast as they could. That moment seemed emblematic of Bush's contempt for the democratic process and the voice of the people. And I think Dems like Emanuel may very well follow Bush's lead in avoiding any engagement with the public, seeing that their policies and actions are not supported by the majority.

For Emanuel and Dems of his ilk, Bush has given them a convenient cover, in fact. Criticizing Bush has allowed them to avoid any substantive discussion of their actions (or inaction). But that tactic is not working so well any more. How long before Dems start saying, as Bush has, that they don't care about the polls, that this is not a "popularity contest"? How long before the Dems start having press conferences with rehearsed questions from the press corps? How long before they adopt all of the directives of the Rove playbook?

Well, if they go that far, I hope people keep shouting loudly at them as the Real Time audience did.