Letters to the Editor
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re: Moveon.org ad
I must admit that reading the comments in various progressive sites, many people were put out by the wording of the ad. Was it the most effective way to phrase it?
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Richard Cohen, The Water Carrier
As might be expected, Richard Cohen carries water for the righwing with his column this morning attacking Sen. Clinton for her neglect to attack MoveOn.Org.
I have now reviewed Mr. Cohen's columns from August and September 2004, columns written while the "swift boating" of John Kerry was in full swing.
As you may recall, Bush refused to denounce these ads, despite calls from John McCain to do so. Did Mr. Cohen slam Bush for his refusal to denounce the ads? He did not.
Worse, while acknowledging that Bush had refused to repudiate the ads, Cohen declined to criticize bush and proceeded to attack KERRY for being a mealy mouth.
Mr. Cohen did not accuse bush of hackdom. He did not demand that bush repudiate the Swift Boat ads. He gave bush a pass. He slammed Sen. Clinton for refusing to repudiate an ad from an independent organization with no affiliation to her campaign, even though he refused to criticize Bush for his failure to denounce the slander from a Swift Boat campaign funded by longtime Bush supporters.
Worst of all, Cohen even attempted to give bush credit, arguing that "Bush virtually said the allegations were not true", an apparent reference to Bush's disingenuous statement that Kerry was "a hero."
I would ask Mr. Cohen why he did not similarly credit Sen. Clinton for "virtually" denouncing the MoveOn.Org ad when she began her questioning of Gen. Petraeus by lauding his serice to his country?
Cohen's disparate treatment of Bush and Sen. Clinton is striking. Under very similar circumstances, he slammed Sen. Clinton for her refusal to repudiate the MoveOn.Org ad, but declined to criticize Bush for refusing to repudiate the Swift Boat slander.
This is what we have come to expect from Cohen. His shameful warmongering in 2003 was bad enough. But his twice weekly hypocrisy on the editorial pages of the Washington Post is an ongoing scandal. It cheapens the Washington Post and debases our national dialogue.
Please, Mr. Cohen, take your hackery and just go home.
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It is curious...
...how little they managed to milk from this Petraeus guy. Similar events in the past - "mission accomplished", Saddam capture, purple fingers, etc. - used to give them a much stronger bounce. I suppose they are down to that group of people who can be fooled all the time.
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Betray Us works in a very sneaky way
The more the Rs talk about how bad it is, the more they say the words Betray Us in conjunction with Petraeus name.
Betray Us is more familiar to our ears. Said often enough, we hear Petraeus' name and we associate Betray Us.
By talking about it, the media reinforces the message even when they slam Move On for placing the ad.
Go ahead, ask a friend or colleague what the first thing that pops into their head when they hear the work Petraeus is...
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Troll Watch
Tibby or nabalnose, or one of those dead enders, predicted how the whole landscape would change after the illustrious general Patr told us how we have "turned a corner" (once again). I thought not and told them to please reply when the opinions of the general populace chimes in. We'll see if they (Tibby and Nabalnose) admit to having been full of excrement once again.
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Stop complaining
They compared a senator who lost three limbs in Vietnam to bin Laden, I really think they need to STFU about what was a fairly mild MoveOn advertisement that rightly illustrated that Petraues is a sell out to his own men in his blind "loyalty" or whatever it is, to Bush.
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Opponents or enemies
"Cohen's disparate treatment of Bush and Sen. Clinton is striking. Under very similar circumstances, he slammed Sen. Clinton for her refusal to repudiate the MoveOn.Org ad, but declined to criticize Bush for refusing to repudiate the Swift Boat slander." Thomas c
The Republican smear machine which is really a character assassination machine should not surprise us because of the long record it has exhibited. We now know what it really is, so let's not waste our time arguing the point they are making. Arguing a point whith someone who is ready to destroy you might not be the best strategy to safety. They are not unbalanced potential murderers, they are cold blooded calculating character assasins. A low grade civil war is being waged. No guns but many victims.
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@Els000
“Betray Us is more familiar to our ears. Said often enough, we hear Petraeus' name and we associate Betray Us.”
Excellent observation. If MoveOn planned this ad using a purposeful Madison Avenue technique to have this effect, then it was very shrewd and they deserve much credit, not criticism. And the more the Repugs and M$M keep it alive, the more it works.
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The American people know this administration by now...
and as such, knew that if Bush put Petraeus in charge, then he would spin for the administration. Nothing against Petraeus in his military role, but when he came to Congress, he was an administration spinner and everybody knew it. MoveOn just helped point it out.
As for the media darlings, I think they only check to see what Snotter and Nabrassiere spins before they go on TeeVee with their "Americans think" B.S. They are all "Baghdad Bob" now.
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what type of country am I living in?
I understand the need, sometimes, actually make that rarely, for politicians to sometimes defy the will of the people. But, I mean, this war is a disaster. Everyone knows it. The entire country hates it and hates Bush. Nobody trusts General Petraeus, nobody trusts anything Bush says, nobody wants to stay. So why are we there?
In a functioning republic shouldn't 65% of politicians (just about enough to override a veto...) be pushing with all their might to get us out of Iraq immediately? Why is it that the American people so hate this war, and are so right about it, while the political class in Washington continues to prance about, indifferent to the will of the people, marching forward with their cookie-cutter storylines? The question is, if most people believe what the MoveOn ad said (and they do), why aren't more politicians saying it?
It's loathsome. This is not the way a functioning political system works.