Quick recap for anybody that hasn't seen the dust up MoveOn caused with an ad attacking General Petraeus, an ad that some Democrats have mildly spoken out against but the majority of Democratic politicians have silently stood by, some hoping that by ignoring the whole issue it would go away, and some, like Hillary Clinton, going as far to pander to MoveOn by reiterating their slanderous accusations.
Republicans immediately stood up and spoke out and John Boehner even proposed a resolution to condemn the baseless accusations which the Democratic politicians blocked from coming to a vote, further pandering to MoveOn.
Caught up? Good.
Enter Rudy Giuliani.
As I said, I have not decided who I will personally endorse yet, but Rudy Giuliani definitely stood up to be counted and went on the offensive against MoveOn and Hillary Clinton and defended General Petraeus against their unfounded attack against the General, a man that was voted unanimously, 81-0, into the position of of commanding our troops in Iraq, with a full page ad of his own in the New York Times.
Take a look at the role call on that vote, Hillary Clinton was one of those that voted unanimously for General Petraeus.
He then followed that up with a video on his website that pounded the point home.
"Just when our troops need all our support to finish the job, Hillary Clinton is turning her back on them," the ad's narrator intones. "General Petraeus and the brave men and women now serving under him deserve an apology. And our nation deserves better."
His online donations instantly started coming in and support for him rose immediately.
Despite attempts from the left side of the blogosphere, and the Democratic politicians to make this issue go away, it is still being reported on, blogged on and talked about in a variety of mediums and will no doubt haunt the Democratic presidential candidates well into the 2008, for no other reason than they did not step up to the plate and denounce MoveOn for going to far and crossing a line.
As we showed yesterday, active military and veterans alike as well as their families and supporters are understandably upset and angered over MoveOn's attack ad as well as the Democrats that did not condemn them for it, especially Hillary Clinton.
One such Iraq veteran publicly took Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer to the woodshed. In that same piece we showed you the American Legion, which is the largest organization of veterans that exists today and has since 1919 also stepping up and speaking out against MoveOn.
One retired Air Force Colonel is looking for legal help to sue MoveOn for libel on behalf of General Petraeus.
This is not going away and it is a noose around the neck of every Democratic politician that did not stand up and condemn MoveOn's ad against General Petraeus, as it should be.
A piece in The Swamp points out how Clinton is trying to doubletalk her way out of condemning MoveOn, without success.
McCain, too, has repeatedly called on Clinton to renounce the anti-war group's rhetoric.It isn't like Hillary doesn't have other problems dogging her already, Norman Hsu being one in a long list, and as she tries her hardest to distract everyone from this MoveOn issue and her standing with them, the rest of us, will not forget and we will not let anyone else forget her words against General Petraeus, the man she voted for to go into Iraq and command and the man she has now betrayed with her words.
But as Clinton received the endorsement today of Gen. Wesley Clark, the retired four star general who opposes the Iraq war, she twice refused to do so.
"I made clear my great respect for Gen. Petraeus and his service to our country,'' Clinton said, referring to her remarks at the Senate Armed Services hearing last week.
Clinton said the disagreement she has with her Republican opponents and with President Bush is over how to end the war and how to address the failures of the administration and work towards a political solution.
When asked a second time if she thought the ad went too far, Clinton again said that she has repeatedly expressed her admiration for Petraeus and for the troops.
"I think that speaks for itself,'' Clinton said.
Still, her refusal to explicitly say the ad was unfair has provided great fodder for candidates on the Republican side of the presidential race.
In Florence, S.C., McCain said he couldn't understand Clinton's position.
"I don’t know how you can say you admire Gen. Petraeus and you won't condemn an advertisement that accuses him of betraying the United States of America,'' he said. "That just is nonsense. I hope she'll reconsider and condemn that ad. I've seen her in the presence of Gen. Petraeus and she respects him and admires him. I hope she'll change her position."
MoveOn managed to refocus the American people and forced them to either agree with them, or rally behind General Petraeus, a man who has devoted his life to our country and polls that have been taken since the MoveOn ad hit the paper has shown the public trusts General Petraeus and our military by 68% and even the presidents number rose within days of that ad coming out in the NYT.
MoveOn, it seems, is the gift that keeps giving....to the GOP.
Amazing for a group that has donated, contributed and supported the Democrats for so long.
The problem that the Democratic politicians have now is that it is too late to condemn MoveOn, even if they wanted to, and despite the fact that MoveOn has damaged them and that they would prefer MoveOn to keep giving them money but quit acting out like a spoiled child and making them look bad, MoveOn will not stand down, will not stop acting out because, as they stated so bluntly, they bought and own the Democratic party.
Decemeber 2004:
In a December 9th e-mail signed by “Eli Pariser, Justin Ruben, and the whole MoveOn PAC team,” the Soros front group stated: “In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn't need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it's our Party: we bought it, we own it, and we're going to take it back.”
Yes, MoveOn.org, the gift that keeps on giving....to the GOP.
[Update] More from the Nashua Telegraph.
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