MoveOn covers for Pelosi, moves Sierra Club rightward
Apparently no statement is too outrageous to make for the sycophants over at MoveOn when the topic is Democratic Party ‘leadership.’
After being dressed down by syndicated liberal columnist Norman Solomon for abandoning their anti-war base, and following recent polling that as many as 60% of Americans of all political backgrounds want out of Iraq, the Silicon Valley millionaires who run the site have decided to start mentioning Iraq again.
I really do have to quote this dispatch from MoveOn dated June 23:
‘Should we work together in a major campaign to get Democrats and Republicans in Congress on board with a responsible exit plan? Or should we focus on other issues, either in Iraq or here at home?"
Well, if that isn’t leadership I don’t know what is. After raising millions of dollars from anti-war Americans and organizing millions of people for a slate of candidates who wished to raise 40,000 additional troops for war last year (while doubling Special Forces), MoveOn is now wondering aloud whether or not to do anything about Iraq now that a majority of the public is finally on our side!
It gets ‘better,’ from the same dispatch:
“Polling shows that nearly 60% of Americans say they oppose the Iraq war—including half who say it was a mistake. At the same time, Republican critics of the war grow by the day. Democrats are beginning to speak out. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called Iraq a "grotesque mistake" and Senate Leader Harry Reid called Bush policy, "disconnected from the reality on the ground."
None of that has stopped Pelosi from directing the House Democrats to vote overwhelmingly (we’re talking a 20:1 ratio here) in favor of the Bush war budget, Bush Homeland Security budget, Bush special Iraq-specific war appropriations bill and Bush intelligence budget. Scroll down in this very blog for the gruesome details. This is "beginning to speak out?" Spare me.
Anti-choice zealot Senator Reid (D-NV) has also voted for these appropriations, and in fact the entire complement of Democratic Senators voted unanimously in favor of the FY 2006 Bush war budget with a rider that pushes this country to establish a national ID card for its own citizens. The painful details surrounding that are also available in this blog, below.
Even more damning, Pelosi just voted against a milquetoast Iraq resolution request which the House defeated 128-300. She countered with an even weaker fence-sitting proposal of her own, which I’ll allow her own press release to describe:
"“Specifically, my amendment would require that the President, within 30 days of the enactment of the defense appropriations bill, submit to Congress a report identifying the criteria that will be used to determine when it is appropriate to begin to bring our troops home from Iraq. It does not require the troops to be brought home by a particular date; it requires only that the means for judging when they can be brought home be shared with the Congress." (emphasis mine)
Keep in mind that this woman is supposed to be providing leadership in an opposition party. She can’t bring herself to do that even after the public opinion tide has already turned.
The primary "speaking out" Pelosi has done lately regarding the Middle East has been to join in threatening Iran-with-a-terminal-N, that problematic larger Muslim country east of Iraq, on behalf of Israel, which she did before the powerful foreign lobby AIPAC. Some might question the parlaimentarian leader of a major political party giving a lauditory speech to a group currently facing espionage charges against her own country, but not Pelosi. Some of her charming prose:
"There are those who contend that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. This is absolute nonsense. In truth, the history of the conflict is not over occupation, and never has been: it is over the fundamental right of Israel to exist."
Holy cow. That would sure be news to Israeli peace groups who insist that the occupation is the issue. It gets better; we need a scapegoat:
"The greatest threat to Israel’s right to exist, with the prospect of devastating violence, now comes from Iran. For too long, leaders of both political parties in the United States have not done nearly enough to confront the Russians and the Chinese, who have supplied Iran as it has plowed ahead with its nuclear and missile technology."
Iran poses no such threat to Israel,not that this should be, in any event, the driving force behind US foreign policy. It is, in fact, Israel which has the capability of incinerating all of Iran’s population centers with nuclear weapons. In fact a charming Israeli hawk saying noting this runs "The Arabs have the oil, but we have the match!" Hardy-har. (For the record, Iranians aren’t even Arabs.) Considering this and the fact that the U.S., with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has already overthrown an elected Iranian government, one can hardly react with surprise that Iran wants a toy of their own.
Pelosi reaffirms her allegiance to a foreign power:
"America’s commitment to the safety and security of the State of Israel is unwavering. America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship."
This wasn’t quite enough:
"In the words of Isaiah, we will make ourselves to Israel ‘as hiding places from the winds and shelters from the tempests; as rivers of water in dry places; as shadows of a great rock in a weary land.’ The United States will stand with Israel now and forever. Now and forever."
Lower curtain, cue applause.
Pelosi shared the stage with evil neo-con Richard Perle and the disgusting carpetbagging Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-IL/AR/DC/NY): read on if you dare.
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Also of interest is this item, posted on Answers.com, on the relationship between MoveOn and Groundswell Sierra:
MoveOn has also thrown its unquestioning support to a group called "Groundswell Sierra," which advocates that the Sierra Club moderate its positions to appeal to the center-right, opposes board candidates with the most progressive positions such as Ed Dobson and Karyn Strickler (2004) and Jim Bensman (2005), and endorses conservative candidates for the Sierra Club board, including an elected Republican official from North Carolina. This would seem to contradict Wes Boyd’s own statements.
