Move On To A Safe Place
| Tue Apr. 3, 2007 5:10 PM PDT
I have never been a big fan of MoveOn.org because I was quite opposed to the concept of moving on after the tainted 2000 election took place. It seemed to me that glossing over that incident and moving on was not what was needed. Now MoveOn has confirmed my worst suspicions by its recent decision to omit Rep. Barbara Lee's Iraq war amendment from its members' push poll.
In opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan, Rep. Lee wanted to offer an amendment that would have funded withdrawal of troops, but she was not permitted to. But Lee has a lot of support, including: United for Peace and Justice, Progressive Democrats of America, U.S. Labor Against the War, After Downing Street, Democrats.com, Peace Action, Code Pink, Democracy Rising, True Majority, Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Backbone Campaign, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Voters for Peace, Veterans for Peace, the Green Party, True Majority, and many individuals.
MoveOn polled its members by giving them a choice of the Pelosi plan or nothing at all--no mention of Lee's plan. Eli Pariser of MoveOn says that the would-be Lee amendment was omitted from the poll because he knew a majority of MoveOn members would vote for it, and the amendment did not stand a chance in Congress.
Says David Swanson (AfterDowningStreet.org) of the poll: "It served to give cover to progressive Democrats in Congress who gave their support to Pelosi after having intended to vote no on Pelosi's bill unless it included Lee's amendment." Perhaps "progressive" is the wrong word.
Thanks to Avedon Carol at The Sideshow.
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Comments
Submitted by Dimmy Karras (not verified) on Tue Apr. 3, 2007 7:18 PM PDT.
MoveOn is so named because it grew out of a movement that was telling Congress to "move on" from the Clinton impeachment, not one that was suggesting we move on from the 2000 election.
Submitted by Diane (not verified) on Tue Apr. 3, 2007 7:21 PM PDT.
Right you are, DK; I had forgotten that and had assumed otherwise, since so many identified MoveOn with the 2000 election. However, on a personal level, and despite my lack of enthusiasm for BC, it doesn't change the way I feel: I didn't want to move on from THAT, either.
I've been involved sporadically with MoveOn in the past because I think the whole concept is right on the money. But I have been extremely frustrated with their "tow the party line no matter what" attitude on various occasions and have, as a result, pretty much "moved on" from dealing with them much.
I think this probably shows the maturation of MoveOn as more of a wing of the Democratic party than as a progressive organization. Bending to political reality is not something they would have done in the past. Is this good or bad?
Probably good -- a torch passing has taken place amongst the pieces of the Democratic party. MoveOn is now more influential within the party than the DLC and that can only be a step in the right direction. But it also means that MoveOn is going to have to shift to a more politically realistic position on things, and in the process anger the left-wing. On the bright side, I imagine that MoveOn will anger me much less than the DLC, and though the Lee bill may be more preferable to me personally, the Pelosi bill was the one that could be passed, and has the backing of a strong majority. It's probably not the better policy, but it's the better politics.
MoveOn organized PROTESTS against the Bush coup in 2000--what are you talking about here?
Plus, your blog makes it sound like MoveOn didn't "permit" Lee to offer her amendment--which isn't true. Lee withdrew her own amendment because she knew it had no chance of passing.
MoveOn asked it's members their opinion on the only vote that was on the table. You're hatin' on them for no good reason.
Submitted by Diane (not verified) on Wed Apr. 4, 2007 5:07 PM PDT.
"MoveOn polled its members by giving them a choice of the Pelosi plan or nothing at all--no mention of Lee's plan."
I have no idea at all how the above can be extrapalated into MoveOn's interfering with Congress.
As for the other matter, it was taken care of several paragraphs ago.
Move On seems to mainly represent the fringe left- all the people that think they are "progressives" because they voted for Nader and drive a Hybrid and hate Bush. I think Democrats should be careful about associating with such groups if they wish to attract mainstream voters, not just the bums you see burning American Flags and secretly cheering for Al Qaeda.
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