Leaders of the anti-war movement are also accepting that their best hope is a symbolic vote.
"We're advocating putting as many of the provisions in the first round" of the legislation, said John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World, which is part of a larger anti-war coalition led by MoveOn.org. "We recognize that ultimately the wars are going to be funded, ... that some type of supplemental will be passed."
That sort of reality check - from some of the most aggressive anti-war voices - allows Pelosi the freedom to go through the process of trying to extract other promises on domestic spending and economic stimulus, whether it's an extension of the unemployment benefits, infrastructure spending or an extension of clean energy tax incentives that are set to expire.
Note that Kady quoted only one source, John Isaacs, and imputed his quote to Moveon and all antiwar groups. Kady explicitly says, lies in fact, that 'some of the most aggressive anti-war voices' have conceded that the bill will pass without comment. Kady was too lazy to get a quote from multiple sources, but he uses the plural form to imply that he did. And he didn't use a quote from Moveon, instead he took a statement from someone else and just imputed it to them. I have an inquiry in to Moveon to see if Kady spoke to them and will update you on the status when I hear back.
While Kady did get a quote from Isaacs, Isaacs himself pointed out that the Politico took him out of context.
Regarding my "quote" in the article that I circulated this morning, please note that the following sentence is the reporter's, and not mine: "Leaders of the anti-war movement are also accepting that their best hope is a symbolic vote."
That is not my view. And it is not what I am advocating. In fact, I hope to include anti-war provisions both in the first version of the Supplemental bill and any bill that survives a presidential veto.
What's going on here is the insidious perpetuation of conventional wisdom that antiwar groups have given up, which leads to more disempowerment of people against the war. I asked Tom Swan, an antiwar organizer, for comment.
Today's Politico article is another example of the corporate media writing articles to fit there pre-determined narrative. They refuse to report how bad things are in Iraq, continue to use Pentagon sock puppets to push the administrations talking points, and ignore the fact that public sentiment is so strong against this war. The member organizations of the Iraq 2008 are committed to ending this war and to preventing another one in Iran. We oppose giving George Bush a blank check for his costly war and are looking forward to working with allies in the blogosphere to prove the corporate media's narrative wrong once again.
There's no question that war funding will happen. There is however a real question on what concessions the President is going to make (or not make) for that money. During the FISA fight, the Politico repeatedly assured us that immunity would go through, leading to a profound sense of disempowerment. It was only because most of us didn't care that we might lose and were intent on proving that Democrats would capitulate on everything that we ironically were able to ignore conventional wisdom.
The same pernicious pattern is here on the supplemental. Some Republican reporter named Martin Kady II regurgitates the conventional wisdom on war funding, backs it to the hilt with no evidence, and discredits the antiwar groups that are actually working to end the war.
It's unlikely we'll get a policy change in Iraq until 2009, but Bush has been constrained in myriad ways by Democrats in Congress. He has not yet attacked Iran, which is significant. He has been unable to sign a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government, and cannot yet saddle his successor with a permanent occupation. These are not wonderful victories, and it has been like pulling teeth. But it's important to understand that we are not just fighting against a gutless Congress and a lunatic President, but against lies from people like Kady and the Politico. |
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