Talk Back to the Corrupt DC Establishment

by: Matt Stoller

Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 19:22

We're launching our first action campaign on OpenLeft, called Stop the DC Establishment at http://stopthedcestablishment.com.  Please sign the petition.  While it's fun to think that Iraq is Bush's war, the reality is that The war is enabled by Democrats, Republicans, DC press, think tank experts, and a whole slew of lobbyists which together comprise a noxious DC establishment.  They puff up figurines like Petraeus, they shovel billions into the sand and into the hands of dishonest military contractors, and they live in comfortable sinecures at places like Brookings.

As Jane puts it.

It's time for the media to cease treating his statements with open-mouthed credulity, and for politicians in both parties to stop being rolled by the elaborate PR campaign he is leading on behalf of the administration.  (Think Progress has a helpful graph which shows he spent 17 days in August flacking for the surge.)  The American public wants an end to the war in Iraq and it's time that our elected officials realize that a vote for any funding bill that does not include binding timelines will only continue to bog us down in a deadly, ill-conceived endeavor which only a fool (or a knave) could think it possible to "win."

Please sign the petition to be delivered to the Democratic leadership, which says that we do not want the dissembling and statistical manipulation being put forward by Petraeus, Crocker and others to serve as an excuse for prolonging the war.  It's time that they do their job and stand with the majority of the country to oppose this unpopular president and his fiasco of a war.

Thanks to David Olsen of the Backtalk videoblog series for editing the video.

UPDATE: And here's some crap from John Kerry and of course, the anonymous Democratic member of leadership.

Asked early Monday if this was the right message for his party to send, a member of the Democratic leadership, speaking on background, curtly answered, "No."

Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, called the ad "over the top."

"I don't like any kind of characterizations in our politics that call into question any active duty, distinguished general who I think under any circumstances serves with the best interests of our country," said Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate and a decorated veteran.