Having Each Other's Backs

by: Mike Lux

Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 10:15


When I spoke at the Living Liberally conference in Des Moines, I talked about the importance of building the kind of movement where we had each other's backs. We're going to disagree a lot in terms of tactics and tone, in terms of specific ways forward on some policies, in terms of which candidates we like in primaries and how much to criticize Democrats, etc. But we have to stand together when the going gets tough and the right wing comes after us.

I know that not everyone in the progressive movement was totally comfortable with the MoveOn ad about Gen. Petraeus, but whatever you thought, the right wing is now coming for them with all their hounds baying. This censure resolution in the Senate is a load of crap, designed to intimidate and silence strong dissent on the war. Democrats should both stand tall with MoveOn, and start shoving all the hatefilled quotes from Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, O'Reilly, Dobson, Robertson, etc. down their throat. Dems should file a hundred such censure resolutions before this piece of crap ever comes to the floor.

Whatever the Dems do, though, this movement should stand strong with MoveOn, all of us defending their right to speak out and their position on the war to the hilt. To the barricades, friends, because if this bullshit goes down without an outcry from all of us, they'll come for us next.

Mike Lux :: Having Each Other's Backs

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Having Each Other's Backs | 6 comments
Heck, Censure Rupert Murdoch (0.00 / 0)
For censoring Sally Fields.

Insteading of censuring people for what they say, how about censuring people for silencing others?

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

Got Your Back, Mike (0.00 / 0)
Mike - couldn't agree more.  The Living Liberally folks gathered in Des Moines took the "we've got to get each other's back" message as one of the serious take-aways, and discussed it through dinner that night as a way of measuring candidates.

Clearly, here's a moment when our elected officials will offer that measurement of themselves.

There's a real danger that some of these electeds having stood by YearlyKos during the O'Reilly - Jet Blue mayhem will decide, "Well we backed them once, now we should back away once, to be fair."  Electeds should be smarter than that -- this isn't a game of creating faux balance.  You need to consistently get your friends' back or it doesn't count.  Who needs a half-time ally?

Moveon.org Was Right About Bush Betrayal Got Patraeus Wrong (0.00 / 0)
Moveon.org should have gone after Bush as the betrayor which is what he is, but they messed up on going after the general in the way they did it.  Going after the General was right, but implying he was a traitor was wrong.  Sorry, but that is how I feel and the democrats will end up paying for that for a long time.  It might come back to haunt the dems in the GE.  When we had the repugs on the ropes moveon.org messed it up. The dems had moral high ground when it came to Iraq and the soldiers, but now the dems are going to look anti military again which is not what the majority of dems are.  I want the US to get out of Iraq today, now, not tomorrow and no risidual troops to stay in there, but I don't believe in calling any soldier that is fighting in Iraq a traitor even if they are playing politics.  The general is a lap dog of Bush and would be fired on the spot for going against Bush.  I think that the general was at least honest when he said he did not know if the war have made the US safer or not.  Maybe the general will get some sense and backbone and do the right thing by requesting that we leave sooner than later.
It didn't call him a traitor. (0.00 / 0)
It asked whether he would betray our trust by lying for Bush. As it turned out, he himself said he was bound to do what his CIC ordered him to do. It's too bad you're buying into the wingnut distortions.
[ Parent ]
Yes. (0.00 / 0)
Absolutely crucial that our side not be intimidated by this bogus military-worship. The point is, the Republicans just voted to kill American soldiers by denying them time to rest and recover. Now they want to distract us from that murderous partisan expedient with nonsense about an ad. As Chris points out above, the ad is far less harsh than what Petraeus's superior officers, among others, have said about him.

We need to stand with MoveOn. Everybody. Even if you don't agree with everything they do. MoveOn and a very few others put the Senate into Dem hands. The wingnuts hate them for it. This is no time to waver because of another Rovian propaganda ploy. Call your senators today -- they need to know that their constituents are not intimidated by Republican partisan bullshit.

BTW, I'm glad Boxer at least responded, but her amendment doesn't go nearly far enough. Worse, it goes along with the idea that the Senate needs to condemn the exercise of free speech. Both of them should be defeated.

Surely there's something equally, if not much nastier (0.00 / 0)
said about General Wesley Clark by one of your right wing blowhards.  I would think that would be a nice beginning point for a counter censure motion.
Having Each Other's Backs | 6 comments
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