MoveOn's Most Disgusting Ad

Just in case you think there's a possibility of moderation on the antiwar left, take a look at the ad being run today by MoveOn.org:

How clever. They made it rhyme.
Dean Barnett add this in his commentary today:

Iraq War Veteran Pete Hegseth, the executive director of Vets for Freedom and a good friend of the Hugh Hewitt Show, has an important little piece posted on the Weekly Standard this morning. Hegseth notes that Moveon.Org has taken the rhetoric that Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Sullivan have merely danced around and made it explicit. In an advertisement in yesterday's New York Times, Moveon.Org brayed in its headline, “General Petraeus or General Betray us? Cooking the books for the White House.”

As Hegseth points out, Moveon.Org works closely with the Democratic leadership. He takes note of this quote from Friday’s Politico uttered by a courageously anonymous Democratic Senator: “No one wants to call [Petraeus] a liar on national TV. The expectation is the outside groups will do this for us.”

Byron York also comments on MoveOn and their embarrassing ads:

With its full-page “General Betray Us?” ad in the New York Times, MoveOn.org has once again put itself at the forefront of the antiwar movement. And if past patterns are any guide, a number of Democrats are embarrassed, and even angered, by MoveOn’s actions but are afraid to reveal the true extent of their feelings. MoveOn simply has too much fundraising clout — and a fear-inducing inclination to attack Democrats who stray from the MoveOn line — for many in the party to take it on.

Democratic leaders might be further embarrassed by a new email, headlined “Your dog can help end the war,” sent out by the leadership of MoveOn’s political team. The email asks members to attend a protest on Capitol Hill this morning preceding the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus. “Congress was fooled before by the White House’s ‘dog and pony show,” the appeal says. “We need to make sure they’re not fooled again. That’s why we’re hosting our own ‘Dog and Pony Show’ outside the Capitol Building right before Petraeus takes the stage for his testimony. We want to show Congress and the cameras that the American people aren’t buying the White House spin.”

“We’re bringing real ponies, signs and a big banner that reads, ‘CONGRESS: Don’t be fooled, AGAIN!’ Can you make it — and bring your dog if you have one?”

It seems unlikely that many top Democrats will be bringing pets. But the thing that should trouble party leaders is not that MoveOn is capable of silly stunts. It’s not even that MoveOn is capable of making slanderous comments about U.S. military officials. And it’s not that MoveOn is against the war in Iraq, which polls show many Americans believe was a mistake. Rather, MoveOn’s latest campaign is a continuation of a drive to oppose not just the action in Iraq, but the war on terror in general, and, in a larger sense, America’s use of military power in its own defense.

What a pathetic bunch.

UPDATE: Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only one in the Dem caucus with any sense when it comes to Iraq, denounces the MoveOn ad and puts the Dem leadership on the spot:

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who caucuses with Democrats, denounced a MoveOn.org ad in Monday's New York Times questioning the credibility of Army Gen. David Petraeus, calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to distance themselves from the attack as well.

“The personal attack on Gen. David Petraeus launched today by MoveOn.org is an outrageous and despicable act of slander that every member of the Congress -- Democrat and Republican -- has a solemn responsibility to condemn," Lieberman said in the statement.

“As a member of the Senate Democratic caucus, I therefore call on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to denounce Moveon.org in no uncertain terms for its vile attack on Gen. Petraeus," Lieberman said. "General Petraeus deserves no less."

Good for Joe.