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| Bush Breaks Silence: MoveOn.org ad on Petraeus 'disgusting' |
| 2007-09-20 |
| WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A MoveOn.org political advertisement that criticized the top U.S. commander in Iraq was "disgusting," President Bush said Thursday, accusing Democrats of being afraid to criticize the anti-war group. Bush told reporters at a White House news conference that MoveOn.org's ad in The New York Times about Gen. David Petraeus was a "sorry deal." The September 10 full-page ad was titled "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" "I felt like the ad was an attack, not only on Gen. Petraeus, but on the U.S. military," Bush said. "And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democratic Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad." Bush said that "most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org" and they "are more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military." He said, "It's one thing to attack me. It's another thing to attack somebody like Gen. Petraeus." Many Democratic lawmakers immediately criticized the ad after it was published. Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, reacted quickly to Bush's comments. "What's disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war," Pariser said. "The president has no credibility on Iraq: He lied repeatedly to the American people to get us into the war. Most Americans oppose the war and want us to get out." MoveOn.org and other war critics have accused Petraeus and the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" data to make it seem that military success is being achieved in Iraq. During testimony last week before Congress, Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said they believed the U.S. troop increase in Iraq has had some success, an assertion that critics of the war have questioned. A Senate GOP amendment to repudiate the MoveOn.org ad passed Thursday 72-25 as Republicans tried to force Democrats to distance themselves, on the record, from the controversy. Among Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut voted against the resolution. Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Barack Obama of Illinois didn't vote. In a 51-46 vote, Democrats failed in a bid to condemn "personal attacks" on then-Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002 and Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 party presidential nominee. Sixty votes were needed to proceed. The Democratic amendment about Cleland and Kerry also included language condemning the "unwarranted personal attack" on Petraeus. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #8 I imagine President Bush was giving them a chance to do the right thing. They didn't so, unusually for him, he spoke. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-20 23:39 |
| #7 what took "W" so long to react? Right question. the catch phrase is brilliant by Moveon.org, you can't think or say one without thinking of the other Incredibly |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-20 22:58 |
| #6 What's the popularity rating of MoveOn's hand puppet, the Democratic Congress, around 11% and the US military over 50%. Tells a lot about who needs to clean their own house when it comes to distortion, lies, and misrepresentations all for the love of POWER. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-20 22:54 |
| #5 "What's disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war," Pariser said. "The president has no credibility on Iraq: He lied repeatedly to the American people to get us into the war. Most Americans oppose the war and want us to get out." No, what is disgusting is you are the base of what ued to be a prominient political party in this country. You have no heart, you have no soul, and you have no use at all to this country. YOU are disgusting. A bunch of malcontents with very little if any education and definately no moral upbringing. You are the downfall of America, not George Bush. YOU are the problem. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-09-20 22:37 |
#4 A Senate GOP amendment to repudiate the MoveOn.org ad passed Thursday 72-25 as Republicans tried to force Democrats to distance themselves, on the record, from the controversy.I'm still a little stunned, but both Maryland's senators voted in favor of this measure. I wrote to them both to thank them. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-09-20 21:03 |
| #3 the deft use of language summmons images of....a 2nd grader chiding a poopyhead tattletale. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-09-20 17:02 |
| #2 *snort*.. right...... |
| Posted by: Frank G on the road 2007-09-20 16:16 |
| #1 Maybe so, and what took "W" so long to react? Be it as it may, the catch phrase is brilliant by Moveon.org, you can't think or say one without thinking of the other; And I've actually heard people slip up and say the flip side in error due to the closeness of the homonym! |
| Posted by: smn 2007-09-20 15:41 |