House joins in formal condemnation of MoveOn ad
The House overwhelmingly voted to condemn MoveOn.org's controversial "General Betray Us" ad that ran 16 days ago, with one Democrat comparing MoveOn's rhetoric to Cold War-era attacks lodged by Joseph McCarthy.
More than two weeks after MoveOn purchased its full-page New York Times advertisement, Republicans continue to attack the liberal anti-war group and, by association, Democratic members of Congress and presidential candidates.
Wednesday's 341-79 House vote to condemn the ad comes a week after the Senate voted to condemn the ad. Democrats control both chambers, and a substantial number of Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in chastising the anti-war message.
"With every passing day, more American soldiers and Iraqi civilians lose their lives in this unwinnable civil war. It is unconscionable and outrageous that instead of doing the people's work and ending this war, Congress chooses meaningless and distracting gestures," MoveOn's executive director Eli Pariser said in a statement released after the House vote.
"With every passing day, America's frustration with politicians in Washington drops the approval ratings for this Congress to new lows. Congress is fiddling with an ad while Iraq burns," Pariser continued. "We will continue our ad campaign to accuse the Republicans who are blocking an end to the war of a 'Betrayal of Trust.'”
The battle over the ad, which ran on the first day Gen. David Petraeus testified over progress of President Bush's troop surge. It alleged the top commander of US troops in Iraq would "cook the books" to push a White House political agenda, attacks Republicans said were akin to accusing the general of treason. Plenty of Democrats acquiesced to Republican calls that it was incumbent on them to disavow the ad as well.
Rep. David Obey (D-WI) told the Associated Press that lawmakers have to criticize their allies when their rhetoric goes to far. He compared his vote for condemnation to his decision to leave the Republican Party during the era of then-Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin Republican who was largely responsible for fomenting the "Red Scare."
"I've got an obligation to be equally upset when that kind of juvenile debate emanates from the left," Obey told AP.
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