MoveOn Dragged By Membership In The Vague Direction Of Troop Withdrawal posted by BionOc

posted by Bionic Octopus

It seems the MoveOn vigils have achieved a certain effect after all, though surely not the one the organization's leadership intended. MoveOn has just come out in favor of House Joint Resolution 55, the Homeward Bound Act (honestly, whose job is it to crank out these cornball names, and do they also name nailpolish colors for Revlon? I can see serious potential for cross-pollination there: the 'I'm Not Really A Waitress' Welfare Reform Bill, 'Russian Red' Economic Assistance Treaty, 'Shocking Pinko' Resolution To Suppress Leftwing Sedition...but I digress).

The bipartisan bill couldn't possibly be more lilylivered; it requires the President

(1) to announce, not later than December 31, 2005, a plan for the withdrawal of all United States Armed Forces from Iraq;

(2) at the earliest possible date, to turn over all military operations in Iraq to the elected Government of Iraq and provide for the prompt and orderly withdrawal of all United States Armed Forces from Iraq; and

(3) to initiate such a withdrawal as soon as possible but not later than October 1, 2006.

Basically, it's a 'Please someday start vaguely intending to bring troops home and when you do start intending to please try to let us know' bill, designed to exert the minimum possible pressure to action while still appearing to be Taking Seriously the country's growing and evident opposition to the war.

If this is the best MoveOn can do, it's pretty fucking pitiful, and more than that, it amounts to a spit in the face of their beloved 'Cindy' whose sacrifice they so pompously 'honor' while assiduously gutting it of political significance. Cindy Sheehan calls for 'bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation that we are.' How this terminally bollocksless bill can possibly be said to 'honor' or 'support' Sheehan or her campaign is a mystery to me.

Naturally, while completely disregarding her actual position, MoveOn doesn't scruple to garland itself with Sheehan's notoriety, trumpeting that 'Cindy Sheehan's vigil in Texas has put the problems of the Iraq war on TV and in the newspapers—forcing President Bush and congressional leaders to deal with them', and exhorting members to support a bill Sheehan herself (so far as I can find out) has not, by admonishing them that '[i]t is critically important that the momentum created by Cindy Sheehan and last week's vigils continues'.

So how does MoveOn spin its sudden return to an explicitly, if half-assedly, anti-war position?

How did we settle on support for H.J. Res. 55? In June, we asked MoveOn members what they think we should do and more than 85 percent agreed that a plan like this bipartisan resolution was a step in the right direction. It gives the Iraqis some time to get their house in order while making it clear we won't be in Iraq forever. Without real deadlines, there is little incentive for things to improve.

Ah, ok. So back in June their membership polled overwhelmingly against the war (note the extremely wiggle-roomy wording of 'a plan like this... a step in the right direction'), and yet only now, two months later and serendipitously only in the wake of the unignorable evidence of rogue vigils that dared to actually--gasp--protest the war against MoveOn's explicit instructions, do they rouse themselves to even this pitiful expression of opposition.

I don't know what further proof anyone needs that MoveOn is a millstone around the neck of its membership. They hear their members' opinions and ignore them, do their best to tamp down their outrage and scold them into safe, quiet expressions of sympathy for Cindy Sheehan's sacrifice (and not, as several have pointed out, of solidarity for her cause), and then finally, when they can't possibly deny the angry groundswell anymore, they find the most pusillanimous possible measure to back so they can pretend to honor the anti-war position of the--let's be clear--vast majority of their membership, while still playing nice political pattycake with both the Dems and the Republicans. It's a disgraceful abdication of responsibility to its membership, and they mustn't be allowed to get away with it.

American progressives deserve a fuck of a lot better than the sinkhole that is MoveOn, and it's up to us on the left to provide a real alternative.

[Note: MoveOn haven't posted the statement of their support for J.R. 55 on their website yet; if anyone wants a copy of the email they just sent out, drop a line to bionoc at gmail dot com and I'll send it along.]