Free Republic

Dear MoveOn member, Breaking news: Mitt Romney just picked tea party hero Paul Ryan as his running mate. And Romney may have just committed political suicide. Paul Ryan is the author of the most extreme right-wing budget ever proposed in Congress. He wants to dismantle Medicare, privatize Social Security, and cut taxes for millionaires while raising taxes on the middle class.1 Simply put, the policies Paul Ryan stands for are politically toxic. But here's the thing: Paul Ryan isn't just a extremist—he's young, smart, and charming. The media constantly describe him as looking like "the boy next door." He's the...

The Hockey Mom from Wasilla as the Boogie Woman. Jeffrey Feldman, referring to the Olivia Wilde video recently posted by Moveon.org, thinks he has found the perfect slogan to motivate Democrats and perhaps save Barack Obama from the "refudiation" he is about to get at the polls. President Palin! "A 'Hail Mary!' pass? Who cares. I found myself laughing and nodding in agreement all the way through the video. "'President Palin' works and it is not hard to explain why. "One would be hard-pressed to think of a cold slap in the face that stings Democrats more than the prospect...

Today Barack Obama earned the endorsement of MoveOn, one of the largest grassroots membership organizations in the United States, after clobbering Hillary Clinton by 40 percent in Internet balloting. Obama led the final tally 70.4% to 29.6%, clearing the supermajority required for the endorsement. MoveOn, which has never endorsed a presidential candidate before, boasts that it has 1.7 million members in Super Tuesday states. The group has over half a million members in California alone – roughly one out of ten primary voters in Tuesday's largest state. "We've learned that the key to achieving change in Washington without compromising core...

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...

Peace activists are hoping this weekend's anti-war protest in Kennebunkport will be a catalyst for broadening the anti-war movement to encompass environmental, labor, health care and social justice issues. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer Bob Walter, husband of protest organizer Jamilla el Sharfei, makes signs Thursday for the weekend event. "We need to talk about the systemic change that is needed in our country to keep us from going into future wars," said Jamilla el Sharfei, the event organizer. El Sharfei has been planning the three-day protest for almost a year, and has worked to supplement the anti-war theme by including representatives...

Congress’s failure to secure a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq has split anti-war activists on the tactical question of whether to attack Democrats, who now control Capitol Hill. The split has also underlined accusations among some activists that MoveOn has abandoned its credentials as an issue-based advocacy group and now instead provides cover for Democratic Party leaders. Anti-war activists throughout the country are united in spending August pressing lawmakers to bring U.S. troops home. But tensions within the movement have been bubbling for months over tactics and whether their fire should be aimed exclusively at Republicans. The divisions...

Congress recently passed a bill setting a deadline to end the war in Iraq. But President Bush just vetoed the bill -- ignoring the will of the American people. We're gathering at emergency response rallies across the country. We'll bring noise-makers to show that the Bush administration cannot ignore the voices of the people. This is an important moment to step out and show our strength in numbers -- we have to swiftly prove that the majority of the people aren't with the president. We want Congress to stand firm and end this war.

Sen. Joe Lieberman stands virtually alone among Democrats after expressing his staunch support for the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq. An official with the liberal activist group MoveOn.org said the group might go so far as to back a Democratic challenger to Lieberman in next year’s Senate race, according to the Hartford Courant. On Tuesday Lieberman published an editorial in the Wall Street Journal – reported by NewsMax – saying that his recent trip to Iraq convinced him further that the U.S. should not abandon "27 million Iraqis to 10,000 terrorists.” The next day in an address...

MoveOn, the left wing political action group, sees a White House conspiracy in the announcement of President Bush's new Supreme Court nominee. When the White House revealed that the President would release the name of his pick Tuesday night, MoveOn quickly issued a press release suggesting the timing of the announcement was simply a "wag the dog" effort to help Karl Rove. The MoveOn release reads: "President Bush has apparently speeded up the announcement of his Supreme Court nominee to deflect public attention from the Karl Rove scandal." Evidence of the timing conspiracy? MoveOn cites an unnamed "Republican strategist" who...

MoveOn.Org's failures are nothing new. It's really difficult to spin any victories for the dot com group that have made it outside the Democratic Party. Their latest "victory" was getting Howard Dean elected as the head of the DNC, but the biggest cheerleaders for that move were conservatives. They do like to believe they are winning though. Even on their Web site, they have a section listing MoveOn.org's recent "victories." But only ten "victories" are listed from June of 2004. And one of those is a clear loss as it cites the fact that "36 Senators Object to Gonzales' Confirmation...

The Online Insurgency MoveOn has become a force to be reckoned with They signed up 500,000 supporters with an Internet petition -- but Bill Clinton still got impeached. They organized 6,000 candlelight vigils worldwide -- but the U.S. still invaded Iraq. They raised $60 million from 500,000 donors to air countless ads and get out the vote in the battle-ground states -- but George Bush still whupped John Kerry. A gambler with a string of bets this bad might call it a night. But MoveOn.org just keeps doubling down. Now that Howard Dean has been named chair of the Democratic...

Staples Shuns Sinclair News By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/4/2005 4:44:00 PM Office supply products chain Staples confirms that it is pulling its advertising from newscasts on Sinclair Broadcast Group TV stations as of Jan. 10. Anti-consolidation activist group Media Matters for America was trumpeting the move, attributing it to its campaign against the broadcaster. According to the e-mail, Staples said: "As a result of Staples' ongoing review of its advertising media activity, Staples will no longer be airing advertising on any Sinclair stations' news programs as of Jan 10, 2005." Media Matters, with assists from MoveOn.org, MediaChannel...

I just visited Move On .org for some amusement, because it's always fun seeing deranged liberal TV ads, especially after the fact that they did absolutely nothing to change the outcome of the election. Anyways, I saw this ad on there "Who Runs Fox News" or something like that. I want to know, what's the deal with Fox News. Why do Liberals call it Republican News, Is it because CNN, MSNBC, CBS are very liberal and anything balanced is considered conservative because those Lib networks are supposed to be balanced? What's the deal here, I just want to know what...

After President Bush won re-election, many political observers expected MoveOn.org to move into retreat. The sentiment surrounding the liberal online powerhouse was neatly summed up by The Onion, a well-known satire publication, in its spoof headline: "MoveOn CurlsUp InCorner."[snip]Armed with over $30 million raised from donors ranging from students to billionaire financier George Soros, MoveOn moved well beyond cyberspace -- organizing star-studded concerts, airing television ads produced by A-list Hollywood directors and mobilizing 70,000 members to walk precincts in key battleground states. But the efforts proved ultimately unsuccessful, and amid the inevitable postelection recriminations MoveOn came in for plenty of...

There was a dose of commiseration and some quiet lamenting about a presidential election lost, but the focus of the people crowded into a Beacon Hill home last night was what they can do now. Or, as Seattle lawyer Randy Gordon put it: "How to take the positive energy of engagement and enragement and move forward." The "house party" was one of dozens in the Seattle area and thousands held simultaneously across the country that were organized by MoveOn, a fast-growing political-action group aimed at getting "moderate to progressive" candidates into office. Key issues, from the Iraq war to same-sex...

NEW YORK — An exuberant crowd of nearly 2,000 packed New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom on Tuesday night ostensibly to voice their support for Sen. John Kerry (search), but President Bush (search) had the dubious distinction of being the man of the hour. From hipsters to professionals to aging hippies, the audience was as diverse as the talent on stage. Attendees paid $25 to $500 to watch performances by rocker Perry Farrell, techno-musician Moby, singer Natalie Merchant and hip-hop collective The Roots. Host Janeane Garofalo provided salty commentary throughout, most notably referring to senior presidential political adviser Karl Rove (search)...

Uncovered: The War on Iraq Directed by Robert Greenwald Cinema Libre, opens August 20 Anybody who tries to deconstruct the new American empire erected by the Bush regime's schnooks and crooks winds up babbling to himself and others, "You can't make this shit up." But then you have to get your hands dirty and mold it into something that's interesting to look at. That's something Michael Moore did in Fahrenheit 9/11, but which Robert Greenwald doesn't do in Uncovered: The War on Iraq. Moore created a movie; Greenwald gives us a cinematized blog. His vast made-for-TV experience (The Burning Bed,...

SPARTANBURG, SC (Talon News) -- Liberal political action group MoveOn.org encouraged its members on Monday to "echo Kerry's message" to overcome the "misleading attack ads" from the Bush campaign in the coming weeks. In an e-mail to supporters, MoveOn.org founder Eli Pariser said liberal Democrats should be excited by Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA) after last week's Democratic National Convention in Boston. "Last week, John Kerry laid out a powerful vision for our country in his speech at the Democratic Convention," Pariser remarked. However, Pariser said MoveOn.org supporters need to prepare for a wave of political attacks...

The $50 million Dems The real VIPs in the fight to oust George W. Bush won’t be on the FleetCenter stage next week. They’re the wealthy funders of progressive ‘527’ groups. BY DAVID S. BERNSTEIN ONE YEAR AGO, conventional political wisdom held that the Democratic presidential nominee would be in trouble right now. After spending all his cash in a tough primary battle, the thinking went, the candidate would have to spend April through June scrambling to raise money for the general campaign. In the meantime, Bush’s team would be free to use that three-month window to define the Democrats’...

Abstract: FTC chairman Timothy Muris said he sees no way for his agency to investigate the fairness or accuracy of Fox News' slogan, "Fair and Balanced," without getting into First Amendment territory where the commission doesn't belong.