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HOW HADITHA HAPPENED; WHY IT WILL
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live like an animal. You learn to like killing. .. Hate civilians.
Can't trust the bastards. You hate taking prisoners. You'd rather
kill them. Why?" Read Vietnam vet Marc Levy's extraordinary
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is happening in Iraq. PLUS
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Editors' Note. This is Vermont-based
moviemaker John Scagliotti's second letter to MoveOn's Matzzle.
We ran John's first dissection of MoveOn's foolish expenditures
in Alexander Cockburn's CounterPunch
Diary, April 24.
From: John Scagliotti To: Tom Matzzie, MoveOn.org Political Action Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:14 AM Subject: Re: MoveOn Iraq ad censored: fight back.
Tom: Here we go again. This
time [see MoveOn's appeal below, AC/JSC ] you want to humiliate
yourself, Move On, and your members by taking their money to
buy more expensive ads on Republican-owned television stations
even after they tell you to take a hike. Then you have the chutzpah
to tell us that the Republican party is threatening to sue stations
if they run your ads. What a smart move on their part. Perhaps
instead of raising money for ads, you should raise money to pay
lawyers to threaten to sue stations for running ads by right-wing
nut cases. Why not buy your own TV stations. Oh, I forgot, they
already own them all because they are rich, have paid off Congress
and the FCC in order to keep their monopoly in place. Being rich
does not make you dumb.
But mostly the right wing knows it doesn't have to spend much
money on ads because Corporate TV news departments do their bidding
for free.
I hope more people are beginning to understand that buying ads
on Corporate TV Stations to get a few swing voters to switch
to "our side" is a myth. You keep pointing out that
you have hired smart media-polling organizations to prove your
point. You say, "we've tested these ads, and we know they
produce a punch with voters-even among people who don't yet support
leaving Iraq." What political-industrial complex organization
are you listening to and how much is this proof costing us? I
am sure you realize that the more ads they tell you to buy the
more money they make. That's their job. It is a conflict of interest
that you need to advise your contributors about before you keep
spending their money on these ridiculous ads. These media consultants
are not going to tell you that what they get paid for is to waste
of our time and money. They have proof after all.
There are those of us who think you should spend the "grassroots"
members money on alternative grassroots media and grassroots
organizers in those so-called swing districts. Hire real grassroots
people who can deliver the votes. If you dropped your expensive
political media consultants and their ads you would have bundles
to spend on real organizing. TV is fun and we all want to be
on it (hi mom!) but you need to show the proof that these media
consultants can swing voters to your side via expensive TV ads
before actually asking us for more money.
Meanwhile, why don't your convene a conference with some folks
who do progressive media and ask then how you could raise and
spend your grassroots money on grassroots media and organizers
to achieve real change.
Sincerely,
John Scagliotti
(grassroots media person)
----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Matzzie, MoveOn.org Political Action To: John Scagliotti Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 11:01 AM Subject: MoveOn Iraq ad censored: fight back.
Ads Censored: Fight Back
A TV station in Virginia run
by Republican donors has refused our new ad on Iraq. We can create
a disincentive for playing dirty like this if we can put more
ads on the air on other stations in the district. Can you help?
Make a contribution today.
Click Here
Dear MoveOn member,
As part of our big plan to
win the election we've been running TV ads in key districts around
the country. Yesterday I got news that a TV station in Virginia
has refused us the right to air our newest ad that focuses on
Iraq. They won't even return our phone calls.
It smelled fishy so we looked
into it. Sure enough, the Republican Party has been threatening
to sue TV stations that run our ads. That's not all. Two of the
senior executives at the station-including one of the guys who
makes the decision about running ads-actually donated to the
Republican's campaign!
We want to show that playing
dirty doesn't pay. Our plan is to INCREASE the size and length
of the ad buy on other stations in the district. Can you contribute
$20 or more to help fight back? Click below.
If we create a disincentive
for playing dirty it can help make sure the playing field is
fair across the country. We can do that when we raise $500,000
and keep the ads on TV for two weeks longer. And, we have a special
new TV ad about Iraq.
The new ad uses the "Caught
Red Handed" theme that has worked so well. It talks about
how much money members of Congress are taking from defense contractors
in Iraq at the same time our troops don't have enough body armor.
Some people say that Democrats
should avoid the Iraq debate during the election. We think that's
dead wrong but we need your help to show that's true.
We've tested these ads, and
we know they produce a punch with voters-even among people who
don't yet support leaving Iraq. (You can view the whole ad on
the contribution page.)
To prove that Iraq is important
to focus on during the election we hired a top political polling
firm to investigate the opinions of voters in the top 68 "swing"
districts-two-thirds of these districts are represented by Republicans.
Here is what we found:
o The war is by far the most
important issue to voters in these districts right now.
o By wide margins these voters
think the war was a mistake and not worth it. People are angry
about the war.
o A discussion about Iraq during
the campaign increases support for the Democrat.
o A Democrat who takes a firm
stand for getting out of Iraq does better than a Democrat who
takes a wishy-washy position-even in the face of Republican attacks
like, "cut and run."
o Republicans are vulnerable
to all sorts of attacks-including their blind support for Bush's
policy of never-ending war.
o Voters are universally angry
about how defense contractors have been put ahead of our troops
and how priorities here at home have been neglected.
These results are paradigm-shifting
news but not surprising. Every poll out there shows anger about
the war. Voters are ready to hold Republicans accountable for
letting Bush get away with everything-especially Iraq. Will you
help keep these ads on the air with a $20 contribution?
To win in November we need
to put Iraq in front of the voters. So far MoveOn is the only
organization that will do that in these elections. That's why
we can't leave these elections in the hands of the Democrats
alone.
With your support we can do
what the Democrats won't yet: make 2006 a year of accountability
for Republicans on Iraq. If we can show this works then Democrats
and others will follow in our footsteps-boldly speaking out about
the mess in Iraq.
The best way to bring our troops
home is to show consequences for politicians who want to follow
Bush on Iraq. This ad plays double duty by helping bring the
troops home and win the election. We can do good and do well.
Help us keep going. Can you
contribute $20?
Can we count you in? We're
going to need thousands of MoveOn members to step forward and
make this commitment.
Thanks for all you do.
Tom, Wes, Justin, Rosalyn
and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, June 14th, 2006
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL
ACTION,
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Subscription Management: This is a message from
MoveOn.org Political Action. To change your email address, update
your contact info, or remove yourself (John Scagliotti) from
this list, please visit our subscription management page at: http://moveon.org/s?i=8038-2956988-6CDUs46DfSmsJapQvxsNgQ
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