MoveOn.org is into creating "Fake News".......
ASTROTURF ALERT: ANOTHER MOVEON.ORG MAIL BLITZ
BY MICHELLE MALKIN
APRIL 18, 2005 11:42 PM
By malkin
Editorial page editors, be on guard. MoveOn.org is calling on its left-wing troops to flood your offices with letters to the editor attacking Republicans over judicial appointments.
(Hat tip: Reader Chip A.)
Here are the MoveOn. org "talking points" being used by fake "grass-roots" letter writers:
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# In the next 10 days the Republicans will try to use the "nuclear option" to seize absolute power to appoint judges who will roll back decades of progress in protecting worker rights, the environment, and privacy.
# The "nuclear option" is a parliamentary trick to eliminate the filibuster - the right to extend debate on controversial judicial nominations.
# One of the first judges the "nuclear option" would force through is Janice Rodgers Brown of California, who is nominated for the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals, a common stepping stone to the Supreme Court
# Judge Brown follows an extremist judicial philosophy that calls for the courts to block Congress from guaranteeing such things as the 40 hour work week, the minimum wage, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
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And here are some of the papers currently being targeted:
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Carolina Peacemaker High Point Enterprise The Times-News Kernersville News
The Charlotte Observer
The News & Observer
The Roanoke Times
Winston-Salem Journal
USA Today
The Wall Street Journal
The New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Washington Post
>>>
The MoveOn.org site proudly announces: "Our Progress So Far. So far, we've submitted 11,388 letters to 1,292 newspapers."
So, I did a little Nexis search to see if any letters to the editor using the MoveOn talking points have been published recently. Lo and behold, the astroturf is in full bloom!
Here's a sample that slipped by the hawk-eyed letters editors of some of the nation's esteemed newspapers:
From the April 14th Herald News (Passaic County, NJ):
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Trash 'nuclear option'
Next month, the Senate may vote on what Republicans call the "nuclear option." This is about radical Republicans grasping for absolute power so they can appoint Supreme Court justices who favor corporate interests and an extreme right agenda. I sincerely urge our senators to stand up for the centuries of checks and balances that have made this country great and oppose the "nuclear option."
President Bush got through 204 judges in his first term, almost 95 percent of those he nominated. So, why are the Republicans so desperate to push through the seven whom Democrats have resisted?
If the Republicans pull off the nuclear option now, they'll have unchecked power to put whomever they want on the Supreme Court, with no incentive to pick someone in a bipartisan way who will rule fairly.
Instead, they can use the courts to pay back big donors who have long agitated to roll back worker protections, environmental laws and privacy rights - all at our expense.
We have already seen Bush use his majority to push through bankruptcy legislation that in a March 17 editorial, the Herald News called "pro-business move that would leave the middle and lower classes more vulnerable while providing loopholes for the wealth." We know what he wants to do with the power he will get if he is able to eliminate the voices of those who do not agree with him.
Ultimately, however, this is not a partisan issue. It is about supporting checks and balances and opposing absolute power in the hands of one party. Good government should be for all the people. Compromise is key. That, quite simply, is the American way.
Julie Maybee, Wayne
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From the April 15th Charleston (WV) Gazette:
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Going 'nuclear' will roll back rights
Editor:
Next month, the Senate will most likely vote on what the Republicans call the "nuclear option." This is about radical Republicans grasping for absolute power so they can appoint Supreme Court justices that favor corporate interests and an extreme-right agenda over the rest of us. I sincerely urge our senators to stand up for the centuries of checks and balances that have made this country great, and oppose the "nuclear option."
Despite Senate confirmation of almost 95 percent of President Bush's nominees, radical Republicans are threatening to eliminate the filibuster to gain complete control over the Supreme Court. They want to use the court to pay back big donors by rolling back worker protections, environmental laws and privacy rights - all at our expense.
This is not a partisan issue. Ultimately, you don't even have to oppose Bush's judges to oppose the "nuclear option." This is about supporting checks and balances and opposing absolute power in the hands of one party. And that's something we can all agree on.
Michelle Reddington
Hurricane
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From the April 16th Palm Beach Post:
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This month, the Senate most likely will vote on what the Republicans call the "nuclear option" ("Anti-filibuster 'majority' really isn't," E.J. Dionne column, March 23). This is about Republicans grasping for absolute power so they can see the appointment of Supreme Court justices who favor corporate interests and an extreme right-wing agenda.
I urge Florida's senators to stand up for the centuries of checks and balances that have made this country great and to oppose the "nuclear option." Despite Senate confirmation of almost 95 percent of President Bush's nominees, radical Republicans are threatening to eliminate the filibuster to gain complete control. They want to use the Supreme Court to pay back big donors by rolling back worker protections, environmental laws and privacy rights, all at citizens' expense.
This is not a partisan issue. Ultimately, you don't even have to oppose President Bush's judicial nominees to oppose the "nuclear option." This is about supporting checks and balances and opposing absolute power in the hands of one party. And that's something we all can agree on.
PAT SOUDERS
Palm Beach Gardens
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And from the April 1 Monterey Herald:
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Checking the balances
It seems likely that the U. S. Senate will soon vote on the "nuclear option" to eliminate the filibuster and thus allow Republicans to gain complete control over the Supreme Court, to roll back worker protections, environmental laws and privacy rights. Most important to me, the agenda of the extreme right disregards the separation of church and state -- a principle established at great cost in America's history.
Preserving the checks and balances that safeguard the liberties of all Americans is not a partisan issue. I oppose placing absolute power in the hands of either party, and I urge senators to reject the "nuclear option."
John C. Dotson
Carmel
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Get the picture?
***
Related:
More fake letters here.
state29.blogspot.com
And fake DNC-manufactured letters from last fall here.
opinionjournal.com
And some from the GOP, too.
google.com
michellemalkin.com
moveonpac.org |
