Liberal Group MoveOn.org Slurs General Petraeus, While Democrats Disgracefully Refuse to Condemn the Attack 

Liberal anti-war zealots employ all manner of sleazy tactics in their effort to undermine the war in Iraq, but routinely assure us that they "support the troops, honest." 

Bull. 

By preemptively slurring General David Petraeus as a "military man" who is "cooking the books for the White House" before he even had the opportunity to present his much-anticipated surge report, MoveOn.org and leading liberals offered revealing insight into how they really feel about our men and women in uniform.  In the New York Times advertisement, MoveOn.org also had the execrable taste to label him "General Betray Us."  Worse, Senate Democrat leaders refused to condemn the effort. 

Don't be fooled - this is no anomaly.  Rather, it's an instance of their true feelings finally being revealed. 

General Patraeus is a man unanimously confirmed by the Senate as Commanding General, who graduated first in his class at the United States Army Command and General Staff College and earned both a Master of Public Administration and Doctoral degree in international relations from Princeton University.  During his 35-year military career, General Petraeus has served multiple combat tours in Iraq, and supervised the drafting of the United States Army and Marine Corps counter-insurgency manual based upon his combat experience and scholarly studies. 

General Petraeus has also earned two Distinguished Service Medals, two Defense Superior Service Medals, four Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the State Department Superior Honor Award and even the NATO Meritorious Service Medal during his unvarnished and distinguished career. 

More fundamentally, General Petraeus is a man who has taken a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. 

Despite this, MoveOn.org chose to poison the atmosphere by portraying him as a traitor who would baldly lie to the American public. 

And how did Democrat leaders respond?  By blocking a motion introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R - Texas) to condemn the ad and repudiate the personal attack against General Petraeus. 

This follows similarly disgraceful actions by leading liberals and Democrats.  As just one example, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D - Nevada) dismissed the troop surge as a "failure" before it had even commenced last spring.  How does he think that was received by terrorist leaders?  Senator Reid also echoed MoveOn.org's assault by referring to General Petraeus's report as "Bush's report," despite the fact that General Petraeus assured us that it was his judgment, and not subject to prior White House review.   And when asked about the MoveOn.org advertisement itself, Senator Reid casually dismissed it as an inconsequential distraction. 

The simple fact is that the left only claims to support our troops because the military is the most-admired institution in America, something repeatedly confirmed by opinion polls.  This past July, for instance, a Gallup Poll showed that the military ranked higher than any other group among the public, with a 69% confidence rating. 

And Congress's confidence rating in that same poll?  A pathetic 14%. 

More alarmingly, only 36% of Democrats expressed confidence in the military to present an "accurate picture of the war" in a Pew Research Center poll.  In that same poll, 76% of Republicans expressed confidence that the military would present an accurate assessment. 

Unfortunately, it appears that MoveOn.org and similarly disgraceful groups have largely hijacked a major American political party.  In 2004, one MoveOn.org employee famously proclaimed that "now it's our party.  We bought it.  We own it."  Democrat leaders had the opportunity to refute this assertion, but their cowardly tactics instead appear to confirm it. 

MoveOn.org supporters possess the same First Amendment rights as other Americans to express what they believe, and we would defend their right to fully expose themselves for what they are. 

But by disparaging this "military man" General Petraeus, a leading liberal organization has finally revealed its level of respect for our men and women in uniform.  Unfortunately, mainstream Democrat leaders have failed their opportunity to adequately refute these slurs.  Keep this in mind the next time that fanatic anti-war liberals claim to "support the troops."  Ask them where they were when their leading organization maligned those troops.