Roll Over And Beg Award: The Entire U.S. Senate

Oh, please, spare me. The huzzahs have already started for Harry Reid, triumphal parliamentarian of the Senate:

Whether one sees the Democratic health care proposal as the greatest progressive policy accomplishment in a generation or a bitter disappointment worthy of defeat, it's hard to deny that the Senate Majority Leader did what he set out to do. There were plenty of times this year when it seemed the reform proposal simply wouldn't survive, but Harry Reid kept working, and managed to find -- and hold onto -- 60 votes.

Harry Reid

Reid may have done some virtuoso maneuvering to pass the health care "reform" bill , but that's utterly beside the point to those of us who will be paying with our lives and our remaining cash for this worthless piece of crap. There is, I repeat for all the fools who have utterly ignored this point, no mechanism for enforcement of these provisions. Essentially, they've left the enforcement of federal insurance guidelines to the states, who, if they'd been up to the task, would have fixed health insurance already. Of course, there's little to enforce anyway. In the end, the main difference is that now people will be forced to buy health insurance. It will still be lousy insurance that is administered solely to maintain the insurance companies' bottom line.

No one has acquitted himself well here. The Republicans played politics, trying to make the Democrats look bad. They succeeded, except in how the Democrats look in comparison to Republicans, at least from where I sit. They stayed utterly out of the fray. Here's an illustration, an AFP/Getty screenshot of the vote:

Image credit: AFP/Getty

Not a single Republican voted for this bill, in spite of the bill being one big giveaway to insurance and other medical corporations, and a huge "screw you" to the middle class. You'd think they would have loved it.

The progressives refused to stop the bill, even though they could have. Ben Nelson threatened to filibuster until women weren't allowed to pay for abortions with insurance money. Joe Lieberman threatened to filibuster because it made him important. But not one of the supposed progressives filibustered to stop a disaster for the middle class. As for the remaining Democratic Leadership Committee and Blue Dog caucus members, they were their usual, feckless selves.

Never has the Senate better demonstrated how thoroughly corrupt and dysfunctional it is. Now they're all slithering out of town so they can be home by Christmas.

Well, not so fast, Senators. I have a present for you. In honor of your triumph, I'm bestowing on you the most fitting award this blog has to offer - the Roll Over And Beg Award. In the history of the Beggie this particular award is unprecedented - never before has it been awarded unanimously to one body. But then, it has never been more well deserved. If ever there was a body that rolled over and begged for their big campaign contributors more faithfully, I haven't had the misfortune of witnessing it.

As always, the prize consists of one dog biscuit per winner, the purchase and consumption of which is the responsibility of the winner. I only wish I could make it mandatory - just like the crap insurance they're making us buy. That would be fitting, but sadly karma doesn't seem to work at this time of year.

Roll Over And Beg Award: Banking Edition

Last week on Bill Moyers' Journal, Moyers quoted Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) as saying this:

In fact, other Wall Street insiders – many of them big contributors to the Obama presidential campaign, and progressive in their concern for the public interest – privately are expressing serious concerns that Geithner, Summers and their associates are leading the President and America’s taxpayers down a path toward further economic disaster.

This week, as Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois unsuccessfully fought for a congressional amendment he said would have helped 1.7 million Americans save their homes from foreclosure, the senator told a radio station back home that, “The banks – hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created – are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place."

He could say the same of the White House.

Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Mortgaging the White House

[emphasis added]

As have I. What Sen. Durbin was referring to was the rejection of his amendment to require that banks, instead of evicting people who can't afford to pay inflated mortgages they accepted during the real estate boom, instead refinance the homes at a price that reflects today's market. It was rejected by every Republican in the Senate except Jeff Sessions, who didn't vote, and twelve Democrats.

Over at FireDogLake, Jane Hamsher is doing a post-mortem on why we citizens once again lost out to the banks in Congress. She goes into detail about how they bought Congress this time:

A review of lobbying reports filed indicates that finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) interests paid over $42 million to lobbyists who worked to defeat mortgage write-down in bankruptcy (cramdown) in the first quarter of 2009, as well as other anti-consumer legislation such as capping credit card interest rates.

Over $42 Million Paid to Lobbyists Working to Defeat “Cramdown” in 1Q 2009

In short, the banks took our own money, and then used it to buy lobbyists who persuaded Congress to bone us.

In an article he wrote early last year, Ian Welsh has summarized why this keeps happening:

[F]or the people in charge the last thirty years have been absolutely wonderful. Seriously, things haven’t been this good since the 1890’s and the 1920’s. Everyone they know–their families, their mistresses and toyboys, their friends–is doing well. Wall Street paid even larger bonuses for 2007, the year they ran the ship into the shore, than they did in 2006 when their bonuses equalled the raises of 80 million Americans. Multiple CEOs walked away from companies they had bankrupted with golden parachutes in excess of 50 million. And if you can find a Senator who isn’t a millionaire (except maybe Bernie Sanders) you let me know.

Essential Insanity

As I've observed before, most members of Congress are doing just fine economically. Those few who aren't almost certainly will be, thanks to their positions. The corruption and foolishness of Congress is distressing partly because it's so obvious to everyone except Congress and the people who cover it for the press.

So, for rolling over for a belly rub from the banks, these Democratic Senators, and all the Republicans save Sessions, are winners of 2009's first Roll Over And Beg Award:

Max Baucus (D-MT)
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Jon Tester (D-MT)

Arlen Specter, in particular, should be happy for the increased notoriety of being a Democrat who votes to screw the middle class and poor on behalf of the rich. As part of the Republican Congress, doing such things made him just another face in the crowd. Now, instead, he stands out as a shining example of independent-minded corruption.

As always, there is no monetary value to this prize, save for the value of the biscuits, procurement of which and payment for which is the responsibility of the winners.

UPDATE: Speaking of corruption, in a more recent article Jane writes:

One of the key votes against "cramdown" in the Senate came, surprisingly, from Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. According to an FEC lobbying report filed by the American Council of Life Insurers, Dorgan's wife Kimberly worked for them as a lobbyist to defeat the measure during the first quarter of 2009 (PDF).

The Amercan Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) represents 373 insurance companies. Headed by former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating, they account for 93 percent of the U.S. life insurance industry's total assets.

Byron Dorgan’s Wife Lobbied Against Cramdown

[links from original]

I can't wait for the rationalizations for this one, can you?

Roll Over And Beg Award: All But Seventeen Members Of The Senate

Today, the Democrats outdid themselves. With the exception of fifteen Senators who voted "nay" and a couple who had good excuses for not being there, the entire Senate once again disgraced themselves. Like the House before them, they puffed up their chests today to make us safe from a few religious fanatics who live in one of the poorest regions on Earth. All they had to do to achieve that lofty goal was take away our freedom. Here is the list of Democratic winners:

Max Baucus (D-MT)
Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Robert Casey (D-PA)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Joe (Short Ride) Lieberman (ID-CT)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Ken Salazar (D-CO)
James Webb (D-VA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Jon Tester (D-MT)

Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Barack Obama (D-IL)

The first group are repeat winners from February. The second group are new, added because they can't seem to figure out that not calling something "immunity" doesn't mean it isn't immunity. The third group, which includes two Presidential candidates, simply didn't vote.

Clinton and Obama are particularly sorry cases. They wouldn't even stand up and be counted. This isn't unusual behavior for either one of them, but it's sad to think that these two were the ones left until the end of primary season. Far better people dropped out early. Ian Welsh sums up this situation pretty well:

Obama and McCain were both absent, as was Clinton. Unimpressive, but unsurprising, though I suppose I'm disappointed by Clinton (Obama has made it clear he didn't intend to try and stop the bill.) Clinton and Obama will claim there was no point since it wasn't close. But, with their leadership, it might well have gone the other way.

The Real FISA Vote Passes 80 to 15 With the Presidential Nominees Passing

I'm not in the least surprised that "Mr. Present" ducked under the couch again, and for McCain it was just another day of not being on the job, I'm sure.

That's some fine bunch we have running for the leadership of the Free World.

The Republicans all voted to break cloture. They deserve the award because they don't need to roll over for President Bush any more. He'll be gone in a few months, and those who haven't retired will be in the worst electoral trouble they've seen in many years.

All of these people have disgraced themselves and their party. As always, procurement of and payment for prizes are the responsibility of the winners. Enjoy your biscuits, ladies and gentlemen.

(h/t to Ian Welsh and commenters at FireDogLake who made those lists)

UPDATE (Jun. 26): Added a clause to the opening paragraph explaining what two Senators "had good excuses" for. Ted Kennedy has brain cancer and Robert Byrd has been ill of late.

Roll Over And Beg Award: Two Thirds Of The House Of Representatives

Image credit: National Archives

This is the Constitution. The House took a giant dump on it today. When the Senate gets through with it next week, it really will be just a goddamned piece of paper.

These people voted to destroy our country. There's really no other way to put it. To "protect" us from some religious fanatics who live in caves, these representatives voted to amend FISA in a way that essentially guts it. You now have no right of privacy from the government. Keep that in mind the next time you do some online banking.



For their complete and utter fecklessness, not to mention their cowardice, these lowest forms of the human species deserve their very own Beggies. Never before has such a large group of people been awarded this dishonor, and few have deserved it more. Except maybe the Senate, who may soon be repeat winners.

From the roll call, where "Yea" means "Yes, I'm pissing my pants because a few nuts think America is Satan", and "Nay" means "No, I remember the last time you people wanted me to give up my rights, and it wasn't worth it then, either":

Ackerman
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Arcuri
Baca
Bachmann
Bachus
Baird
Barrett (SC)
Barrow
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bean
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehner
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boozman
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boustany
Boyd (FL)
Boyda (KS)
Brady (TX)
Broun (GA)
Brown (SC)
Brown, Corrine
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Butterfield
Buyer
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Campbell (CA)
Cantor
Capito
Cardoza
Carney
Carter
Castle
Castor
Cazayoux
Chabot
Chandler
Childers
Cleaver
Clyburn
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cooper
Costa
Cramer
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cubin
Cuellar
Culberson
Davis (AL)
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Lincoln
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dicks
Donnelly
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Edwards (TX)
Ehlers
Ellsworth
Emanuel
Emerson
Engel
English (PA)
Etheridge
Everett
Fallin
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Giffords
Gillibrand
Gingrey
Goode
Goodlatte
Gordon
Granger
Graves
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Gutierrez
Hall (TX)
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Herseth Sandlin
Higgins
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Kanjorski
Keller
Kildee
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Klein (FL)
Kline (MN)
Knollenberg
Kuhl (NY)
LaHood
Lamborn
Lampson
Langevin
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lowey
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Mahoney (FL)
Manzullo
Marchant
Marshall
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCarthy (NY)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McIntyre
McKeon
McMorris Rodgers
McNerney
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mitchell
Moore (KS)
Moran (KS)
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Tim
Murtha
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Nunes
Ortiz
Pearce
Pelosi
Pence
Perlmutter
Peterson (MN)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pomeroy
Porter
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reyes
Richardson
Rodriguez
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Royce
Ruppersberger
Ryan (WI)
Salazar
Sali
Saxton
Scalise
Schiff
Schmidt
Scott (GA)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Sestak
Shadegg
Shays
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuler
Shuster
Simpson
Sires
Skelton
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Souder
Space
Spratt
Stearns
Stupak
Sullivan
Tancredo
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor
Terry
Thompson (MS)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Turner
Udall (CO)
Upton
Walberg
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Westmoreland
Whitfield (KY)
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (OH)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman (VA)
Wolf
Yarmuth
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

I'm not going to bother with first names. The people who did this don't deserve that much consideration. They aren't worth the oxygen they consume.

What they deserve is their just reward, a dog biscuit, procurement of and payment for which is the responsibility of the awardees. Enjoy your biscuits ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure it must be hard work destroying a country as big as this one.

UPDATE: I'd like to thank whoever visited from the House this afternoon. Always nice to see our government paying attention to us citizens.

Roll Over And Beg Award: Just About The Entire U.S. Senate

They've gone and done it:

The Senate today -- led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus -- will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the Bush administration's years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate -- led by former Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick -- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment.

Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms

If you aren't completely revolted by your government today, then you're operating without a clue. These people have sold us out for a few lousy campaign dollars, and the chance to make the laughable claim that they've made us safer.

For failing to remember their oaths as officers of the U.S. government, and selling out our freedoms so they didn't have to explain to the public that we wouldn't be any safer if the government was able to listen in on our private conversations when they don't know who the terrorists are in the first place, these members of our "deliberative body" have earned the least-coveted award this blog awards, the Beggie:

- All Republican Senators. Yes, we don't really expect any better of you, but you're not off the hook this time. You've rolled over and begged every time the Bush Administration has told you to do it. You guys are supposed to be the ones who are getting government off our backs. Instead, you've managed to chain them to us.

- Majority non-Leader Harry Reid, for allowing this vote to happen over the objections of his own party, and

- These Democratic Senators, who all voted for cloture. They're the other ones who let this bill pass:

• Max Baucus (D-MT)


• Evan Bayh (D-IN)


• Thomas Carper (D-DE)


• Robert Casey (D-PA)


• Kent Conrad (D-ND)


• Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)


• Daniel Inouye (D-HI)


• Tim Johnson (D-SD)


• Herb Kohl (D-WI)


• Joe (Short Ride) Lieberman (ID-CT)


• Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)


• Claire McCaskill (D-MO)


• Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)


• Bill Nelson (D-FL)


• Ben Nelson (D-NE)


• Mark Pryor (D-AR)


• Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)


• Ken Salazar (D-CO)


• James Webb (D-VA)


• Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Many of these folks are repeat winners of this award, including Harry Reid. I'm ashamed to admit I helped support James Webb, thinking him a better alternative to the reprobate George Allen. Never again. This vote is unforgivable.

As you're no doubt aware, the "Roll Over And Beg" award, is awarded at random times to politicians whose pandering to absurd constituencies really honks me off. Winners of the award are entitled to an extra large dog biscuit, procurement of and payment for which is the responsibility of the awardee.

Enjoy your biscuits, ladies and gentlemen.

UPDATE: A couple hours after this article was posted, it received a couple of visits from the U.S. Senate that were within a minute of each other. Presumably, a couple of Senators' staffs thought this article quite amusing.

Roll Over And Beg Award: Senator Harry Reid

Today's "Roll Over And Beg" award, which will be awarded at random times to politicians whose pandering to absurd constituencies really honks me off, goes to the allegedly Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It's rare, at least so far, for an individual lawmaker to earn this award, but today the Senator from Nevada really earned that biscuit. Incidentally, as was the case with all prior awardees, selection and procurement of biscuits is the responsibility of the awardee.

How did Senator Reid win this singular honor? Let's take a step back to yesterday, when I wrote this:

The "RESTORE" Act, as it is currently written, is a sham. It gives the illegal actions of the Bush Administration legal cover. It allows the government to eavesdrop on American citizens without a warrant. As the ACLU has observed, "blanket warrants" aren't warrants at all. They are license for the government to do whatever it wants to listen in on its citizens and to steal their private information.

FISA, RESTORE, and Those Pesky Oaths

Since then, I've seen these warrants also referred to as "basket" warrants, but somehow "blanket", and "umbrella" warrants seem more appropriate terms. The problem with this bill is that it is just about as bad as the travesty they passed in August that was supposed to be temporary. They've changed things here and there, and at least a few civil liberties groups back the measure, but it's basically the old bill with some window dressing, as near as I can tell. The ACLU seems to agree. On the subject of amnesty and the motivation behind domestic surveillance, they say:

With FISA legislation heading to the floor this week, we wanted to make sure everyone was up to speed on the latest. Last week it was revealed in a story in the Rocky Mountain News that illegal domestic spy was going on before 9/11. According to the article, Qwest, a telecom company, was originally approached by the National Security Agency to cooperate in its domestic spying program way back in February 2001. This is significant for two reasons: First, it reiterates that phone companies had a choice whether or not to violate their customers' privacy, and secondly, it proves that the illegal domestic spying program was going on before 9/11. Interesting that the Bush administration says it needs changes to FISA because of 9/11, but we have to ask: If the illegal program was going on before 9/11, does that mean it didn't prevent the 9/11 attacks from happening? This revelation should really be the nail in the coffin for telecom immunity. Let's hope Congress pays attention.

Big FISA Developments Coming This Week

So this thing, as it has been marked up by the Senate intelligence committee, grants both immunity to telecomm executives who really don't need it, and it gives the government the ability to spy on anyone it likes as long as it's willing to state that it's reasonable to believe that no Americans are on the line. Considering the rhetorical contortions Bush's nominee for AG is willing to go through so as not to say that torture the government has conducted in the past is in fact torture, I am not reassured by this.

Reassuringly, there are at least one or two Senators who think this is way more than any government needs. One of those Senators, Chris Dodd (D-CT), has declared his intention to place a hold on this bill, which should keep it from being voted on. As Talking Points Memo explains:

By doing this, Dodd can effectively hold up the telecom immunity bill, because bills are supposed to have unanimous consent in the Senate before going forward. One Senator can make it very difficult to bring a bill to the floor by objecting to allowing it to go to a vote.

Senator Chris Dodd Will Put A Hold On Telecom Immunity Bill

The bill should have died a well-deserved death at this point, but Harry Reid decided to come to the rescue:

Tim Starks of Congressional Quarterly reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring the Senate's surveillance bill up for floor debate in mid-November. That's despite the hold that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) plans to place on the measure

CQ: Surveillance Bill Will Go to Senate Floor Next Month

Jane Hamsher takes up the tale from here:

I’m a bit confused here. This just doesn’t happen. So I chatted with someone I know with extensive Hill experience, who said:

“I can’t think of one time when Harry Reid went around his own. It’s just not normal for a leader to do that to his own side. Sometimes you’ll go around Republicans, sometimes they’ll use holds to be “spoilers,” but that happens to the other guy. You just don’t do it to one of your own.”

Consider what happened when Chris Dodd introduced the Emmet Till cold case bill, which called for more money for unsolved civil rights crimes. Tom Coburn put a hold on the bill — and Reid just let it go. The bill died.

Reid Tries To Shut Down Dodd’s Hold

Reid is willing to go against one of his own to pass what, in any sane universe, would be considered an unconstitutional piece of garbage, but is unwilling to oppose someone from the opposition party on the issue of spending some money to uphold civil rights.

For doing his utmost to make sure that we're even less safe from our own government than we were three months ago, Harry Reid richly deserves his Roll Over and Beg Award. And as an extra special prize, the Senator gets to see this picture of him looking like a hopeless putz yet again.

UPDATE (Oct. 19): I neglected to mention that Senator Dodd has an online petition supporting his efforts to stop this bill. Please sign it if you haven't already.

Jane Hamsher reports that Dodd will filibuster the bill, and that Senator Russ Feingold may back him up.

UPDATE 2 (Oct. 19): Taylor Marsh seems just a tad upset with Senator Reid. Yep, really upset.

UPDATE 3 (Oct. 19): TPM Election Central confirms that Dodd has threatened to filibuster if Reid decides to go around the hold:

The threatened filibuster, which comes a day after Dodd revealed to Election Central that he will place a hold on the bill, will place Dodd in direct confrontation with the Dem Senate leadership on a hugely contentious issue.

Dodd's filibuster threat comes in response to reports -- based on anonymous quotes from the leadership's office -- which said that Reid's aides think they can get the bill to the floor despite Dodd's hold.

Dodd Will Filibuster Telecom Immunity Bill If Reid Brings It To Vote

Looks like it's game on. I suggest that if you haven't done so already, you sign Dodd's online petition and then call or write your Senators to tell them you appreciate Dodd's efforts, and want them to help him.

Today's "Roll Over and Beg" Award Goes To ...

Today's "Roll Over And Beg" award, which will be awarded at random times to politicians whose pandering to absurd constituencies really honks me off, goes to the twenty-two Democratic Senators who voted for this piece of trash yesterday. You may remember this picture of a dog rolling over for a pat on the belly from my essay "It's The Weakness That Makes You Look Weak". In that spirit, here is the inaugural version of this award, which I suspect Democrats will earn frequently. Winners of the award are entitled to an extra large dog biscuit, procurement of and payment for which is the responsibility of the awardee.

A few weeks ago, MoveOn.org, a liberal political organization, took out an ad (PDF) in the New York Times that referred to Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of the Iraq Multi-National Force, as "General Betray Us". The Washington Post reports:

In a conference call with MoveOn members last night, [executive director Eli] Pariser acknowledged that some of the group's members did not like the ad. But, he said, "MoveOn is going to be as strong as ever." He added, "We definitely will be putting pressure on Democrats, and especially those who voted against us, in the near future, and we are currently working on the best way to do that."

MoveOn Unmoved By Furor Over Ad Targeting Petraeus

I'm not sure if I'm a member of MoveOn or not. I occasionally get e-mail that says "Dear MoveOn member", but don't remember ever giving them money. Whether I'm a member or not, count me as one of those who think that this was a boneheaded move on MoveOn's part. A group of civilians, many of whom undoubtedly have never served in the military or risked their lives for anything not related to their own interests, calling a combat veteran "Betray Us" strikes me as disrespectful. Some have objected that his soldiers call him that. Of this I have little doubt. Soldiers are apt to be harsh when discussing commanders who seem to be working at making their lives miserable. Unfortunately, the ad never mentioned that fact, so to me it's irrelevant. It wasn't part of MoveOn's message, so most people wouldn't get the point.

I think much of middle America feels as I do about the ad's name-calling. All that headline was likely to do to them was turn them off from reading the rest of the message, or to not take it seriously if they did. Thus, it was also a stupid ad, because all it did was appeal to the already converted. Pariser claims it put pressure on Democrats in Congress, but I think all it did was make it harder for them to do what's right when it comes to Iraq.

Disrespectullness and stupidity are a rather common combination of traits these days, but there's no doubt of one thing - it was MoveOn's right to place this ad. As citizens of this country, they're allowed to criticize the government. General Petraeus gave political cover to the Bush Administration, and made himself a political figure as a result. That's how it works in America - high government officials get the good parking spaces, the free office space, and they get to schmooze with all those lobbyists. We citizens get to criticize them when they screw up. That's the deal, and those who don't like it should stay out of politics.

So, in addition to playing into the Republicans' hands on this issue, these Democrats violated one of the most basic principles of American government - the government doesn't get to criticize its citizens for criticizing it. That goes for MoveOn just as much as for Ann Coulter.

Playing into the Republicans' hands, you say? How's that? It's because without them, this worthless piece of crap wouldn't have passed, and the Republicans wouldn't have gotten to stand there acting like they are supporting our people in uniform when they quite clearly are not. I'm sure some of them thought this would give them political cover, but as usual, they were just being fools. Here's what President Bush had to say today at a press conference:

In response to a question at a news conference yesterday, the president said that few Democrats had condemned the ad, "which leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org, or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military."

MoveOn Unmoved By Furor Over Ad Targeting Petraeus

Even though almost half of the Democrats voted in favor of this resolution, Bush lumped them in with those who didn't. How's that political cover working for you guys? And I hope you enjoyed that kick in the crotch, because you richly deserved it. You forgot who works for whom in this country. I hope that you ponder that point while you're nursing that bruise, given to you by one of the folks who feel most entitled to avoid criticism.

Senator Barack Obama handled this the right way, as did many of the Democrats who either voted against the resolution or didn't vote:

Between the two measures, nearly every member of the Senate had repudiated MoveOn, including Democratic presidential contender Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Obama, who both voted for the Democratic version that did not include MoveOn's name but said there had been an "unwarranted personal attack" on Petraeus.

MoveOn Unmoved By Furor Over Ad Targeting Petraeus

Obama stated his opinion without resorting to an un-American resolution, as could the losers on this list had they chosen.

Courtesy of TPM Election Central, here is the list of awardees.

Max Baucus (MT)

Evan Bayh (IN)

Benjamin Cardin (MD)

Thomas Carper (DE)

Robert Casey (PA)

Kent Conrad (ND)

Byron Dorgan (ND)

Dianne Feinstein (CA)

Tim Johnson (SD)

Amy Klobuchar (MN)

Herb Kohl (WI)

Mary Landrieu (LA)

Patrick Leahy (VT)

Blanche Lincoln (AR)

Claire McCaskill (MO)

Barbara Mikulski (MD)

Bill Nelson (FL)

Ben Nelson (NE)

Mark Pryor (AR)

Ken Salazar (CO)

Jon Tester (MT)

James Webb (VA)

Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy your biscuits. I'm sure MoveOn appreciates how you've distorted the curve. Compared to you, they look like geniuses.

Incidentally, the official roll call seems to confirm this count. If anyone has reached this list in error, please let me know.

UPDATE: Corrected to say that Barack Obama handled this correctly. An earlier edition had mentioned that Hillary Clinton was the one who criticized MoveOn but didn't vote for the resolution. I found her handling of this satisfactory as well, but she wasn't the one to whom the quote belonged.