13 May 2004 Not On Your Life

Today’s MoveOn.org Daily Mislead once again betrays MoveOn.org’s desperate desire to attack President Bush, even at the expense of both the truth and common sense.

The publication today condemns Bush for “refusing to condemn[the Bush administration’s] right-wing allies who are making light of the situation and defending torture.”

In an attempt to find something, anything, on which to condemn the President, MoveOn.org mischaracterizes comments by Rush Limbaugh and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) in a manner apparently intended to mislead readers into believing that the talk show host and Senator approve of all the inappropriate actions of some soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison. in fact, both men have forcefully said they do not approve of those activities. Neither man has “defend[ed] torture”; both have condemned mistreatment of detainees.

However, is it really the President’s responsibility to monitor the public speech of every prominent American and issue condemnatory statements every time he disagrees with someone? Not on your life — and I don’t mean that phrase rhetorically.

President Bush has a war on terror to win. He’s President of the United States; not a media critic.

If MoveOn.org truly disagrees with Rush Limbaugh and Senator Inhofe, it can criticize the men. To do so credibly, it should start by telling the truth about what the men really believe.