This IS the fight

I've been seeing some people expressing frustration that any time at all is being devoted to the MoveOn issue. Their argument goes like this: This fight is a distraction. We should be working to end the war. A 'Sense of the Senate' measure is meaningless. Why are we wasting time on this?

Now that the GOP has their handy little "MoveOn, an organization condemned by the U.S. Senate" talking point they can use it at will to browbeat any Democrat into disavowing citizen activism. Don't think that this will end with today's vote. The next step will be to call on all Democrats, especially those who voted aye, to return any and all money contributed to them by MoveOn PAC and to disavow any involvement with the organization. That means rejecting any efforts by MoveOn to organize on their behalf. And if said Democrats don't go along? Out comes the "Why are you accepting support from an organization that was condemned by the U.S. Senate?"

Many activists are as clueless as Democratic leaders about the importance of framing. They think that fights like this are unimportant, irrelevant and a distraction. They couldn't be more wrong.

Fights like this are at the core of what is going on in America today. Behind all the talk about whether we should withdraw or not in Iraq, whether we should allow habeas corpus for terror suspects, whether we should protect the privacy of Americans against unwarranted (literally) invasion by their government, is the essential question of just who should our leaders be listening to: a small group of influence peddlers in Washington or the citizens of the United States of America?

MoveOn has a mailing list of over 3 million citizens. They represent a considerable portion of the electorate in this country. They represent more people than some of the same Senators who just condemned them.

Agree or disagree with their opinion. But to condemn the expression of that opinion is about as un-American an act I can think of.

A distraction from the fight? This is the fight!