Another day, another desperate, misleading attack ad from a Republican candidate.
Jim Gerlach, the incumbent republican in Pennsylvania’s Sixth District, has accused Democratic candidate Lois Murphy of being Anti-Semitic because — get this — she is supported by MoveOn.org. In what way is MoveOn an anti-semitic organization, you ask? They have an open forum on their website; a few anonymous posters used it to write anti-semitic messages.
Thus, the organization, itself, is anti-semitic.
Ooooo-kaaaaay. Obviously, Gerlach is not a golfer. </gratuitous Lebowski reference>
Here is Murphy’s statement on the issue:
True to form, a recent Gerlach radio ad attacks me by charging that I am supported by a group he labels anti-Semitic, and suggests that I endorse anti-Semitism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is this charge highly offensive, but it is grossly inaccurate and unbecoming for any member of Congress to throw around this heinous charge in a desperate attempt to remain in office. Such improper language is counterproductive and undermines the seriousness of the issue.
Let’s set the record straight. MoveOn.org has a website that includes an open forum where anyone can post messages. A few of those messages—written by people who were not in fact members of the organization—contained offensive remarks. MoveOn.org acted swiftly to remove the messages, apologized, and immediately condemned them.
The Anti-Defamation League, which strives to end “defamation of Jewish people,” issued a statement by national director Abraham Foxman on its website titled “ADL Welcomes MoveOn.org’s Responsiveness in Removing Anti-Semitic Messages.” The message also said that “ADL is pleased with Mr. Pariser’s (executive director of MoveOn.org) responsiveness to our concerns and believes the matter has been resolved satisfactorily.”
To see the ADL’s statement in its entirety, click here.
I love the smell of desperation on Election Day morning.
Update: Please do not feed the trolls.
9 Comments on "Another New Low"
Bill Levinson:
http://netwmd.com/blog/2006/10/28/1116 proves that MoveOn.org not only knew about the hate speech at its Action Forum, its moderators read each hate speech item twice and chose to let this material stand while deleting material critical of MoveOn.org.
Jim Gerlach is 100 percent right. Lois Murphy can’t control whether MoveOn endorses her but she can sure control whether she accepts the endorsement.
MoveOn’s press release that denied knowlege of the hate speech is an out-and-out lie as proven by MoveOn’s own Action Forum FAQ page, that says the moderators read each Action Forum comment twice.
Eli:
Murphy is also supported by a lot of people who hate Joe Lieberman.
Q.E.D.
Bill Levinson:
Eli,
It’s “Jew Lieberman” to Murphy’s friends at MoveOn.org.
Fred:
Must. not. feed. trolls.
Anyways, this is as much of a stretch as the one I used to hear about how Democrats are the ones predominatly racist towards blacks (even though they pick up a majority of said voters) as opposed to Republicans because of Democratic support for social programs. You see that’s what actually keeps the Black man down, not discrimination in housing lending, education, employment etc, etc…it’s teh welfare.
Was Kerry slightly less anti-semitic than Bush in 2004? I wonder what the tortured logic is from these people that explains why the vast majority of Jewish voters voted for Kerry (who picked up much support from Move on) in 2004?
qrswave:
Fred, you’re too patient with these mindless commentators.
I have zero tolerance for this bullsh*t.
The charge of anti-semitism has been so beaten to death that people are becoming desensitized to the stigma associated with it.
Not good.
They’re treading a thin and very dangerous line.
Brad:
Good call. Don’t feed the assbags.
My Uncle has been chest deep in red kool-aid for his entire adult life. After the MoveOn ‘04 campaign commercial contest my Uncle was buying the lies being told by the Oxy-Red Talk Show Hosts, so I had to sit him down in front of a computer and explain it to him. It took a while, and he wasn’t happy, but he understood.
Why do they have such a hard-on for Move-On? My theory is that we are well on our way to organizing like them and they want to tear down anything that emits a contradicting message.
Bill Levinson:
OK, you’ve called me a troll and mindless. Now your evidence that what I said about MoveOn.org is not true? I thought not.
I posted a link with proof that MoveOn.org knowingly and willfully welcomed racist and anti-Semitic hate speech at its Action Forum. I did not make up the “Jew Lieberman” item. Google on “MoveOn.org” and “Jew Lieberman” and you will see what I mean.
Here’s some more, quoted DIRECTLY from the Action Forum. I hope you are reading this on an empty stomach.
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/scores.html?comment_id=302833
“I respect everybody’s opinion but obviously some people hate Jews. I am sure they have their reasons but they should not let whatever bad experience they had with some Jews (and I am sure they had some) interfere with their judgment.”
9 of 10 Action Forum participants voted to AGREE with this statement.
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/scores.html?comment_id=302257
“…I believe that Israelis and their bad behavior is a product of all our money and the strings placed on it by AIPAC, congress, Evangelists and American Jews.
Yes, we have and will go to war for Israel.
Why were Jews hated in Germany, Russia, France, Italy, and the US and around the world. I’d guess they handle success poorly.”
9 of 11 Action Forum participants voted to AGREE
“By continuing the attack on the GOP’s culture of corruption with a call to arrest the Catholic pedophiles of America, we have the ability to break up the perverts and criminals running the country today. WE know there are hundreds of thousands of pedophiles created by the Catholic church’s shuffling them around since 1950.”
“…The vicitm class will expand until you too can be jailed for ridiculously minor offenses while the Catholics are raping your children.”
94% voted to AGREE that the Catholics are raping your children.
” Israel is guilty of war crimes in their cowardely attack on Lebanon and the whining, arrogant Jew [Tom Lantos] wants Lebanon to demonstrate responsibility ! ”
“Today in Israel, school curricula are dominated by the Talmud, especially a specific Talmudic text called Shulhan Aruch. In this text, Jews are commanded to slaughter non-Jews who are viewed more or less as animals or at least lesser human beings. ”
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/scores.html?comment_id=276832
“Thanks Harry, for telling it like it is. Rice and Powell ARE “house slaves”. And the “Republicans ARE like the Jews who worked for Hitler”. And Shrub IS “a tyrant and a terrorist”. Harry, we need people like you in Congress.”
12 of 15 voted to AGREE with this
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/scores.html?&comment_id=304961
“…Removing all Israeli obsessed Jews from congress would stop a lot of killing.”
12 of14 voted to AGREE with this
He didn’t say Zionists, he didn’t say “pro-Israel,” he said JEWS. And the one above this called two prominent African-Americans “house slaves.” And it’s on record that MoveOn.org knowingly and willfully allowed its Action Forum to be used to propagate this stuff which, as I have shown you, garnered overwhelming agreement from the other participants.
There is plenty more where this came from, and MoveOn is 100 percent responsible for it through its proven exercise of editorial control over the Action Forum.
Matt:
Bill, your entire argument is based upon an unprovable claim: that because the Action Forum FAQ says that moderators read every message in the anonymous, open forum twice, they really do read every message twice.
It’s quite clear that MoveOn’s leaders were unaware of these messages until they were alerted by readers and the ADL. Once the matter was brought to their attention, they took action. The ADL, according to their website, “is pleased with Mr. Pariser’s responsiveness to our concerns and believes the matter has been resolved satisfactorily.”
The ADL — an organization whose mission is to “stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people” — is satisfied with MoveOn’s explanation; why aren’t you?
Holding an entire organization responsible for the views expressed by anonymous individuals in a public forum is both intellectually dishonest and patently idiotic. It’s a shame that you can’t see that.
I’ll ask you not to clutter my blog with any more of your rants. You’ve got a blog — use it. Post one more message like those above, and I will delete not only that comment, but every one of your comments on this post.
You have been warned.
upyernoz:
and so matt blows bill levinson’s argument out of the water. apparently that common sense explanation never even occurred to him.
considering the number of jews who work and who have worked for moveon.org (myself included), gerlach’s charge is laughable. i personally can’t wait to vote for lois murphy next week.
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