Truth and somethin' else

This morning, NPR ran a story about MoveOn.org's ad regarding Rudy Giuliani's decision to quit the Iraq Study Group because he was too busy giving speeches. The overarching topic was MoveOn's use of the phrase "Betrayal of trust" and how it has appeared in a couple other ads recently, one targeting General Petraeus and the other aimed at President Bush.

I am actually a MoveOn member. What does that mean? It means a friend forwarded me an email from MoveOn that encouraged people to sign a petition, probably about Iraq or Global Warming. I signed the petition and joined the organization. So I had seen the Giuliani ad before hearing the NPR spot.

One reason I liked MoveOn is that they do a very good job of presenting sources to back up their claims. Whenever they send me an email, they always list several credible sources. These are also available on their web site. Here are the sources for the Giuliani ad: http://pol.moveon.org/giuliani/

What struck me most about the NPR spot was a counter ad against MoveOn charging them with "name-calling." Basically, the ad said that MoveOn was a naughty organization for daring to run a negative ad, and used mud-slinging tactics. What was glaring was what the ad did not say. The counter-ad did not refute the charges levied by MoveOn against Giuliani. The counter-ad did not try to say that MoveOn's claims were false. The counter-ad did not try to give other reasons for Giuliani quitting the Iraq Study Group.

The counter-ads message: don't give the public reasons to doubt Giuliani because it's not nice. Since when do conservatives worry about not being nice?