[Peace-discuss] Reporting the truth about war. (fwd)

Wed Mar 26 20:52:17 CST 2003

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 17:05:35 -0800 (PST)
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help at list.moveon.org>
To: Paul Patton <ppatton at uiuc.edu>
Subject: Reporting the truth about war.

Dear MoveOn member,

Our country is at war, and many of us continue to feel grief
and anger that this terrible conflict is being fought on our
behalf.  It's a hard time.

It's also a critical time for us to stay involved.  As we report
below, together we've had some amazing successes over the last
month, both domestically and in opposition to this war.  We
need to keep this momentum building.  As a next step, please
consider joining MoveOn's Media Corps -- a group of committed
online activists who will keep the media accountable.  Help
make sure that our news media report the war the way it
happens, not the way the Bush Administration wishes it would
happen.

You can sign up now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/mediacorps/

American media outlets have chosen to stifle or simply not
show the most terrible and saddening aspects of this war.
They are reluctant to air the voices of critics who are raising
important questions about its effectiveness and purpose.  And
they appear to have acceded to the Bush Administration's
desire to black out pictures or footage of civilian
casualties.

Now more than ever, it's important that the media report the
full story, unvarnished and unspun.  But all we see on TV are
retired military officers and Administration officials
narrating a clean and precise war that bears little resemblance
to the chaos, bloodshed, and tragedy on the ground.

We need to demand the full picture.  Please consider joining
the MoveOn Media Corps right now.  The action ideas we send
you won't generally take longer than 15 minutes, but to be
part of the Corps we ask that you commit to taking up to one
action per day.  The actions could include calling media
outlets when they air especially bad coverage, pushing Clear
Channel radio to stop censoring anti-war songs, or writing
letters to the editor.

Sign up right now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/mediacorps/

The MoveOn Media Corps is just a part of our ongoing work.
Over the last month, we've launched a variety of impressive
initiatives, thanks to you.  This war is tragic, but there
really is hope: more of us are active than ever before,
we're winning domestic policy battles, and we're changing the
international landscape.  If we stick together, in the end,
we'll win.

One exciting internal development is the growth of MoveOn.org
itself.  In July 2002, we had a little over 480,000 folks on
our domestic list, with another 390,000 MoveOn members in
other countries around the world.  Today, less than eight
months later, there are over 1,300,000 of us in the United
States alone. (Think of it this way -- one out of every 216
Americans is a MoveOn member.) With our 750,000 international
members, we're over two million strong.

It's not just that there are a lot of us, of course.  We're
also getting things done.  In reverse chronological order,
here are some of our events and campaigns since the beginning
of March:

 (*) TUESDAY, MARCH 25TH: Big win on tax fairness

Almost 10,000 phone calls from MoveOn members helped Democrats
win with a razor-thin majority in the Senate, cutting the Bush
tax cut by half.  The AFL-CIO helped make these calls possible
by providing a toll-free phone line to Capitol Hill.

 (*) SATURDAY, MARCH 22ND: Hundreds of thousands march in NYC

MoveOn members and many others peacefully marched in one of
the largest domestic anti-war events in the last thirty years.
Organizers put the crowd at over a quarter of a million
folks -- and this wasn't even a nationally promoted march.

 (*) FRIDAY, MARCH 21ST: Raised over $500,000 for Oxfam

Over 6,000 MoveOn members chipped in over half a million
dollars in a matter of days to help support desperately needed
humanitarian aid work in Iraq.  If you haven't yet given, your
contribution would still be put to very good use.  Go to:

   http://www.moveon.org/oxfam/

 (*) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19TH: Launch of Citizens' Declaration

Our Citizens' Declaration urged folks to pledge a continued
commitment to opposing the Bush war policy and to resolving
conflict through international institutions.  The response was
tremendous -- by now, over 550,000 signers from virtually
every country in the world have signed.

We still encourage folks to sign up -- you can do so now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/declaration/

The Citizens' Declaration was also highlighted as the
centerpiece of a Washington Post editorial. "The sentiments in
that statement could be endorsed by much of the American
foreign policy establishment," wrote Robert Kuttner, the
author.  You can read the whole editorial at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8220-2003Mar21.html

 (*) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19TH: We win Senate vote on ANWR

Here's what Peter Schurman, MoveOn's executive director, wrote
to the members from key states who participated in this fight:

"The Senate voted 52-48 today to protect the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling, by removing from  the
budget bill a provision that would have permitted drilling
there.  More than 2,000 MoveOn members helped make this
possible by calling key Senators since yesterday.  It may have
made all the difference: two of the swing votes on whom we
focused most attention, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Mark
Pryor (D-AR), both voted to protect the Refuge.  They made up
the margin of victory today."

 (*) MONDAY, MARCH 17TH: Thousands of lights in windows.

Following on our global candlelight vigil, we asked folks to
put a light in their window every night:

"It could be a Christmas string or candle, a light bulb, or a
lantern. It's an easy way to keep the light of reason and hope
burning, to let others know that they are not alone, and to
show the way home to the young men and women who are on their
way to Iraq."

By now, over 96,000 of us in over 200 countries have
registered that we're keeping the light burning.

 (*) Sunday, March 16th: Over 6,700 vigils in 141 countries.

>From our follow-up message on the global candlelight vigils:

"People came together in thousands of towns and villages
around the world -- a truly global vigil for peace. The vigils
came in all shapes and sizes.  There were vigils with ten
people and vigils with thousands.  There were vigils in homes,
in churches, and in open fields.  People joined together to
share their commitment to making a better world."

For some amazing pictures of vigils around the world, go to:

   http://www.moveon.org/vigil/

 (*) MONDAY, MARCH 10TH: U.N. emergency petition delivered.

In less than a week, MoveOn members in the United States and
around the world gathered over a million petition signatures
to deliver to the members of the U.N. Security Council.  Our
message was simple: "The U.N. Security Council should back
tough inspections, not war."  Along with actors Jessica Lange,
Steve Buscemi, and Ethan Hawke, we delivered the petition in a
press conference at the U.N.  And it appears that we had an
impact -- the United States and Britain abandoned their push
for a second resolution because they could not get the
necessary votes.

The final count on our emergency petition was 1,030,775.

 (*) THURSDAY, MARCH 6TH: Dems filibuster Estrada

With the support of more than 40,000 phone calls from
MoveOn members, the Democrats are now taking a stand against
a far-right judiciary.  A filibuster against Miguel Estrada,
a stealth right-wing nominee, has held for six weeks now, and
survived three attempts to end it.  Senate Democrats are
learning the power of unity, proving to themselves that they
can prevent the right wing from taking even greater control
over our lives.  This filibuster has stiffened Democrats'
resolve across the board, enabling other victories as well.

For a tactical report on our domestic work from Peter Schurman,
go to:

   http://www.moveon.org/otherside.html

We'll keep on working -- there's a lot to do, both
domestically and internationally.  For now, take a moment to
thank yourself for being a part of this tsunami of action.
We really are changing the country and the world.

With great appreciation from all of us,

--The MoveOn Team
  Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Wes, and Zack
  March 26th, 2003

P.S.  We do this work with only four paid staff; the folks on
our list pay for our operating expenses and salaries. If you'd
like to chip in, you can contribute by credit card or check
at:

   http://www.moveon.org/support.html

P.P.S. If you're looking for other ways to help out, think
again about the Media Corps.  You can sign up right now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/mediacorps/

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