The Move-On Ad and Some Comments on Petraeus

I haven't seen it. I doubt that it's as bad as the Republicans are making out -- nothing could be. But it does bring up an interesting thought, which BC points out in this post at AmericaBlog:

So Senator Cornyn believes it's unacceptable for an outside group to impugn the integrity of a war veteran with fallacious attacks. But why does this sound vaguely familiar? Oh yeah, that's right, like when the Swift Boat Veterans falsely attacked John Kerry's character.

Unlike the Swift Boat ads, Moveon doesn't lie, they just doubt the methodology and bias that Petraeus has shown. It's incredibly hypocritical for Republicans to suddenly be up in arms over attacks on military men, when they turned a blind eye in 2004. But shamelessness is the name of their game.

But you see, that's the point. It's OK to lie about someone if you're doing a smear campaign -- the right does it all the time. Just look at any literature put out by the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, the American Family Institute (an official hate group), James Dobson, Lou Sheldon, the Wildmons -- come to think of it, John Cornyn (R-Neverneverland) isn't too firm on reality, either.

But when you publicize uncomfortable truths, that's the last straw.

More on Petraeus: Yes, he's kind of hot, but the chief of CENTCOM doesn't seem to have such a high opinion of his competence or integrity. From Think Progress:

This week, Petraeus — in the first public hearings since taking on his new role — delivered his Iraq assessment to great media fanfare. But where was his boss, Admiral Fallon? Inter-Press Service suggests animosity between the two might be one reason for Fallon’s absence:

Fallon told Petraeus [in March] that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t” and added, “I hate people like that”, the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.

The Washington Post reported this weekend that there is an internal military debate, described as “Armageddon,” brewing between Petraeus and Fallon because the two men have “profoundly different views of the U.S. role in Iraq.”

Looks like Bush forgot to fire a commander who thinks for himself.

And the word is that Petraeus is considering a presidential run sometime in the future. (Read the whole article, but keep in mind that Khadim is not necessarily impartial regarding Petraeus. Also keep in mind that Petraeus is a yes-man -- that's why he still has his job.