OFFTHEBUS SPECIAL OPS ASSIGNMENT #7: TODAY - Nov. 4, 2008

Hi, 

Below is your next assignment -- 

We're going to ask all OffTheBus members to send us the sleaze and smears showing up in their mailboxes. We need you to take this investigation one step further, and run your own investigation. Email your friends and family asking them to share the offending material with you, and publish it at OffTheBus. 

Best,
Amanda Michel

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OFFTHEBUS SPECIAL OPS ASSIGNMENT #7: TODAY - Nov. 4, 2008 

SITUATION: Smears, hoaxes, and malicious lies are being spread about the presidential candidates through email, fliers, direct mail, and more. What used to be known as a "whisper campaign" is a loud and ferocious force this election season. 

ASSIGNMENT: Email all of your friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues and ask them to pass on any suspect material to you. Collect the samples and send them to us at specialops@huffingtonpost.com, along with a brief paragraph for each piece noting: when it was received, the city/state of the recipient, information about publisher/organization (quick research online), etc.. Or, if you're so inclined, write up a blogpost about the piece. 

We are not just looking for emails! We're looking for pieces sent as supplements in newspapers or direct mail (in the guise of organizational letters, personal notes, etc.) 

If you only have a hard copy, you can send it to us in a few ways: photograph (use digital camera), photocopy and fax, or scan the offending materials. MAKE SURE to write a quick paragraph telling us when you got it, who sent it, and any other information you about the mailing. Fax it to us at (646) 274-2457. If you aren't able to do this at home, consider going to a local printer where you can easily scan the piece and then send us a color digital image. See an example of scanned material - and a post - here: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denise-dennis/new-york-times-includes-i_b_125317.html

We have the advantage of size. Let's use it. Hundreds of reliable reports may disclose patterns and trends that elude more traditional reporting techniques.

Largest Deployment of Wisconsin Army National Guard Troops Since World War II Made to Iraq

By: Harry Waisbren

My fellow political activist and concerned citizen Patty Zahler just sent me this gut-wrenching link about how nearly 3,500 Wisconsin Naitonal Guard members are being called up to serve in Iraq in the "largest deployment of Wisconsin Army National Guard troops since WWII."

Now one would think, at least in a rational universe, that if we are "winning in Iraq" This wouldn't be needed. We are supposed to be scaling down our presence in Iraq all thanks to the surge, the courage of John McCain, and the greatness of General Petraeus, something like this would not be needed. However, we live in this bizarro universe:

U.S. officials say the relative peace in Iraq - attacks by insurgents have fallen 80% since last year - remains fragile. A lack of progress in resolving the country's political divisions could trigger more violence, especially if large U.S. units pull out, Pentagon officials say. When the British pulled out of the southern city of Basra in 2007, the resulting vacuum was filled by Shi'ite militia units until the Iraqi government sent in its improving army in March and brought the city under Baghdad's control. And Bush doesn't want to begin a major withdrawal that could jeopardize recent security gains as his successor takes office.

Blatant political posturing that puts party and candidate ahead of country is bad enough, but then we also have news that the pentagon is officially declaring our Afghanistan strategy as unsuccessful as well as reports that our country remains “dangerously vulnerable” to chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks.

And how does the media and both political parties get away with not focusing on these issues? As Glenn Greenwald notes:

We're fighting multiple wars; our oldest and most established financial institutions are on the verge of collapse; we've fundamentally transformed and then dismantled our constitutional framework over the last eight years, etc. etc. But the Right and their media partners are striving to ensure that our election this year is going to be dominated and determined by whether John Kerry looks stupid in wind-surfing tights Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a "pig" when he invoked a meaningless cliché.

Bizarro universe indeed.

What the Progressive Response Should Have Been

By: Harry Waisbren

Matt Stoller brings up a point that any progressive or general person who wants change should consider. He writes about how a real progressive candidate would have "stepped on McCain's message" following the RNC:

A real progressive candidate would have stepped on the Republican National Convention by pointing to the arrest of Amy Goodman and saying 'We do not arrest journalists in this country for reporting a story, we do not cage our citizens, that's what they do in China.  Because if security forces at political conventions are willing to arrest peaceful protesters and journalists, they are willing to arrest you.'  The youtube video of Goodman is really shocking, and 800k people have seen it.  It's there for anyone to see, viscerally powerful.  If anyone wants to know what a strong progressive message looks like, it's that.

That would have instantly moved all the press from the Xcel Center into the streets and put the emphasis on the security apparatus.  Palin would be an afterthought.  And the election would be decided on the basis of whether the public wants a President who stands up for their rights or whether the public wants a President who stands up for the government's right to imprison them.

I think Stoller is entirely right that the disturbing militarization of the RNC should have been a prime talking point and action item. The most important change our country needs is to END OUR PATH TOWARDS BECOMING A POLICE STATE!

This is a bipartisan issue that has fueled the base of the democratic and republican party (through the Ron Paul supporters) alike, and Obama should care enough about civil liberties to deal with the repurcussions his campaign would face from defending the dirty hippies. In fact, such repurcussions very likely could have been turned positive, as it would have been a democrat actually showing backbone and standing up to the Republicans for once. Instead, we get to see their typical dance of running as far from the notion that they are liberal as possible despite what it means for the country. This is exactly why democrats are a bipartisan laughing stock---they are willing to sell out any core belief in the name of political expediency, and yet don't even see that it makes them look like the nerd willing to sell out his best friend to sit at the popular kids' table. 

Don't think this issue is important? Watch the Amy Goodman arrest video and ask yourself if this was the country all of the patriots that came before us fought and died for:

More IVAW RNC Exploits

By: Harry Waisbren

Madison IVAW member Todd Dennis just posted another video of their RNC exploits on his Facebook page. Todd described it like this:

Iraq Veterans Against the War marched on the RNC in St. Paul Minnesota to
protest the war, and deliver a letter on the treatment of veterans of the Iraq
and Afghanistan War. McCain's representatives refused to receive the letter or
meet with the IVAW representative. ...

McCain's diss of our troops isn't really shocking at all considering McCain was even publicly harranged by a veteran during his RNC speech. Even if he wasn't Cheney 2.0 our vets should going after him. I mean,the guy had the audacity to oppose the recently passed GI Bill causing him to have absolutely no answer for when a soldier asked him why he was "fighting to kill" his "one hope and dream" to go to college. Anyways, check out IVAW doing their damndest to make sure as many people know about his horrendous treatment of veterans bellow:

Join the McCain Truth Squad

By: Harry Waisbren

I just received the following email from Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films:

Dear Harry,

The Real McCain 2 reached an astonishing 4 million views last week, just as the McCain campaign was trotting out lie after lie at the Republican National Convention. Coincidence? We don't think so. To us, this unprecedented number suggests that the public is desperately seeking the truth about John McCain -- a truth the corporate press still isn't providing.

We're hearing reports of a lot of hand-wringing from people who are scared and don't know what to do. So we came up with a way to put that nervous energy to good use! Join the McCain Truth Squad and a couple of times a week we will send you McCain videos for you to forward on with a personal note to your friends, colleagues and family members.

Join the McCain Truth Squad: http://therealmccain.com/squad?utm_source=rgemail

I immediately signed up for the McCain Truth Squad and am excited to get involved. Brave New Films is an incredible organization and has been a huge assett in exposing the hypocrisy inherrent in our media's McCain lovefest through their Real McCain: Less Jobs More Wars camapign. In fact, it was this campaign that first brought McCain's ridiculous number of houses into the public consciousness, later evolving into a prime democratic talking point regarding McCain's elitism.

In adition, Brave New Films is running the Fox Attacks campaign as well as powering the Meet the Bloggers web TV show. I try to follow and blog about any Brave New Films initiative, and I am hoping to become increasingly involved as they develop more and more ways for me bloggers/political activists like me to do so.

If you need more convincing though, become the 4 million and first person to check out their The Real McCain 2 video:

MTV Host Gets Political

By: Harry Waisbren

I'm far from a fan of MTV (it makes you teh stupid), but it's great to see some political passion for something other than celebrity trials and tribulations. I guess I can't be too harsh since we can say that for most of our media though too (via Open Left):

Investigation Needed For Track Palin Deployment Leaks

By: Harry Waisbren

I just received this email from Jon Soltz of Votevets.org:

Dear VoteVets.org Supporter,

One the most disturbing developments we at VoteVets.org have seen this week are media outlets reporting details regarding the deployment of Track Palin to Iraq, Governor Sarah Palin’s son.  In a number of outlets, the details of when and where Track will be in Iraq have been reported.  This isn’t just a violation of Operational Security (OPSEC), it puts the lives of every troop around him in danger.

It’s time for the Department of Defense to investigate who is leaking these details to the media.  And, we need you to co-sign our letter to the Pentagon to get an investigation underway.

CO-SIGN OUR LETTER DEMANDING AN INVESTIGATION HERE

We’re all proud of every child of a politician who is serving in uniform – Democrat and Republican.  And, their parents deserve to be proud.  That’s not the point.

When someone chooses to bolster that story by leaking classified details to the media, it allows the enemy to gain valuable information that allows them to strike at a symbolic target of importance – and all the troops around that target.  It’s dangerous, it’s illegal, and it needs to be investigated.

SIGN OUR LETTER HERE, TO STOP LEAKS OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

Whoever is divulging this information to the media should be prosecuted and punished, if found guilty.  Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or of another party, we should all agree that we cannot accept anyone feeding classified details to the press.  Join us in demanding the Pentagon investigate.

Sincerely,
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org

And Brandon, Peter, Brian, and the rest of the VoteVets.org team

As a mere concerned citizen I do not know much about the dynamics of leaked deployments, but I do trust Sotlz's judgement. And he seems real pissed. Before this email even went out he included it as but one of the myriad of ways that the RNC and Republicans insulted our troops in a post at the Huffington Post. 

So sign the petition, and sign up for email alerts from Vote Vets while you're at it too. If you need more convincing, watch the video below to learn more about Vote Vets' story: