Stupid Like a FOX

On the eve of General David Petraeus’s scheduled testimony in front of congress, a political group called MoveOn.org ran an attack against the general, accusing him of betraying America. MoveOn took out a full-page ad in the New York Times. The ad read, “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” Many in and out of congress have condemned the ad, saying that it is inappropriate to attack a serving member of the military, and that General Petraeus is an excellent soldier with a fine record. Pundits on the left and especially on the right have been calling MoveOn’s decision “stupid.” They have said that the public backlash is far more than MoveOn expected, and that this will hurt the anti-war movement more than it helps. Some have even gone as far as suggesting that “heads would roll” within the organization, because so many are so upset over the ad.

Oh how very wrong they all are.

Sure some people don’t like the ad; that’s the point. MoveOn is taking a play from the old USC football playbook, “the student body left.” Although the people at MoveOn are certainly liberal, they are anything but stupid. This ad had been planned for months, if not a year. MoveOn had been noticeably quiet for the six months leading up to the Petraeus report, which was widely expected to be in support of the Bush doctrine in Iraq. The head-honchos in the anti-war community felt that a drastic change was needed in the debate on the Iraq conflict. For too long, in their view, the debate had been on the right side of the spectrum. FOX news has been constantly moving the debate farther right over the past decade. When Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity comes out and say something outrageous, at first the American public is shocked. But as time goes on, we become less and less surprised, and more and more accepting of these outlandish statements. For example, O’Reilly is famous for his absolute disgust for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Recently on his show, which airs on FOX, Bill said “I believe the ACLU doesn’t want us to win against the terrorists, that’s why they’re against wiretapping.” Everyone on the ideological spectrum left and right, want the United States to prevail against global terror. Bill O’Reilly knows that. Bill O also knows that by saying those outlandish statements, he moves the debate farther and farther to the right. If the ACLU representative now has to go on the show and say “no, the ACLU doesn’t like terrorism, we like America!” Then that means the ACLU doesn’t get to talk about wiretapping, and even if they do, who’s gonna believe the guy that was accused of being pro-Bin Laden?

So, MoveOn came up with a simple plan, “let’s pull a FOX.” Let’s get everyone saying the words “General Petraeus” and “betray us” in the same sentence. Their plan worked so beautifully that now there are going to be congressional hearings into the ad that ran for one day in the New York Times. Senators and congressmen on the left and right are coming out and saying “hey, I never called the general a traitor, don’t look at me.” MoveOn paid $65,000 for an ad that’s being shown on every news channel, including FOX, once an hour, around the clock. Stupid? Try stupid like a FOX.