Fresh from swallowing the Democratic Party whole (remember their last e mail "we bought it, we own it and we're going to take it back"?) the MoveOn—Dems have belatedly, on December 23,  digested some of the responsibilities.  Like realizing a major holiday with deep personal and religious emotional responses is here.  And so, to prove their bona fides, to prove they care, MoveOn is encouraging its members  to go to the USO website to donate phone cards so overseas troops can at least call loved ones.  Great idea!  Do it!
 
But MoveOn hasn't suddenly turned.  They still disagree with the war in Iraq (their right); they really want to embarrass the Pentagon.  In their e mail they brag how their previous effort encouraging members to donate frequent flyer miles so soldiers on leave can fly home free shamed the Pentagon to paying for these flights.  (Let's be honest, they're right.) And now they've found another flaw to exploit. (Ditto.) 
 
The beauty of democracy, the strengths of competition are on display here.  Doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons is still right.  So do it if you can!
 
Continuing their holiday e mail,  MoveOn has  suddenly noticed the plight of the Iraqi civilians and the toll the war has taken on them. "Massive numbers have been displaced by the escalating violence,"  they breathlessly discover, all of which they earlier ignored when  the escalating violence of Hussein ordered the slaughter of the Kurds; which they ignored while Hussein deliberately flooded the areas of the marsh Arabs forcing their displacement.
 
"Because conditions are so dangerous, humanitarian relief organizations have withdrawn from Iraq," they euphemize, blithely ignoring the cause of the danger——the Iraqi terrorists (you know, the insurgents.)  And so they recommend donating money to the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies.   Hmmm, highly problematic.  Red Crescent Society members are often the problem, not the solution, as terrorists become  ambulance drivers loading their vehicles with weapons and explosives.  And both the International Red Cross and International Red Crescent, which are to provide humanitarian relief to all, have pointedly refused membership to the Israeli Magen Dovid Adom and have banned their symbol, the six pointed Jewish star. 
 
Not very humanitarian.
 
Ethel C. Fenig  12 24 04