Subject: Reporting the truth about war.
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 19:04:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
To: contact@lightmillennium.org
For Fairly Use

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