[UPDATE: The House today passed the war supplemental without timetables for troop withdrawal 226-202. Of the yes votes, 221 were Democrats. Of the no votes, 32 were Democrats, including Vermont Rep. Peter Welch. Welch was reported to be leaning toward voting yes, despite his promise during the Bush Administration that he would not vote for war funding without withdrawal timetables. Some activists are crediting the netroots with energizing enough constituents to gather up the 32 votes against, including some representatives who were wavering or known to be yes votes. Jane Hamsher at firedoglake cited GMD and Odum for keeping the pressure on Peter to do the right thing and keep his promise. –Nanuq]
Robert Greenwald is one of the most prominent and influential voices in the new media. Apart from his groundbreaking web work as founder of Brave New Films, he has produced and directed such films as “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” (2006), “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” (2005), and “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” (2004), to name a few. As his website bio says, he has “produced and/or directed more than 55 television movies, miniseries and feature films. Greenwald’s films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute.”
And he has a message for Green Mountain Daily Readers, as well as Rep. Peter Welch:
According to Jane Hamsher at firedoglake (who has taken point on this issue), a mere 4 votes are necessary to block the latest request for supplemental Iraq (yes, and Afghanistan) War funding. Welch and others pledged not to vote on such further appropriations without the inclusion of a timetable for withdrawal, and word on the Hill is that Welch may be among those signatories who may reverse themselves on the issue under pressure from the new, Democratic administration.
It’s past time for the progressive wing of the party to stand up and expect the same deference being shown by the Obama administration to the congressional blue dogs. Call Welch and let him know you look forward to him sticking to his pledge to Vermonters at (888) 605-7270 (toll free in Vermont),(802) 652-2450, and/or (202) 225-4115 (here’s the fdl whip tool again).
First, there’s a difference between what Robert Greenwald is asking for and what Rep. Welch pledged to. Peter promised to vote against any war funding that did not include a troop withdrawal timetable. Greenwald is hoping to end the war(s), period.
Second, it’s great to activate GMDers to call Peter Welch to register their opinions on an issue of importance to most of us, but since when did we have to rely on (ahem) outside agitators to make it happen?
I also have questions: is this bill funding just the Iraq war? And don’t we already have troop withdrawal schedules for Iraq? My impression from doing some scanning is that the bill includes Afghanistan — and that’s where the troop withdrawal issue is.
In any case, I’d like to hope that Peter will keep his promise rather than caving in to some quid pro quo from leadership. And I called to tell him so.
NanuqFC
The American people are quite competent to judge a political party that works both sides of the street. ~ FDR, Boston, Nov. 4, 1944
Digby has a great write-up of this campaign.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/underground-drama-by-digby-for-some.html
Gotta give credit to the blogosphere (Jane Hamsher in particular) for keeping the issue alive.
http://action.firedoglake.com/…
this morning.
Peter Welch has taken a lot of shit over his position on the war in Iraq (http://fivebeforechaos.com/2007/11/11/welch-gets-earful/), and around here we’ve definitely argued the need to keep up the pressure. For instance, this thread is all about providing the motivation and the backing to stand up to the administration and the leadership in Congress to stand by his pledge.
The update from NanuqFC at the top shows us the results: we didn’t win the vote to deny funds for the war without a timetable for withdrawal, but Peter Welch stood up for the Vermonters who elected him and stood by his pledge.
Thanks, Peter.