It’s called hypocrisy.
(Daily Caller) — Life ain’t easy for an anti-war liberal.
President Barack Obama launched air attacks against Libya eight years to the day George Bush sent bombs over Baghdad. Back in 2003, the lefty site MoveOn.org “flexed [its muscle with] ‘virtual marches,’ in which tens of thousands of protesters jammed Senate and White House phones, fax machines and e-mail boxes with antiwar messages.” Originally founded to encourage the public to “move on” from Bill Clinton’s sexual escapades, MoveOn.org repositioned itself as a heavyweight in the early 2000s anti-war movement.
This time around? A little less than a week after the attack, MoveOn.org has articles bashing “Out-of-Control Republicans in Wisconsin,” but hardly a mention of the bombing in Libya. Well, there is a post noting that John McCain called Muammar Gaddafi an “interesting man” on Twitter two years ago. So much for moving on.
After Obama addresses the nation tonight about the government’s recent intervention in Libya, perhaps the left can coalesce around a message. It’s hard enough when the administration won’t call the action a “war,” but anti-war groups with a traditionally liberal bent are having a tough time rallying those who so adamantly opposed Republican President Bush’s war.
“I don’t expect much, to be honest with you,” Eric Garris, founder and managing editor of AntiWar.com, told The Daily Caller. AntiWar.com was established during Bill Clinton’s intervention in Bosnia. The group’s an old hand at nonpartisan anti-war objections. Garris predicted only “small demonstrations” against the recent Libyan conflict and said it would only be included as an “add-on” to demonstrations against the anniversary of Bush’s war.
The past week seems to have borne out that prediction. With rallies already scheduled, the anti-war group Code Pink included the Libya intervention as part of its protest message. Although it was originally an “add on,” Code Pink’s co-founder, Medea Benjamin, said the group tried to make Libya the focus. The turnout, however, wasn’t great.
“We got maybe 2,000 people out at the most,” Benjamin told TheDC. “We used be be able to mobilize tens of thousands of people. And it’s just . . . we don’t have the same numbers anymore.”