Drudge gets results from MoveOn.org

Matt Drudge writes about another ad at MoveOn.org — as part of their contect for the best 30-second attack ad against Bush — that compares Bush to Hitler. The key part: GRAPHIC: Hitler With Hand Raised BACKGROUND: Sig Heil! Sig Heil! CHYRON: WHAT WERE WAR CRIMES IN 1945 GRAPHIC: President Bush With Hand Raised At ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

Matt Drudge writes about another ad at MoveOn.org -- as part of their contect for the best 30-second attack ad against Bush -- that compares Bush to Hitler. The key part:

Matt Drudge writes about another ad at MoveOn.org — as part of their contect for the best 30-second attack ad against Bush — that compares Bush to Hitler. The key part:

GRAPHIC: Hitler With Hand Raised BACKGROUND: Sig Heil! Sig Heil! CHYRON: WHAT WERE WAR CRIMES IN 1945 GRAPHIC: President Bush With Hand Raised At Inauguration BACKGROUND: Sig Heil! Sig Heil! CHYRON: IS FOREIGN POLICY IN 2003

This was (NOT: SEE CORRECTION) one of MoveOn.org’s fifteen finalists for the ad competition. Or was it? If you now go to MoveOn’s page of commercial finalists, you will note that the ad in question appears to have been yanked. It should have the url: http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=02&size=small But the sequence of ads skips from id=01 to id=03. Damn!! I thought I had my first Godwin award nominee!! Well, at this rate, I seriously doubt that the Nazi analogy well will run dry in 2004. CORRECTION: MoveOn.org has released a statement saying that the Hitler ad was never a finalist:

None of these was our ad, nor did their appearance constitute endorsement or sponsorship by MoveOn.org Voter Fund. They will not appear on TV. We do not support the sentiment expressed in the two Hitler submissions. They were voted down by our members and the public, who reviewed the ads and submitted nearly 3 million critiques in the process of choosing the 15 finalist entries. We agree that the two ads in question were in poor taste and deeply regret that they slipped through our screening process. In the future, if we publish or broadcast raw material, we will create a more effective filtering system.

My apologies for the error. UPDATE: Ralph Peters is definitely a nominee:

I can predict with certainty that Dean’s Internet Gestapo will pounce on this column, twisting the facts and vilifying the writer, just as they do when anyone challenges Howard the Coward. Free speech, you see, is only for the left. Dean wants to muzzle his Democratic competitors, too. He believes the Democratic National Committee should shut them up. His followers try to intimidate other presidential aspirants by surrounding the cars delivering them to their rallies and chanting to drown out their speech. Of course, Dean denies any foreknowledge or blame. These are the techniques employed by Hitler’s Brownshirts. Had Goebbels enjoyed access to the internet, he would have used the same swarm tactics as Dean’s Flannelshirts.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.