Ben and Jerry / MoveOn.org & John Wagner / The Washington Post – 2015-08-20 00:21:51
http://moveon.org/ecard/withhold_money/index2.html
ACTION ALERT: No Money for War Hawks
Ben and Jerry / MoveOn.org
(August 19, 2015) — This is Ben and Jerry — yes, of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. We’re writing today to ask for your help to stop another disastrous, unnecessary, Middle East war.
Right now we have an amazing opportunity to defend the Obama Administration’s historic diplomatic deal to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And yet, some of the same warmongers who led us into Iraq want to sabotage this deal and put us on a path to war with Iran — and some Democrats are thinking about going along with them!
That’s not the leadership we need. We need more voices like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has declared, “The test of a great nation is not how many wars it can engage in, it is how it can resolve international conflicts in a peaceful manner.” [See story below — EAW.]”
That’s why we’re asking you to join us and sign a petition that sends a strong message to all Democrats: If you undermine the Obama Administration’s historic diplomatic agreement with Iran, we’ll withhold all campaign donations from your campaigns and party committees in the next election.
If the Senate overrides President’s Obama’s Iran deal, it risks putting us on a path toward war. But despite that — and despite thousands of phone calls, petitions, and meetings — we’re still FOUR VOTES SHORT of what we need to stop the Senate from doing just that, according to media reports. 1
So it’s time to start talking in terms that politicians understand: money.
It’s that simple. Be the party of peace and diplomacy — or don’t expect any support when you’re running on your record of saber-rattling and fear-mongering.
Will you click here to sign the petition with us — and join MoveOn’s donor strike?
We’re businesspeople — and we know that if we sold an inferior product, people would stop buying it.
Well, Democrats who side with war hawks instead of diplomacy and peace are selling an inferior product. And we’re not buying it anymore.
These Democrats just need to learn from recent history. They were bulldozed into giving President George W. Bush the power to invade Iraq. Look how that turned out!
And now wimps like Senator Chuck Schumer — who expects to be the next Senate Democratic Leader — are coming out against the deal.2 He was wrong on Iraq. Now, he’s wrong on Iran.
And Senator Robert Menendez today came out against the deal — in spite of the fact that he was elected in 2006 based on his vote against the Iraq War.3 He was right on Iraq, but now he’s on the wrong side of history.
That’s not the leadership we need. We need more voices like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who believe that “war should be the last resort.”4
So far, more than 25,000 MoveOn members have signed the petition and made the pledge. We’re just two more — and we hope you’ll join us.
Click here to sign the petition. Join MoveOn’s donor strike now and let’s stop a war before it begins.
Tell the folks in Washington, DC:
I commit to withholding contributions from individual Democrats — and from any party committee supporting them — if they succeed in sabotaging President Obama’s diplomatic agreement with Iran.”
As businesspeople, we understand the “bottom line.” And here’s what it is: Democratic wimps and chicken-hawks need to come to their senses — or be cut off. It’s that simple.
Sincerely,
Ben & Jerry
Thanks for Withholding Your Money from War Hawks!
MoveOn.org
MoveOn is running a massive campaign to make sure a war with Iran never starts, and we have just about four weeks to pull it off. We’re releasing results to the press, and your pledge will make a big difference. We need your help to fund our massive campaign — and win.
Bernie Sanders Announces Support
For Iran Nuclear Deal
John Wagner / The Washington Post
(August 7, 2015) — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, announced his support Friday for the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by President Obama, saying the pact needs “a chance to succeed.”
“The test of a great nation is not how many wars it can engage in, but how it can resolve international conflicts in a peaceful manner,” Sanders said in a statement. “This agreement is obviously not all that many of us would have liked, but it beats the alternative — a war with Iran that could go on for years.”
Sanders said he made his decision following a telephone call Friday with Obama, whom the senator said addressed some of his concerns with the deal, which Republicans and some wary Democrats on Capitol Hill are attempting to scuttle.
The deal has also been endorsed by the Democratic presidential frontrunner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, who took credit last month for “having been part of building the coalition that brought us to the point of this agreement.” Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, another Democratic hopeful, also backs the deal.
Sanders’s statement of support for Obama came a day after Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the presumptive next Democratic leader of the Senate and the most senior Jewish member of Congress, said he would oppose the agreement, citing a concern that Iran would still be free after a decade to build a nuclear bomb. Israeli leaders have strongly condemned the pact, saying it’s a threat to their country’s security.
In his statement, Sanders credited Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry for having “worked through a very difficult process with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran.”
“If Iran does not live up to the agreement, sanctions may be reapplied,” Sanders said. “If Iran moves toward a nuclear weapon, all available options remain on the table. I think it is incumbent upon us, however, to give the negotiated agreement a chance to succeed.”
FOOTNOTES
1. “Whip count: Where the Senate stands on the Iran deal,” The Washington Post, August 13, 2015 http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306202&id=129539-23936879-08ZIG8x&t=8
2. “Sen. Schumer’s illogical case against the Iran deal,” The Washington Post, August 13, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306207&id=129539-23936879-08ZIG8x&t=9
3. ” Democratic U.S. Senator Menendez announces opposition to Iran deal,” Daily Mail, August 18, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306253&id=&t=7&id=129539-23936879-08ZIG8x&t=10
4. ” Sanders Defends Support of Iran Deal As Peace or War Option,” JP Updates, August 10, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306268&id=129539-23936879-08ZIG8x&t=12
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
