One of my favorite movies is A Bug's Life. There is a scene that I will never forget. Two grasshoppers, Molt and Hopper, are discussing a previous meeting they had with the ants. Hopper had taken it easy on an ant. Molt was furious while the Hopper couldn't see what the big deal was. Molt throws a seed at Hopper and then a second seed and then a third, and finally, he pulls the lever and and all the seeds come flowing down upon Hopper until he is overwhelmed by the seeds.
""Molt: You let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they ever figure that out there goes our way of life! It's not about food, it's about keeping those ants in line. That's why we're going back! Does anybody else wanna stay?
[grasshoppers shocked - all the grasshoppers "rev up" their wings]
Molt: [motioning a fellow grasshopper] He's quite the motivational speaker, isn't he?
Hopper: Let's ride!""
That's the thing about bullies. They rule by fear. Their power is a facade that is taken away the minute someone stands up to them. In reality they are cowards. The sort of folks that can dish things out but have a big problem taking them. (for a perfect example of bully behavior only look at the way Rosie acted towards Liz Hasselback as soon as Liz stood up to her) We have reached that moment folks with regards to Moveon. Just like all of the ants we also have a chance to stand up all at once and pull away the facade that they have.
I give a big Hat Tip to Michelle Malkin on this one, and after reading my post, I encourage all that agree with to stand in solidarity.
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/09/29/fight-the-bully-smear-merchants-at-...
A group called Cafe Press decided to capitalize on the controversy that resulted from the Betray Us ad. They created tee shirts, bumper stickers, mugs and more items basically stating how they felt about the controversy and sold them on their web site. Moveon, the great defender of free speech as long as it is their speech they defend, immediately cried foul. Moveon proclaimed that their logos were used in violation of trademark infringement laws and demanded, under threat of lawsuit, that their logo be removed immediately.
This of course is nothing more than a smoke screen. Michelle explains the lunacy of this legal arguement...
""Last week it demanded that the site remove eight items, arguing that they violated MoveOn’s merchandising trademarks.
Trademark law doesn’t confer monopoly rights over all uses of a registered phrase or symbol, however, and it wasn’t created simply to protect the trademark owner’s interests. Instead, it’s designed to protect consumers against being misled or confused about brands. The courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of parodies and critiques; that’s why www.famousbrandnamesucks.com doesn’t violate famousbrandname’s trademark. And most, if not all, of the items targeted by MoveOn were clearly designed to razz it, not to trick buyers into thinking they were the group’s products.
Beyond that, it’s amazing that MoveOn would try to squelch political speech.""
The reality it that Moveon.org is perfectly happy defending free speech for vitriolic attacks as long as they are attacking, but the minute they are attacked, they stomp their feet and scream and shout, just like Rosie did the minute when Hasselback finally stood up to her.
Now, comes our part. If anyone reading this has a blog, I encourage all of you not only to blog about it, but to put up the pictures in solidarity. I encourage you to create links to Cafe Press where their items are sold, and furthermore, I encourage you to email Moveon.org and let them know what you are doing. Let them know that if they are going to sue, there will be an awful lot of defendents on the plate. Just like the grasshopper, Moveon rules by fear. The rule by fear of slander, fear of lawsuits, and fear of personal attacks, but our community is bigger than theirs and if we stand up all at once, their facade of power will be revealed and like all bullies they will wimper quietly back in their holes like the grass hoppers ultimately did in A Bug's Life (sorry for ruining the movie for anyone that didn't see it but it is animation what kind of ending did you think it had)
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