Here’s what MTV says about Rock the Vote:

Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, founded in 1990 in response to a wave of attacks on freedom of speech and artistic expression.

Here’s the Rock the Vote website. Can you pick out a theme?

Amusingly, the Draft Card is called “Home feature” as its file name, but this was just a little housekeeping, since it is called by its correct name here, and here.

Rock the Vote and affiliates: Anti-Bush, Anti-War all the way

When you click on the phony Draft Card at Rock the Vote, you get redirected to an organization called the Alliance for Security. The Alliance for Security is run by one Robert Muller, who is an interesting guy.

Thus Rock the Vote, and its president Jehmu Greene are affiliated with Robert Muller, an anti-war, leftist entrepreneur. Muller and RTV head Jehmu Greene jointly run the Rock the Vote blog, for example. (Jehmu Greene has a long affiliation with the DNC and related groups, by the way, as we have learned from Bill at INDC.)

Muller has a number of organizations that he runs or has founded, including the Alliance for Security, the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, the Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign, the Campaign for Criminal Justice Reform, the Justice Project, etc. His VVAF is indirectly connected to the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, and his is an advisor to the new anti-Iraq War organization Operation Truth.

Anti-Iraq War Group “Operation Truth” and Anti-Bush TV ad

Here’s an example of the non-partisan nature of the MTV/Muller effort. This ad, featuring soldier Robert Acosta, put out by Operation Truth talks about three government “lies” — WMD, Saddam/911 linkage, and a quick exit from Iraq — things which, like Acosta’s maimed arm are “not there.”

More helpful ads and PSA’s about the Draft are linked at awptimus, such as Paris Hilton, someone named Lindsay Lohan, and this nasty piece of work.

The Draft: Lies and Damned Lies from Rock the Vote and affiliates

Here’s the AFP story on Congress killing all draft speculation on October 6, with even bill co-sponsor Charlie Rangel voting against his own bill:

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US lawmakers in the House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to require compulsory military service, a vote that Republicans hope will squash speculation about a return to the draft amid US struggles in Iraq. The measure, which sought to require Americans aged 18-26 to perform two years of national service, was defeated with only 2 votes in favor and 396 against.

President George W. Bush hailed the vote, saying: “If this bill were presented to me, I would veto it….America’s all-volunteer military is the best in the world, and reinstating the draft would be bad policy,” Bush said in a statement.

Here’s what anti-war activist Muller and Rock the Vote president Greene said on October 14 in an op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat:

The draft is becoming a political hot potato. Last week, Congress even took the extraordinary step of hastily scheduling a phony vote against legislation to restore the draft. But an empty vote in Congress will not end the debate.

Both presidential candidates have asserted that they oppose a draft. But what draft-age Americans should be asking is how the presidential hopefuls will either increase troop numbers and/or change our foreign policy to reduce force requirements and ensure that a draft does not become necessary.

Notice the squirrelly wording about both candidates opposing a draft. Then RTV backs into its support for the Democratic candidate as the one who will “change our foreign policy.”

Conclusion: I hope youth is smarter today than when I was young

Bill at INDC says that MTV is “trying to scare the dumber portions of the youth of America” into voting against Bush. It would have worked with my cohort, but then again, many of us actually did get drafted.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 16th, 2004 at 5:12 pm and is filed under General, New Media, Polling, Red Shift, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.