It turns out that MoveOn.org has an online tool to write letters to the editors of newspapers which can be used to create wholly plagiarized letters. Not content to give visitors the capability to write what they think and feel in textboxes, MoveOn has decided it needs to add “talking points” that visitors can either use for inspiration, or potentially as cut-and paste material. MoveOn doesn’t actually say “go ahead, cut and paste this material to make a letter” like Unity08 does, creating some ambiguity. But the opportunity certainly is there.

Has that opportunity been taken? Let’s look at MoveOn.org’s current letter to the editor campaign regarding the legislative priorities of stolid Congressional auto-industry defender John Dingell. Here are the talking points MoveOn.org offers:

# For years, Rep. Dingell has blocked progress on climate solutions in favor of protecting industry interests.

# His recent public call for increased fuel efficiency and other greenhouse gas reductions is a great step, but his vote on the renewable energy bill this weekend did not match his rhetoric.

# The climate crisis will require great leadership to move us into a clean energy economy, and we need to know which side Rep. Dingell is on.

I can’t find a single publication in which any of these talking points are located in a letter to the editor or any other form. Not one. It seems that, presented with the opportunity to act as a empty sockpuppets for MoveOn.org, the members of MoveOn.org have decided they’d rather pass on that and write something of their own instead. MoveOn.org gets bad marks in my book for trying to turn its members into tools, but the membership of MoveOn.org passes with flying colors.