Dear Democrats, we need to have a talk. The subject of that talk is going to be just how much of a disappointment you are. And face it, you are a disappointment. Your poll numbers don't lie.

The newest installment of your chronicle of disappointments is one that is especially bitter, because it illustrates with startling clarity just how deeply, how irretrievably, you don't get it. I'm talking, of course, about the MoveOn.org censure vote.

The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to condemn the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org for a recent advertisement attacking the top U.S. general in Iraq.

By a 341-79 vote, the House passed a resolution praising the patriotism Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and condemning a MoveOn.org ad that referred to Petraeus as "General Betray Us."

Fine job, ladies and gentlemen. Once again, you have been played like patsies. In New York, you are: Arcuri, Bishop, Engel, Gillibrand, Hall, Israel, Maloney, McCarthy, Meeks and Rangel.

Here's why this is so bad: ignore the disputed ad for a second. MoveOn.org is your ally. From now on, every time they're mentioned in either the lamestream or the rightwing media, presumably in a context that accrues to your benefit, it will be with an asterisk, as follows:

*MoveOn.org was condemned by the United States Congress. They're bad people.

Of course, as these things go, the Petraeus/Betray Us ad was mild. You may have heard the name Ann Coulter before - yes, she's the one who called for the assassination of President Clinton and liberal Supreme Court Justices and then, for good measure, called John Edwards, father of four, a fag. Has the Congress censured her? No, of course not. Or the Smearboat Veterans. Or Michelle Malkin. Or any other rightwing presence since Joe McCarthy, and him only weakly. That's because the right sticks together, and stands up for its own. This is also how they legitimize their hateful modes of discourse.

This isn't brain surgery, except apparently to some members of Congress. What you've done, my dear Democrats, is tar one of your own, one of your strongest and most effective allies, with the odium of censure by a government. Let's ignore for a second the First Amendment implications of this astonishing piece of idiocy - on strictly partisan grounds, this was a self-inflicted wound.

No, actually, it was worse than merely self-inflicted: it was avoidable. You control Congress via a majority delivered to you, inter alia, by MoveOn.org. This language could have been stripped out of the bill it was attached to - and do you think the republicans, if circumstances were reversed, would have batted an eyelash and done anything but?

Talleyrand said once in another context that something was worse than a crime - it was a mistake. Precisely. You may think that MoveOn is a standalone force, devoid of allies. Newsflash: it's not. I'm a member, as are most people in the netroots. You've censured, for all intents and purposes, myself and a lot of my friends.

I can't help but point out some more cruel facts. Face it: you don't have deep reserves of good will left. The war is still going on, and at an accelerated pace. You enabled that. You gave Mr. 28% a free pass on illegal wiretapping. The list continues.

You have some clear choices to make, all of you, not just the ones who voted to condemn MoveOn. You can either realize that the republicans are against you, and that there is no good will, no middle ground, left with them, and thwart them at every turn. Or you can continue to be played, and look forward to renewed minority status.

Clear out or govern.