Cindy Sheehan

Well, Cindy Sheehan seems to be the big domestic story of the moment, so I guell since I have a blog, I'm supposed to comment on it.

Of course, I empathize with her. She lost her son in a war she didn't believe in. And now she wants to talk to the President and ask him questions like "What is the 'noble cause' justiifying why we are in Iraq?", and "If the cause is so noble, have you asked your daughters to enlist?"

You know the answers he's gonna give, so why ask the question? We're there to "sow freedom", "fight terrorism there so we don't have to here", yada yada yada. You know it's BS, I know its BS, but a large percentage of the country eats that shit up like candy.

And, like Jon Stewart said, we don't send the Bush twins because we actually want to WIN this thing, as fucked up as its become.

Now, on principle, the President should absolutely NOT meet with people who ask to meet him, not even mother of slain Marines. There would be a line from D.C. to Baltimore. But politically, the President should have met with her. He could have turned it into a positive PR thing, and it would have been in the news for a day or so. Now, the media frenzy is out of control, and Bush has himself to blame.

Now, one way I hope the left is different from the right is that we are more honest and less susceptible to towing the party line. So, in all honesty, Ciny Sheehan does seem rather arrogant. I hear her on a radio interview refer to herself as "well spoken" "courageous" and "intelligent". She may be all of these things, but such self promotion just rubs me the wrong way. And her demands to talk to the President are misguided. If she just would call this a protest, which in reality it has become, I'd be so much more supportive. These are minor complaints though, since her saga has morphed into a true anti-war demonstration that is actually gaining some traction with the public. Their message is confused - "Bring the troops home!" "Send more troops!" (perhaps they mean "Send more troops so we can win this thing and then bring the troops home", but that's hard to fit on a sign) - but no more confused than the Administration's war plans.

The reaction to her has been insane. The right wing has truly sunk to new lows. They are publicizing her divorce, called her a traitor, tried to speak for her dead son, and just tonight, G. Gordon Liddy called her "anti-semitic". She's just a grieving mom who wants some answers to why her son had to die. Is that so hard to understand?

And Rush Limbaugh, I simply do not know how he sleeps with himself at night. He actually said that Cindy Sheehan was just making this all up.

The avalanche of hate from the right makes me think that the mom from Vacaville has hit a definite nerve.