Worthy protests
Right off the bat, let me say this about Cindy Sheehan - she is a brave woman who had a brave son. And, as a grieving mother who has become increasingly disillusioned with not only the War in Iraq, but also with the president she supported twice, she has every right to make her voice be heard.
And the method she has chosen is absolutely brilliant. Seriously, this woman needs to run a public relations firm. She trekked down to Crawford, Texas, and camped out in front of President Bush's ranch while he's on vacation. She did it right in front of the White House press corps ... a press corps that is hot, restless and bored as it waits for the leader of the free world to end his vacation. Day in and day out, Sheehan is the story in Crawford. Her plight is on the news every night and in the papers every morning. She has taken non-violent peaceful protests up a notch, and done more for the anti-war movement in this country than any demonstrator in New York or San Francisco or Chicago could have ever done.
Furthermore, the smear attack conducted on this peaceful, humble (and conservative) woman by those on the right is absolutely disgusting. To say she's attempting to profit from the death of her son is a disgrace and shows just how desperate and despicable some folks are.
Sheehan has put a personal face on this war, and struck a chord across the nation. People of all sorts - liberal and conservative - have driven to Crawford to be a part of the movement she has created. That is a wonderful thing, and it is bringing the necessary attention to personal losses faced by so many families in the country. She has gotten to meet with several members of the president's staff, spoken to national and international press and gotten her message out to the masses.
But she hasn't met with the president ... and she won't.
This makes many people unhappy, particularly some of my friends on the left side of the aisle and practically all of the liberal commentators and bloggers. It doesn't bother me. My friends may be unhappy, but it isn't feasible to expect this woman - one who has an obvious and completely understandable beef wtih the president - to be given the opportunity to sit down for a one-on-one with President Bush.
To expect the president to meet with her might be a beautiful notion, but it's ill-advised for a variety of reasons. The president - be it a poor one who is disliked or an excellent one who is beloved - can not, and should not, but expected to meet with whoever shows up at his or her door. To allow Sheehan the opportunity to meet with Bush would open the floodgates to a host of other individuals clamoring to vent their frustrations with our current leader ... and seeing how more than 50 percent of the nation is unhappy with his style of leadership, this could be quite a long line.
Our nation allows us plenty of avenues to express our discontent - or satisfaction - with our leadership. Sheehan, aside from her desire to meet with the president, is utilizing several of those opportunities. She has used the media and is in the midst of staging a powerful, yet solemn protest at the gates of the most powerful person in the world.
It would be nice if every person could have 10 minutes with the president, but in a nation as large as ours and complex as ours, it just isn't feasible. We must accept the other existing avenues as the best course of actions to let our voice be heard. We must use the pen and the ballot box as the ways of letting our leaders know just how we feel about the issues that mean the most to us.
What all too many are missing as they claim the president is scared to meet with Sheehan is the wonders being done by her mere presence. She is building a groundwell of support from across the political spectrum that may very well be the absolute turning point in the attitudes of this nation toward this conflict.
The eloquent genius of the Civil Rights Movement was not who they got to meet with, but rather what they brought attention to. For Martin Luther King Jr. to have a sit-down chat with George Wallace would have accomplished little, but King's advocation of non-violent resistance to the cruel and inhumane treatment of African-Americans in the American South did wonders for the advancement of equality. It put a human face on the suffering, and automatically put those who wanted to preserve the status quo on the wrong side.
And that's what Sheehan should be striving for her. To meet with the president would only cheapen her experience.
And the method she has chosen is absolutely brilliant. Seriously, this woman needs to run a public relations firm. She trekked down to Crawford, Texas, and camped out in front of President Bush's ranch while he's on vacation. She did it right in front of the White House press corps ... a press corps that is hot, restless and bored as it waits for the leader of the free world to end his vacation. Day in and day out, Sheehan is the story in Crawford. Her plight is on the news every night and in the papers every morning. She has taken non-violent peaceful protests up a notch, and done more for the anti-war movement in this country than any demonstrator in New York or San Francisco or Chicago could have ever done.
Furthermore, the smear attack conducted on this peaceful, humble (and conservative) woman by those on the right is absolutely disgusting. To say she's attempting to profit from the death of her son is a disgrace and shows just how desperate and despicable some folks are.
Sheehan has put a personal face on this war, and struck a chord across the nation. People of all sorts - liberal and conservative - have driven to Crawford to be a part of the movement she has created. That is a wonderful thing, and it is bringing the necessary attention to personal losses faced by so many families in the country. She has gotten to meet with several members of the president's staff, spoken to national and international press and gotten her message out to the masses.
But she hasn't met with the president ... and she won't.
This makes many people unhappy, particularly some of my friends on the left side of the aisle and practically all of the liberal commentators and bloggers. It doesn't bother me. My friends may be unhappy, but it isn't feasible to expect this woman - one who has an obvious and completely understandable beef wtih the president - to be given the opportunity to sit down for a one-on-one with President Bush.
To expect the president to meet with her might be a beautiful notion, but it's ill-advised for a variety of reasons. The president - be it a poor one who is disliked or an excellent one who is beloved - can not, and should not, but expected to meet with whoever shows up at his or her door. To allow Sheehan the opportunity to meet with Bush would open the floodgates to a host of other individuals clamoring to vent their frustrations with our current leader ... and seeing how more than 50 percent of the nation is unhappy with his style of leadership, this could be quite a long line.
Our nation allows us plenty of avenues to express our discontent - or satisfaction - with our leadership. Sheehan, aside from her desire to meet with the president, is utilizing several of those opportunities. She has used the media and is in the midst of staging a powerful, yet solemn protest at the gates of the most powerful person in the world.
It would be nice if every person could have 10 minutes with the president, but in a nation as large as ours and complex as ours, it just isn't feasible. We must accept the other existing avenues as the best course of actions to let our voice be heard. We must use the pen and the ballot box as the ways of letting our leaders know just how we feel about the issues that mean the most to us.
What all too many are missing as they claim the president is scared to meet with Sheehan is the wonders being done by her mere presence. She is building a groundwell of support from across the political spectrum that may very well be the absolute turning point in the attitudes of this nation toward this conflict.
The eloquent genius of the Civil Rights Movement was not who they got to meet with, but rather what they brought attention to. For Martin Luther King Jr. to have a sit-down chat with George Wallace would have accomplished little, but King's advocation of non-violent resistance to the cruel and inhumane treatment of African-Americans in the American South did wonders for the advancement of equality. It put a human face on the suffering, and automatically put those who wanted to preserve the status quo on the wrong side.
And that's what Sheehan should be striving for her. To meet with the president would only cheapen her experience.
posted by Jmac at 9:27 AM
5 Comments:
You may be a Hegelian yet.
Oooo, BURN!
You know what's sad ... I've looked up 'Hegelian' and I'm still not entirely sure what it means. :)
Well, this is the kind of thing that only the "conservative" segments of the media are talking about, but Sheehan did have a meeting with President Bush. After her son was killed. And she had good things to say at the time.
Since then, she has apparently changed her mind and wants to be the grieving mother in front of the cameras. This is her right. Lord knows, a mother should be able to grieve, and her grief need not play by rules of consistency (You seemed "content" with his death a year ago, so you have to be content with it today, etc.)
But, this "poor grieving mother" story is incomplete if it is not also pointed out that she seemed for some time to be okay with Bush. She has either had a recent change of heart, or she is indeed seeking the spotlight. But she is not just some poor grieving woman "looking for answers" out of desparation. Again, she already met with Bush.
But you are absolutely correct that the way she has done this, in order to bring maximum press attention, is nothing short of brilliant (but that only sheds more doubt on the "innocent grief" angle).
In Sheehan's defense, her 'meeting' with Bush was incredibly brief and very, very scripted. He did much of the talking, and she did offer some pointed comments at him but was only given a set amount of time.
Plus, her rationale and thinking has changed greatly since that encounter (she still was somewhat supportive of the war at that time), which is why she wants to meet with him. Her family has literally collapsed, and she's really left looking for some answers. It's hard to point an accusatory finger at someone who is sincerely hurting.
While I don't think Sheehan should have a meeting with Bush per se, I do think she is a sincere individual who is not showboating or trying to bring attention to herself by using her son's death. What could hurt her is by positioning herself with groups like MoveOn.org, who are already clamoring to make ads about this thing.
What she has achieved already is solemn, respectful and poignant. To run an advertising campaign on this would (like meeting with the president) cheapen this.
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