Cindy Sheehan

You know...I haven't weighed in on the Cindy Sheehan issue yet as I needed time to think about it. I am truly empathetic towards her. Her son died in a battle (yes..he chose to do so) but it was a battle that he was led into with (IMO) false pretenses. There were no WMD's. There was no direct link of Saddam Hussein to September 11th. Bushie has even said so. Yeah, she met with the President once before. That's dandy. He disrespected her by calling her "Mom" and didn't even make eye contact with her. At that time, Cindy seemed to be OK with things. Since then, plenty of issues have come to the forefront of the news that made her change her mind on her stance. Imagine that...someone making an informed decision after getting new information. Careful Cindy...you could be labeled a FLIP FLOPPER. Is she disgracing her son's honor? In my opinion, no. Gung-Ho Americans and Neo-Cons will be quick to say yes, but how many of their kids are actually over there?

I am about to have my first child and my love for that child is so strong already. I can't even begin to feel the pain of a mother who gave birth to, raised and buried her child. Invading Iraq was a mistake, and so now thousands of very young men and women are losing their lives. It's a serious shame. I applaud Mrs. Sheehan for taking a stand. I applaud her for not taking a passive approach to her sons death. I applaud her for being a pain in Bushie's a**. If I still lived in Texas I would be down there with her when I could.

Bush...you are a coward. You are a coward of the highest degree. You aren't royalty...you work FOR the people and should NEVER be above speaking to the people who you should be WORKING FOR. Yes...you met with he once before. Do you owe it to her to meet with her again? Not really...but you look bad because it seems you are trying to avoid her. A simple meeting where you were understanding, listened to her grieve and showed the country you actually cared would have done wonders for your Public Relations. Actually, now that I think about it, I hope you don't talk to her. Every day you contiune to avoid her you make yourself look like a bigger a**hole.

I think this email from Elizabeth Edwards sums this issue up nicely.

Dear friend,

Casey Sheehan was born May 29, 1979, the first-born child of Cindy and
Pat Sheehan. It was a long labor.
Fifty-one days after Casey was born, our first child, Wade was born, also after a long labor. They started school the same year, played the same games, watched the same television shows, loved the same country.

On April 4, 1996, three weeks after going to Washington as a
winner in a national contest about what America meant to him, Wade died in an
automobile accident.

On April 4, 2004, eight years later to the day, Casey,
who loved his country enough to wear its uniform, died in Iraq. Cindy and Pat's
hearts broke, as had ours. We teach our children right from wrong. We teach them compassion and honor. We teach them the dignity of each life. And then, sometimes, the lessons we taught are turned on their heads.

Cindy Sheehan is asking a very simple thing of her government, and she and her family, and most particularly Casey, have paid a very dear price for the right to ask
this. Cindy wants Casey's death to have meant as much as his life -- lived
fully -- might have meant. I know this, as does every mother who has ever stood
where we stand. And the President says he knows enough, doesn't need to hear
from Casey's mother, doesn't need to assure her that Casey's is not one small
death in a long and seemingly never-ending drip of deaths, that there is a plan
here that will bring our sons and daughters home. He doesn't need to hear from
her, he says. He claims he understands how some people feel about the deaths in
Iraq.

The President is wrong.

Whether you agree or disagree with every part, or any part, of what Cindy wants to say, you know it is better that the President hear different opinions, particularly from those with such a deep and personal interest in the decisions of our government. Today, another voice would be helpful. Cindy Sheehan can be that voice. She has earned the right to be that voice. Please join me in supporting Cindy's right to be heard. I grew up in a military family. My father and my grandfather were career Navy pilots. I saw what it meant to live a life every single day when the possibility of an honorable death is always there, at the dinner table, on the playground, at the base school. Will someone's father not come home tonight? And I didn't just feel the possibility, I saw the real thing, and, believe me, it stays with you, it changes you. I also saw, then and more recently as I campaigned across this country and spent time with courageous military mothers and wives, how little attention is paid to the needs and the voices of military families. It has to change.
The sacrifices that our military men and women make assure us that we have the
strongest military in the world, but the sacrifices that their families make are
too often ignored. The President's cavalier dismissal of Cindy Sheehan is
emblematic of a greater problem. This is a mother who raised her son to love
his country enough to serve. This is a mother who lived the impossible life of a
mother of a soldier serving in Iraq, unable to sleep when he sleeps, unable to
sleep when he is on duty, unable to watch television, unable to stop watching
television. And when the worst does happen, when the world comes crashing
down and she puts the boy she bore, the boy she taught, the boy she loved in the
ground, what does that government say to her? It says, "We'll do the talking; we
don't need to hear from you." If we are decent and compassionate, if we know
the lessons we taught our children, or if, selfishly, all we want is the long
line of the brave to protect us in the future, we should listen to the mothers
now.

Listen to Cindy.

Elizabeth Edwards is the wife of Senator John
Edwards, D-N.C.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/24172/