My take on Cindy Sheehan

[LuckyTheDog]

Cindy Sheehan is not a leader in the Democratic Party. She speaks for herself. She does not get permission from Howard Dean to do anything that she does. And Howard Dean sure as crap does not consult Sheehan about policy matters.

I can live with the idea of agreeing with Sheehan on somethings and not agreeing with her on others. Overall, I like her. But that does not mean I have to support everything she does.

We progressives are not GOPer sheep. Our world is not a black-and-white, ones-and-zeroes duality consisting of those "with us or agin' us." That means we don't have to kick Sheehan out of the tribe just because she wanders off the reservation now and then.

:grouphug:

[jonnyblitz]

1. very good post! i agree

And I am somebody who has agreed with everything she has done so far, I don't think she was on anybodies "reservation" to begin with but her own. I don't understand why people assumed she was speaking for democrats when a good chunk of the DEM leaders seem to support the war themselves anyways. the backbone and leaders of the anti-war movement are NOT affiliated with the DEMS , contrary to what some seem to believe here at DU.

[Crazy Dave]

2. People forget it's a free country and forget others have rights to...

...have different opinions than theirs. The loudest screamers that say republicans are intolerant, close-minded, their way or no way, are also the very same folks who scream at their own if they have a different opinion from theirs.
The media and a few liberals with one leg on the right side of the fence are pissed at Cindy Sheehan because she has criticized Hillary for her supporting the war and for saying that she supports "staying the course". It was okay with everybody here on DU when she was camped outside Bush's ranch demanding a meeting. Yeah, that was cool, the coward won't speak to her, yadda, yadda, but when she made the same demands of Hillary, oh no, that's unacceptable and we don't like her anymore. Mostly but not solely the media if you notice her lack of air time these days.

[jonnyblitz]

3. self -delete. dupe

[jonnyblitz]

4. people seem to judge people based on their "usefullness to

the party." Cindy was appearing at the World Social Forum to speak out against the war and Venuezuala is hosting this portion of it, thus her meeting with Chavez. People leave out the context of her reason to be down there. People from everywhere are down their gathering. It's more than just "cindy is meeting with chavez" like some of the DU "moderates" who make it sound more ominous than it really is. It is considered the antidote to the Davos gathering (where kerry is) which is looked at more a meeting for the elite interests where the WSF is more for the indigenous/poor folks of the world.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e11b7406-8f86-11da-b430-0000779e2340.html

[The2ndWheel]

14. Usefullness to the party

I like that observation.

It's all about power. The power to be able to say, "well, at least my guy only supported economic sanctions that ended up killing Iraqi's, as opposed to sending "our boys" in to do the killing". Either way, we still run the world.

[boobooday]

5. This reveals their fundamental misunderstanding

Cindy Sheehan is not part of any Democratic PR machine. She is a grief-stricken mom who couldn't take any more.

But because every move by the GOP is scripted and controlled from above, they can't imagine that people could spontaneously speak out in a political way. You'd think they might notice that many of our "official" leaders were not there when thousands of us were in the streets protesting the war.

Cindy is authentic. We are authentic.

It's just like their view of education. If the professors at most universities have a liberal view of the world (because they're educated), the right immediately jumps to use the term "indoctrination" because this is their view of education, and it is what they would do if they were in charge.

[GR]

6. I Love Cindy Sheehan...She's Right...

The National Anthem is a hymn to war...what else would you realistically call it...

[KharmaTrain]

7. Cindy The Citizen, Cindy The Media Creation

I expect flame city here, but just like when I don't like movie stars or athletes or other celebrities attempting to be placed as a political spokesperson, I think Cindy is way out of her league with her latest activities.

At one time someone called Cindy a modern-day Rosa Park...and I used to agree with that statement, as Cindy did stand up taking voice to power and representing not only the cost of this obscene war with the loss of her son, but of her own persecution from this regime and the corporate media. When Cindy was in Crawford and was a symbol for that very important issue, I was with her 1000% and will be again if she chooses to push for the answer she was never given.

However, I saw then and continue to see now how Cindy has allowed herself to speak on issues and areas that aren't her strongest suits and ends up making her and all her supporters look bad. Rosa Parks never ventured outside of her fame...while it could have been real easy, but I suspect she knew that by taking a stand on other issues it would draw attention away from her prime one. I wish Cindy would do the same.

Her role in helping unite and bring people together was one of the best things that happened last year, I'm sad to see that opportunity being squandered.

[jonnyblitz]

8. when has she strayed from the topic of ending the war?

issues are related, i know how people conviently don't like to connect the dots and only like to focus on issues like they just came from out of a void.

[KharmaTrain]

10. Keep It Simple

I can connect any issue to any issue...but that's me. How does appearing with Hugo Chavez appeal to someone who may have questions about supporting this war? Try to jive that to the people who glance through the tube or the paper for their news and this is what they see.

Substance is important, but in the 24/7 newscycle/media polyglot world, images make the biggest impressions. Seeing Cindy in front of the crosses in Crawford drove home her loss and that of other military families. What does having a photo op with Chavez say?

I'd love to discuss the oppressive nature of what this country has done to Venezuela and a ton of other issues that can easily be tied in with the Iraq invasion, but that waters down the biggest and most important issue...to end this ugly war and get our troops home. The "connecting the dots" can come later.

Peace...

[H2O Man]

9. I tend to agree ....

but I would point out that Cindy is certainly a spokesperson for the anti-war forces in the democratic party, and that -- because progressives are not sheep -- she has absolutely no need to "get permission" from Howard Dean .... not that there any evidence that he would not approve of her thinking for herself.

[Hubert Flottz]

11. I think the same thing about Cindy Sheehan, that I thought the first

time I ever laid eyes on her. She lost her child over a pack of lies and I pity her a great deal for that. How she handles it is her business. I think she's handled it better than I would have.

How would you handle it if your twenty year old son was sent to his death, because of "Faulty Intelligence," by people he probably "Trusted"? Until you walk in Cindy Sheehan's shoes, how can you ever know what you would do?

[deutsey]

12. We've forgotten that there are often differences between grassroots

movements and political parties. It's great when the two work together, but more often than not leaders of both view each other warily.

People might want to recall that there were deep tensions between Martin Luther King and the Democrats.

[we can do it]

13. Last Time I Looked We Still Had Freedom of Speech -

Even though that could change any day now.