Cindy speaks for Cindy

[toddaa]

I think all of us need to step back from the edge and realize that up until two years ago, Cindy Sheehan was just a mom scared for her son in Iraq. She's admitted to being a political novice and it certainly shows. There's nothing polished about the woman, which is both refreshing and also sometimes frustrating. While I'm in complete agreement with her on her antiwar stance, I sometimes cringe when I hear her say some of the stuff she says. But you know what? The fact that she doesn't have a multimillion dollar pr firm managing her every appearance is what separates her from the rich white guys on Capital Hill.

Rather than try to cast her as some sort of progressive leader, who we can throw stones at when she upsets us, we should just stand with her as a fellow American that is doing nothing more than exercising her right to petition the government (while she still can, that is).

[mike_c]

1. hear hear....

:applause:

[sweetheart]

2. She has franchise

Many of us don't have franchise. We are ghost-citizens on internet, who in person,
are ghosts, people you don't know, the other person at the checkout with the odd
shoes and the wrinkled coat. Cindy has franchise because of Casey. Many on DU
have no franchise because we are disabled, too old, too fat, too gay or too weird,
and were we to oppose bush in person, the character attack would be so harsh that
the person would forever live in fear of hate crimes against their person. So given
that for every person with franchise, there are ten thousand of us without even the
effective civil right to oppose... that we might lose our jobs for speaking up...
I have only lost my country, and republicans think i had no right to it anyways.
But Cindy fought "for" them, she believed in them, and she was betrayed.
She has every right and franchise to be as pissed off as god gives her,
and to demand until the end of the earth, in the name of her
murdered son, justice against criminal unitary executives.

She has franchise, and she is charged by divine providence to run with it. Joan d'arc
may not have been a leader, but rather just another regular woman who decided enough is enough.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Franchise?

I'm pretty sure that "Franchise" means the legal right to vote, not special privileges (in CS's case, because her son died).

Beyond that, I don't quite get what point you're making. It seems to be a pedantic way of saying "STFU" -- but I'm not inclined to think you intended it this way.

Divine Providence is as Divine Providence does, and nobody can really call the shots for God (if indeed God exists). First and last, we ALL have the right and duty to speak up when we see evils being committed in our names, no matter what our station is in life, and assume that if we speak incorrectly, we will be corrected by our friends and fellow partisans. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be a Democrat (upper-case "D") as well as a democrat (lower-case "d").

Yes, I do respect and admire Cindy Sheehan, but she's not perfect, and she doesn't speak for me, nor me for her. But it's obvious that a lot of people are holding her to a much higher standard of behavior than they hold anyone else. Franchise or no, she has much more responsibility, mainly because it has been dumped on her -- by those who have shirked their own.

--p!

[sweetheart]

5. shirking our own

I not for a second saying STFU, nor really personal at all, just
topical to your remark. She has franchise. We all survive tyranny
like we do, and i can't see one better, the actor, or the audience.

We will always need actors, and unless we ourselves act, we can't
agree with them 100%, but regarding not being killed in a criminal
war, we have a universal sympathy for Cindy. She has franchise
in their weakest point, and i hope she exploits it like her
casey-heart inspires her to.

Bush is bankrupted the country, and there is a real threat of a
nuclear war that is brand new thanks to bush, a real threat of
80 million american dead. If people are happy with that, and are
willing to tolerate it, then there is little point in saving
a people stupid enought not to save themsleves.

I don't see not participating as "shirking", but as letting the
stupid people have their own wish. If i'm gonna waste my life
helping someone, i'll do it individually with persons who will
value it, but not politically where all goodwill is squandered
and wasted totally on a dry desert of cynicism and swiftboating.

The USA has become a prison, where only guards can vote, and cindy
is the mother of a guard. I, just a lowly prisoner, have no
power in the warden's office, except abandon.

[whathappened]

4. i new that

i don,t need her to lead me or others , she has a stand she beleaves in and i,m with her all the way to the end , what i would like to do is get all of them out of dc , and start fresh with a new bunch of people who work for the people in this country ,

[applegrove]

6. Yes. She represents the families of those soldiers who go to war. And

that war should be only a very grave thing. The last resort.

[ruggerson]

7. I think few would have an argument with that

but she herself has chosen to continue her courageous leap into the public eye. Therefore what she does and says is magnified, distorted, and sometimes accurately represented in the media. Our side (progressives) does not benefit from knee jerk, hostile defense of the various and sundry positions on extraneous issues that she randomly offers the press, any more than it benefits from disparaging her mission or her humanity.

I would proffer the usual disclaimer that I think she performed an invaluable service as a symbolic embodiment of, and hopeful antidote to, what George W Bush has done to this country, but having to repeat that in every post to avoid offending her more aggressive acolytes becomes trite and tiring.

No, she does not speak for me, and it is self evident to anyone with a brainstem (or anyone not toting personal baggage) that by saying that, I do not mean that she ever claimed to speak for anyone but herself. What it means is that I disagree with her on a whole host of remarks she has made about a wide range of issues, most of which have nothing to do with Iraq or the loss of her son. I disagree with some of the tactical decisions she has made in her ongoing journey in front of the relentless, non blinking public eye. And, yes, it is necessary for us to speak up, when and if we disagree with her AND when we agree with her, as the press has turned her into one of the symbols for the anti war movement, a conduit, a vessel for millions, and as we know, the press likes to build up, canonize and then swiftly caricature, simplify, mock and finally destroy the icons they create. And, most importantly, in so doing, they attempt to destroy the movements the symbols represent.

When all is said and done, she is just a mother who lost her child in a useless war. A mother who spoke truth to power to an unjust, ignorant, vicious leader. That is the mission she chose for herself and it is a powerful and utterly human one.



on edit: typo

[EFerrari]

12. While I agree with much of what you say in this post, I'd like to ask

you for a favor.

And it is this: The NEXT time one of us is arrested on bullshit charges because we are inconvenient to the Thuggery, would you please consider holding your criticism until we are out and able to engage in a conversation?

Because, of all the coments back and forth, that's what really made me ill. Here there is this amazing woman. And here she is, doing her level best, taking risks, dealing with so much, including police harrassment.

And where were we when one of our peers needed us the most?

And I ask this in the most neutral way I know how to ask.

/typo

[ruggerson]

16. Deal

2004, I freely admit, turned me into a rabid paranoid as far as the press is concerned. They adopted every Republican talking point, at every turn. Each time Kerry inched ahead, the press, in concert with the RNC and various and sundry hit groups, very effectively caricaturized him in an extraordinarily negative light. I should have known that would be their modus operandi in this case, and, as it turns out, the first reports were indeed inflammatory rumor.

If you ever get arrested, I will make every effort to find you wherever you are and try to bail you out. :)

[EFerrari]

18. Thank you, Sir. Back atcha.

:toast:

[az chela]

8. Thank you

As many of you on here know I am a very close friend of Cindy's and I have to admit at times I am surprised by what she says and does!!!
She is not a politician,she is a broken hearted mother who is doing what she can to stop this war and the murders of our troops.
Since Iraq was never a threat to this country then bush had no right to declare war or send our people over there to fight a war that was illegal.Every day so many Iraqi's die and all that the bush administration cares about is the oil.We have our sons and daughters coming home in body bags or missing limbs and mentally scarred for life and yet the other night people are treating this dictator as if he is some kind of hero.
The one thing you have to remember while you are sitting at your computer is that one lady no longer has her son,her home,her husband.
Ask yourself why???Are you willing to travel with her on all the exhausting trips she takes ,all the speeches she gives,all the trips all over the world to try and keep other people from the pain she is going thru.
It would be easier for her to just go away and never say another word but she is doing this for Casey!!!She is doing it for you .She is doing it for me.She is doing the best she can do and few of us could keep up with her.She has no fear of the bushites as they have already done all they can do to her.They might try to threaten her or lock her up but she is focused on the bigger problem.The reason behind all this killing and the country going into massive amounts of debt while the big corporations make billions of dollars at the expense of our kids lives.
If she had been a politician do you think she would be doing this??If she had all these backers that the repukes claim she has would she be missing flights and staying in peoples spare bedrooms so she can attend a peace rally or give a speech??
Sure she will make mistakes but she has the guts to be brave enough to make them.
I for one think very few would trade places with her and i am proud to call her my friend!!!!!

[Disturbed]

9. Cindy Sheehan is a brave soul.

I admire her very much. It is not necessary for me to agree or disagree with various statements that she makes or who she speaks with. She is a wonderful citizen who is speaking and acting upon her own conscience. I wish her peace. Hopefully, she will find some solace in her life.

[toddaa]

14. Let Cindy know

As far as I'm concerned, she can say whatever she wants, however she wants. But I suggest next time she wants to make a T-Shirt statement, she might consider one with the First Amendment on it. Let's see them censor the Constitution.

[MODemocrat]

17. I admire your loyalty to Cindy, wish you were my friend

Cindy is so deeply grieved about her son, she does and says things out of frustration and who are we to judge her? If I had to pay the ultimate price of this war by giving up one of my sons or my daughter, I'd be completely out of control, but Cindy is not. She's doing what she believes is right. :hug: :patriot:

[Nutmegger]

10. Why is everyone bitching about Sheehan

I mean, come on people, we have so many issues facing us. The last thing we need is a debate on whether or not Ms. Sheehan speaks to a particular individual.

She lost of son in Iraq and wants to know what the noble cause is? Frankly, I would like to know myself. Some of the things may seem foreign to us but she lost her son for chrissake! So what if she wore a shirt; frankly, more people need to see the dead in black and white. I check the numbers daily.

[redwitch]

11. well said! thank you!

I do stand by her for just that reason.

[Just Me]

13. I love her. She's a lovely person,...and,...I don't see how anyone can't,

,...respect and admire her: unless, they are bitter and cynical and,...just so grossly unhappy that they can't appreciate anyone or anything. x( Of course, there are people like that.

She is also very pure-hearted about bringing meaning to all those who are suffering and dying for a war that never should have happened,...an immoral war,...an illegal war.

[NuttyFluffers]

15. oh noes! logic! empathy! i'm melting... melting! curses!

:sarcasm:
:evilgrin:

you'd think people would've figured that out yet. she's just one person, a simple mother who lost her child. no ubermensch, no second coming, no grand leader greater than the sum of her parts, just one lone person... and she reminds us that each and every one of us, no matter how small and fragile, could be just as brave. that's an inspiring message. so, who cares if you agree/disagree with her actions? they're HER actions, not YOURS, not your pet MOVEMENT, not your precious IDEOLOGY -- hers, and she's willing to take full responsibility for them. who here has repeatedly shown the same simple courage as she has? good, for most people haven't... but they could.

as was stated beautifully in the end of les miserables: to love is to act.