LIVING IN THE PAST: CINDY SHEEHAN

I think I know why I'm so fascinated by Cindy Sheehan. I'm not particularly interested in her or what she has to say, but I am engaged by the response of the hawks to her. In the normal civility we enjoy in American society, a premium.

The war is not just a political program. It is a reality for our society. The war effects everyone in the country no matter how far away it might seem at times. When a woman presents the dead body of her fallen son on one hand, and on the other the conservatives can straight-facedly writ a letter Take this "open letter" written from Clifford May:

We will never be able to make ourselves inoffensive to the racist death cults that have declared war on us. When these barbarians kill brave Americans like Casey Sheehan we can't run and hide. Or rather we can – but that only invites the terrorists to hit us again. For years we didn't understand that. The consequence was Sept. 11, 2001.

Remember: We fled from Somalia in 1993. We left Saddam in power after the first Gulf War in 1991. We did nothing much after the Hezbollah bombing of our Marine barracks in 1983. Our response to the taking of American hostages in Tehran in 1979 was toothless.

In each of these cases – and too many others – we demonstrated to our enemies that there would be no penalty for humiliating and even slaughtering Americans. In each of these cases Osama bin Laden saw evidence that Americans are irresolute and weak; that America's military – for all its sophistication and technology – would prove no match for determined hostage-takers, decapitators and suicide bombers.

It shows how incapable the Republicans are of reaching out and selling this war as a just and necessary mission worth our sacrifice. Responding to a grieving mother -- whether or not Sheehan is using her widderhood for partisan opportunism, the fact remains her label in this is grieving mother -- as if she were another political opponent . I've read articles taking Sheehan to task for contraditcions in her political statements. Like people who don't know they'll be under public scrutiny cautiously vet their statements as if we were a society of aspiring Supreme Court justices. Bush likes to claim that his opposition to nation-building was changed by 911. Well, 911 happened to Cindy Sheehan, and in her case, it was Iraq. She lost a son. There are people fighting this war.

Originally composed on August 27, 2005