Post by deovindice on May 29, 2007 5:59:09 GMT -5
Cindy Sheehan is calling it quits. The so-called "face" of the anti-war movement in this country has issued a de-facto resignation letter removing herself from this capacity. In the aftermath of all that has transpired, her words and actions are now available for intense scrutiny of their impact on her adopted cause. That brings up the question of how she will be remembered. Is Cindy Sheehan a champion or a pariah?
She is indeed both.
I, along with probably most Americans, have demonized the woman for various reasons. Those reasons have importance. They either honestly validate our comtempt for her positions or methods, or they simply engender a superficial and unobjective disapproval of the woman herself. This is important in that it may well say more about us than it does her.
I detest the methods she chose to deliver her message. I detest the associations she entered into with left-wing socialists who, as she came to understand herself, had no interest in her true agenda, but rather on how much attention she could draw to their agenda. Thus, Cindy Sheehan is a pariah.
Mom Sheehan is at the at the same time a champion. Let me repeat that for those who will be taken aback at that declaration. She is a champion. Not in the sense that she braved the same conditions of combat that took the life of her son, but in the sense that she took on a cause that was bigger than herself, and at one time vastly unpopular. She took on a cause that left her physically and financially destitute. Her marriage was destroyed. She was spurred into action when most of us are content to mouth the platitudes that are spoon fed to us by our political party associations. She put herself into the public spotlight in an effort to change what she, and interestingly enough, lately, the majority of the citizenry, perceived to be wrong. Thus in a sense, she is a champion.
The real failure of Cindy Sheehan is that she allowed her cause to be hijacked by those whose ultimate goal is power for the sake of power. She saw as friends those whose real aim is control. Interestingly enough, many of her detractors are in the same category.
An excerpt from her letter:
"It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Blind party loyalty is dangerous whatever side it occurs on. People of the world look on us Americans as jokes because we allow our political leaders so much murderous latitude and if we don’t find alternatives to this corrupt "two" party system our Representative Republic will die and be replaced with what we are rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland."
Adjusted for the political realities of the time, she echoes Washington's cautions about the "Spirit of Party" perfectly.
In the end, she came to realize what many of us understand. When we abandon our ability to think for ourselves and reach our own informed conclusions to packaged, special interest-ridden political party platforms, complete with pre-selected candidates who will tow the party line and operate within corporate-defined guidelines, we need not wonder when, one fine day, we will lose our Republic. She came to realize that the words of Hamilton ring true:
"Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants."
Is Cindy Sheehan a champion or a pariah? How one answers this question says a lot about how much he or she truly cherishes their own liberty.
She is indeed both.
I, along with probably most Americans, have demonized the woman for various reasons. Those reasons have importance. They either honestly validate our comtempt for her positions or methods, or they simply engender a superficial and unobjective disapproval of the woman herself. This is important in that it may well say more about us than it does her.
I detest the methods she chose to deliver her message. I detest the associations she entered into with left-wing socialists who, as she came to understand herself, had no interest in her true agenda, but rather on how much attention she could draw to their agenda. Thus, Cindy Sheehan is a pariah.
Mom Sheehan is at the at the same time a champion. Let me repeat that for those who will be taken aback at that declaration. She is a champion. Not in the sense that she braved the same conditions of combat that took the life of her son, but in the sense that she took on a cause that was bigger than herself, and at one time vastly unpopular. She took on a cause that left her physically and financially destitute. Her marriage was destroyed. She was spurred into action when most of us are content to mouth the platitudes that are spoon fed to us by our political party associations. She put herself into the public spotlight in an effort to change what she, and interestingly enough, lately, the majority of the citizenry, perceived to be wrong. Thus in a sense, she is a champion.
The real failure of Cindy Sheehan is that she allowed her cause to be hijacked by those whose ultimate goal is power for the sake of power. She saw as friends those whose real aim is control. Interestingly enough, many of her detractors are in the same category.
An excerpt from her letter:
"It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Blind party loyalty is dangerous whatever side it occurs on. People of the world look on us Americans as jokes because we allow our political leaders so much murderous latitude and if we don’t find alternatives to this corrupt "two" party system our Representative Republic will die and be replaced with what we are rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland."
Adjusted for the political realities of the time, she echoes Washington's cautions about the "Spirit of Party" perfectly.
In the end, she came to realize what many of us understand. When we abandon our ability to think for ourselves and reach our own informed conclusions to packaged, special interest-ridden political party platforms, complete with pre-selected candidates who will tow the party line and operate within corporate-defined guidelines, we need not wonder when, one fine day, we will lose our Republic. She came to realize that the words of Hamilton ring true:
"Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants."
Is Cindy Sheehan a champion or a pariah? How one answers this question says a lot about how much he or she truly cherishes their own liberty.