<p>Cindy Sheehan has a right to say anything she wants. Whatever she wants to do to dishonor the memory of her son is her business.</p>
<p>But when she goes to Venezuela and appears with and supports an avowed enemy of the United States, it borders on treason.</p>
<p>I agree with socal. Comparing drug use to serving in the US military is foolish.</p>
<p>Good grief. Some basic info on Chavez:</p>
<p>"Ch</p>
<p>Agreed, but if the war is “wrong,” and many believe that it is, then the analogy works… Nobody owes their dead child wholesale agreement with that child’s choices while alive. </p>
<p>IMO Cindy Sheehan honors her son’s memory by (1) showing how much his loss hurts her and (2) using his death/her bereavement to save the lives of other soldiers. You may not see it that way, but most who are against the war do see her as a very devoted mother.</p>
<p>I see her as using her son’s death to further her own ambitions, whatever they might be. I think she should go back to work.</p>
<p>Cindy Sheehan does NOT speak for me. Casey Sheehan DID.</p>
<p>Cindy Sheehan is ugly. ;)</p>
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</p>
<p>Certainly, it is not owed.</p>
<p>I would think that when it is done, it is done out of an overwhelming love, respect and compassion for the life of the child they bore and loved–not the vulgarity of an uncollected debt. </p>
<p>Nobody, as far as I know, thinks it would be wrong for neo-celeb-Cindy to speak out against the war, or to spew on the career/cause her son dedicated his life to. What most people find objectionable is the way in which she invokes, twists and uses her sons life and memory in her grandstanding desire to be somebody.. </p>
<p>This cant be that hard to figure out. Im not going to drag my familys life into this, but we have had some experience in this regard. My family finds what Cindy Sheehan did to be unthinkable and so beyond the pale as to question her sanity, sense of decency and familial devotion (privately). </p>
<p>All these comparisons with Candy Lightner, John Walsh and Ghandi are so over the top as to be unbelievable and yet, somehow, par for this one hole course. </p>
<p>Dont get me wrong, most Republicans are ecstatic to see the cutting-edge Dems peddling even faster to keep up with the dopey globe-trotting of Cindy Sheehan (celebs and rank & file, both), it makes those raucous fans of Republican Vegas acts like Rush and Coulter seem like deep-thinking mendicants and philosophers.</p>
<p>Dems always take themselves way too seriously; thus, even long-suffering blow-hards like Sheehan are given a passbecause they really feel her pain…it steps into the breech when they are having trouble working up thier own.</p>
<p>Most of you are missing the point. Her son joined the war believing in all the Bush lies. She feels that he was convinced to join a unjust war and feels that this admin is responsible for convincing many to fight in it, besides her son. Certainly those in the national guard never thought they’d be seeing war for this long and be so far away from what should have been their duties, helping at home. Even soldiers who are being recalled after being out of service for years were not expecting this. It was to be a swift war to find WMD.
If my son was duped into joining in the military and than died in a war that didn’t need to be fought and then was there for so much longer because of sheer ineptitude in the planning I’d be out there like Sheehan…trying to end the war, trying to save other parents from enduring what I had. Having friends who served in Viet Nam I can so understand her anger and pain.
The parents of those willing to sacrifice their children in the current situation, reminds me somewhat of the parents of suicide bombers They feel the sacrifice of their children is worthwhile to save their country and people. None on both sides could ever admit it all is so wrong and there are better ways, because that would mean they would have to admit their children died in vain. You all must fight to justify it so the pain is somewhat bearable…my child died a hero in a just cause. Why doesn’t anybody see how similar we all are around the world and not how different. When fear rules the countries rally around their own and proclaim everyone else…“them” and our enemies. Everyone is just acting our of fear and not always thinking clearly at all. We are really all connected, if indeed you believe in a God or soul. AND no matter what our skin color or nationality, we are all just flawed humans.</p>
<p>
Hmm, I wonder what you mean by seeing ourselves as being similar </p>
<p>
oh, I see. Yikes!</p>
<p>Such a virulent virus, it seems, cannot be contained to the likes of Cindy Sheehan. </p>
<p>Hey, here’s a winning issue for the democrats:</p>
<p>“Your soldier-sons/daughters remind good democrats of suicide bombers.”
I’d go with that. The loyal opposition, indeed.</p>
<p>You know Fountain Siren, you pride yourself on your beautifull writing and your intelligience, but you see only from one side. A real intellectual will think outside the box and try to see things from all sides. You can be bright, but still not see anything at all. You also should try not to be so snide. You should use your wonderful writing skills to bring more to the world than viciousness and condescension.</p>
<p>Someone who endlessly mouths the “Bush lied” meme has no business criticizing others for closed-mindeness. Nor should one complain when called on for creating an ugly metaphor, which comparing the parents of soldiers who support the war effort to the parents of suicide bombers surely is, as was Michael Moore’s comparison of terrorists to Minutemen.</p>
<p>Driver, why are you one of the last in America to accept that Bush lied and minipulated information to justify the war? Talk about closed mindedness! You have just joined my flawed human club 
that I so bravely started.</p>
<p>by the way you miss interpreted my metaphor. I was merely stating, that there are some parents of soldiers who will never be able to accept the fact that the war was wrong, because it would be too painful to accept, just as some parents of suicide bombers who will never accept that the sucide of their child was not justified either. Please do not take it where it wasn’t going.</p>
<p>“Driver, why are you one of the last in America to accept that Bush lied and minipulated information to justify the war?”</p>
<p>And since when are YOU certain that the President manipulated data to go to war. I guess it does not matter to repeat how many politicians from “your” side believed the same information to be true, including the Junior Senator of NY who was not only privy to the information available to Senators but also to the information she has as the wife of the former President. And so did … [fill in the blanks with your favorite democratic empty suit] </p>
<p>“never be able to accept the fact that the war was wrong”</p>
<p>The jury is still out that one! However, what is not is that ALL the soldiers are volunteers. Volunteers have access to a cafetaria, but the terms of their service is not one. You can’t focus on the benefits and then complain when you are asked to do what you signed for. Soldiers are expected to go to war. As far as wars being just, you’d have a hard time to find justice in any wars. Wars may become necessary, but they are never just. </p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of soldiers understand the definition of serving your country. Please do not continue to dishonor those proud men and women by putting a misguided yet self-serving individual on a pedestal. There were many ways to make her story more compelling. She might be grieving mother, and as such deserving of our sympathy, but her motives and love of the limelight do not fool anyone, and fail to honor the memory of her son and the thousands of heroes who sacrifice their life to protect our own.</p>
<p>I don’t know where people get off passing judgment on a grieving mother.</p>
<p>If her son’s death motivates her politically, more power to her. I’m not standing in her shoes.</p>
<p>Okay, what caught my eye on this thread was post #1. Is Cindy Sheehan really going to run against Diane Feinstein? If so, why?</p>
<p>Dianne Feinstein is for the war.</p>
<h1>2) DiFi was also in favor of confirming Alito (before she voted against him).</h1>
<p>Is that enough to give someone like Sheehan a real shot at winning?</p>