Marc Cooper LA Weekly
I have been silent on the Cindy Sheehan story for the past ten days because it has been very difficult for me to sort it out.
The conclusion I have reached is -- to paraphrase Military Genius Don Rumsfeld-- you have to go with the anti-war movement you've got, not the one you'd like to have.
Sheehan's story is both compelling and curious. But not in equal parts.
To a parent who has lost a child, be it in war or on a dark two-lane highway, I am ready to grant a near boundless emotional berth. That said, I would find Sheehan more compelling than curious (instead of the other way around) if she hadn?t already met with the President after her son was killed in Iraq last year; if her son had not been an adult man who had made a voluntary decision to enlist; and if Sheehan were not so emotionally cool about the grief which she says fuels her protest. I also would wish that the Usual Suspects ? from Michael Moore to MoveOn.org ? had not glommed onto Sheehan and her gesture. I would wish that the ?progressive? PR firm of Fenton Communications would not have sent a specialist out to her encampment to represent her. I am pained to hear Sheehan call for a U.S. withdrawal of troops also from Afghanistan (Isn?t one of the more disturbing consequences of the invasion of Iraq the diversion of U.S. military forces away from the latter country?).
I also get nervous when anyone claims to speak for the dead. Nor am I comfortable giving the relatives of slain soldiers special moral status in dealing with issues of war and peace. Such matters are a solemn responsibility as well as a right of all citizens and we should be careful about elevating the standing of military families. It?s a dangerous gamble for the Left as no matter how unpopular a war has become it will always be easier for the Right to mobilize that constituency. Can?t we soon anticipate something like the Swift Boat Veterans Against Cindy Sheehan to materialize at any moment?
All that said, Sheehan is hardly any flakier than the President of the United States -- nor of the entire American political class for that matter. Bush cannot and will not meet with her again because he has nothing left to say to Sheehan nor to anyone else in justifying a war that -everyday- seems to be getting worse.
Indeed, only this past weekend the White House sent out its anonynous operatives to begin the thankless task of even further lowering popular perceptions of what is happening in Iraq. The Washington Post duly reported on its front page:
The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.
The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.
"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."
Swee-eeet, ain't it? "Unreality" we now learn was the problem. Indeed, so bereft of any plausible answers is the Bush Administration that Dubya's handlers perceive another meeting with Sheehan as a sign of mortal weakness. Steely-souled Dubya ain?t about to give in either to terrorists nor to that crazy lady from California, no-sir, no-way, no-how.
The Democrats who yearn to succeed Bush, meanwhile, continue their aimless trek through their private political desert babbling incoherently and erratically. Over there Joe Biden trying out a Field Marshal's uniform for size. Over here, Hillary Clinton rustling her skirts at lascivious video games. And now comes along her husband's errand-boy in the days of the Lewinsky scandal -- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson climbing into bed with The Minutemen and hoping to ride the backs of illegal aliens into the Oval Office.
So why not the somewhat confused Cindy Sheehan as this strange summer symbol of righteousness and rage? I dont' see anyone else vying for the job. Give the lady her due. And then pray for the rest of us.
I have been silent on the Cindy Sheehan story for the past ten days because it has been very difficult for me to sort it out.
The conclusion I have reached is -- to paraphrase Military Genius Don Rumsfeld-- you have to go with the anti-war movement you've got, not the one you'd like to have.
Sheehan's story is both compelling and curious. But not in equal parts.
To a parent who has lost a child, be it in war or on a dark two-lane highway, I am ready to grant a near boundless emotional berth. That said, I would find Sheehan more compelling than curious (instead of the other way around) if she hadn?t already met with the President after her son was killed in Iraq last year; if her son had not been an adult man who had made a voluntary decision to enlist; and if Sheehan were not so emotionally cool about the grief which she says fuels her protest. I also would wish that the Usual Suspects ? from Michael Moore to MoveOn.org ? had not glommed onto Sheehan and her gesture. I would wish that the ?progressive? PR firm of Fenton Communications would not have sent a specialist out to her encampment to represent her. I am pained to hear Sheehan call for a U.S. withdrawal of troops also from Afghanistan (Isn?t one of the more disturbing consequences of the invasion of Iraq the diversion of U.S. military forces away from the latter country?).
I also get nervous when anyone claims to speak for the dead. Nor am I comfortable giving the relatives of slain soldiers special moral status in dealing with issues of war and peace. Such matters are a solemn responsibility as well as a right of all citizens and we should be careful about elevating the standing of military families. It?s a dangerous gamble for the Left as no matter how unpopular a war has become it will always be easier for the Right to mobilize that constituency. Can?t we soon anticipate something like the Swift Boat Veterans Against Cindy Sheehan to materialize at any moment?
All that said, Sheehan is hardly any flakier than the President of the United States -- nor of the entire American political class for that matter. Bush cannot and will not meet with her again because he has nothing left to say to Sheehan nor to anyone else in justifying a war that -everyday- seems to be getting worse.
Indeed, only this past weekend the White House sent out its anonynous operatives to begin the thankless task of even further lowering popular perceptions of what is happening in Iraq. The Washington Post duly reported on its front page:
The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.
The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.
"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."
Swee-eeet, ain't it? "Unreality" we now learn was the problem. Indeed, so bereft of any plausible answers is the Bush Administration that Dubya's handlers perceive another meeting with Sheehan as a sign of mortal weakness. Steely-souled Dubya ain?t about to give in either to terrorists nor to that crazy lady from California, no-sir, no-way, no-how.
The Democrats who yearn to succeed Bush, meanwhile, continue their aimless trek through their private political desert babbling incoherently and erratically. Over there Joe Biden trying out a Field Marshal's uniform for size. Over here, Hillary Clinton rustling her skirts at lascivious video games. And now comes along her husband's errand-boy in the days of the Lewinsky scandal -- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson climbing into bed with The Minutemen and hoping to ride the backs of illegal aliens into the Oval Office.
So why not the somewhat confused Cindy Sheehan as this strange summer symbol of righteousness and rage? I dont' see anyone else vying for the job. Give the lady her due. And then pray for the rest of us.
