Look after yourself Cindy Sheehan, and thank you
Photo by KG4CHW. License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.Cindy Sheehan spoke with Amy Goodman on DemocracyNow yesterday about the day her son Casey died in Iraq, campaigning to hold Bush and Congress to account for the Iraq war, becoming a leading peace activist, and divisions in the movement.
She wrote a sort-of resignation letter to the US peace movement on Monday, in which she wrote: "When I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of 'right or left', but 'right and wrong.'"
I think Cindy is right to take time now to withdraw, reflect, and perhaps retool for another crack at it some day. I always found her story about moving from grieving mother to antiwar activist profoundly challenging. Above all, it has lessons about love of enemy -- the soldiers and mercenaries who've died invading Iraq, Iraqis and foreign fighters involved in the quagmire there. And now it reminds us to love ourselves too.
Sometimes peace groups and sustainability campaigns could do with a bit more of that peace internally, if they want to last or be a model for more people to join. So look after yourself Cindy -- and thank you!
Comments
She's done a lot of good. More than most people will in their lifetimes, and it has been a hard road.
Thank you Cindy Sheehan.
Posted by: Andrew | May 31, 2007 3:33 PM
I know that road has been bumpy but you have definitely left a mark Sheehan. Thanks for all the efforts.
All the best for everything and for always.
Posted by: Karan | May 31, 2007 5:30 PM
I know what she means. Having now lived in the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands, I've gained a bit of perspective on just how spectacular a failure America's two party system is, and the relatively recent "with us or against us" polarization it has wrought.
Party politics is poison, and when your only choice is between a party that supports the war with cheers and one which supports it with grumbles, something is desperately desperately wrong.
I was stupified when the Democrats decided not to call for better gun control following the Virgina murders because it would be considered political suicide, get Hilary and Obama defunded, and, in short, was inconvenient. Despite being the right thing to do.
The "Left" in the US needs to listen to Cindy Sheehan's voice. Because individuals like her who have moral clarity simply underscore how corrupted the US political system has become. It needs to be torn up by the roots.
Posted by: Brianfit | June 1, 2007 12:24 PM
Cindy Sheehan for president! Se is one for us! I love her like a puppy likes its mother! We should put solar panel by her because her lite so brite!
Posted by: Rasha Mbali | June 5, 2007 10:44 PM