What Noble Cause?
From Kate Mewhiney
Just before a bike ride on his Crawford ranch Saturday, President Bush was asked why he still refuses to meet with Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother who is camped out and demanding answers. His answer:
"Whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job. And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But, I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."
How nice for the president that he can go on with his life. Cindy Sheehan doesn't have that luxury.
Her son died in an unjust war for a so-called "noble" cause. But no one in the administration can explain what that cause is. Despite poll numbers indicating plummeting support for the war, no one is bothering to ask the administration the tough questions. So Sheehan is making it her personal mission to hold the president accountable. And it's about time someone did.
Bush has already shown his insensitivity and disrespect for those who gave their lives in his war. When walking into his first encounter with Cindy Sheehan, a meeting with the families of dead soldiers in 2004, he asked brightly: "So who are we honoring here?" That he now has the flippancy to talk about getting on with his life is downright offensive. As the elected leader of this country, it is his duty and responsibility to put his own personal concerns aside-including bike rides and nap time-in favor of the needs of his people.
Cindy Sheehan's son died in a war and she doesn't know why. The very least the president can do is offer her some answers so that she too, may get on with her life.
Instead, he rebuffs Sheehan and her fellow protestors, who sit in the oppressive heat of summer in Texas, waiting out the leader of the free world. He publicly expresses sympathy for Sheehan's loss (though he offers no answers to her questions), while he sics the Rush Limbaughs and the Bill O'Reillys of the Right Wing attack machine on her. She has been called a traitor, unpatriotic, and "an anti-war crazy."
All Sheehan has to combat this onslaught is a few simple questions for her president. She just wants to know why. Why did Bush begin this war? Why did her son Casey die in it? Why are Americans still dying for his mistake? Bush has no answers, or none that he can give anyway. And he can continue to run through the same old talking points all he wants, but Cindy Sheehan isn't going anywhere.
Just before a bike ride on his Crawford ranch Saturday, President Bush was asked why he still refuses to meet with Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother who is camped out and demanding answers. His answer:
"Whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job. And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But, I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."
How nice for the president that he can go on with his life. Cindy Sheehan doesn't have that luxury.
Her son died in an unjust war for a so-called "noble" cause. But no one in the administration can explain what that cause is. Despite poll numbers indicating plummeting support for the war, no one is bothering to ask the administration the tough questions. So Sheehan is making it her personal mission to hold the president accountable. And it's about time someone did.
Bush has already shown his insensitivity and disrespect for those who gave their lives in his war. When walking into his first encounter with Cindy Sheehan, a meeting with the families of dead soldiers in 2004, he asked brightly: "So who are we honoring here?" That he now has the flippancy to talk about getting on with his life is downright offensive. As the elected leader of this country, it is his duty and responsibility to put his own personal concerns aside-including bike rides and nap time-in favor of the needs of his people.
Cindy Sheehan's son died in a war and she doesn't know why. The very least the president can do is offer her some answers so that she too, may get on with her life.
Instead, he rebuffs Sheehan and her fellow protestors, who sit in the oppressive heat of summer in Texas, waiting out the leader of the free world. He publicly expresses sympathy for Sheehan's loss (though he offers no answers to her questions), while he sics the Rush Limbaughs and the Bill O'Reillys of the Right Wing attack machine on her. She has been called a traitor, unpatriotic, and "an anti-war crazy."
All Sheehan has to combat this onslaught is a few simple questions for her president. She just wants to know why. Why did Bush begin this war? Why did her son Casey die in it? Why are Americans still dying for his mistake? Bush has no answers, or none that he can give anyway. And he can continue to run through the same old talking points all he wants, but Cindy Sheehan isn't going anywhere.
1 Comments:
The article titled "What Noble Cause" as do most articles discussing Cindy's demands miss an important point. Asking the president to explain his noble cause is almost analogous to asking Hitler why he is killing the Jews. George Bush has committed a multiplicity of war crimes in Iraq (as documented in my latest book "Lying for Empire: How to Commit War Crimes with a Straight Face". We should be asking George Bush to stop committing war crimes. The invasion was illegal according to international law, Americans have violated the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on Torture and possibly the Genocide Convention. The military occupation is also illegal and violates many international laws. Perhaps we should be asking for the arrest of the president (very idealistic) for violating the U.S. War Crimes Act.
Post a Comment
<< E-Liberal Home