By Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox
August 21, 2009
“And you look at somebody like that (note: me) and you think here’s somebody who’s just trying to find some meaning in her son’s death. And you have to be sympathetic to her. Anybody who has given a son to this country has made an enormous sacrifice, and you have to be sympathetic. But enough already.” — ABC Nightly News Anchor, Charles Gibson August 18, 2009
“Enough already?” Hmmm…I don’t know Charlie Gibson and I don’t pay any attention to his career, but I seem to agree with him on this one: “Enough already.”
Enough with the killing, torturing, wounding and profiting off of the backs of our troops and off of the lives of the people of Iraq-Af-Pak: as our brothers and sisters in Latin America say: “Basta!”
Somehow, I don’t think that this is what Charlie Gibson meant, though. I am sure that he just wants me to go away like most of the rest of the anti-war movement has done under the Obama presidency.
One of the things I hear quite often from people from all over the political spectrum is: “Why don’t you just go away, you’ve had your 15 minutes of fame.”
Yes, that’s exactly what I thought as soon as I heard that my son was killed in the US’s illegal and immoral war in Iraq: “this is a perfect opportunity to get my 15 minutes of fame.” Actually, after I slowly recovered from the shock and horror, the pain always remains, I thought that I had to do everything I can to end this nightmare so other mothers/families wouldn’t have to go through what I was going through and what I am going through.
I certainly am not the anchor of a major network news show, but last time I checked, people are still dying at a heartrending clip in Iraq-Af-Pak.
If my goal was “15 minutes of fame,” I could have gone quietly away a long time ago. I started because I wanted the wars to end, and I will figure I can go away when the wars end…but when is that going to be? In my lifetime, probably not.
I am cutting my writing-staycation short to head to Martha’s Vineyard because I think the new titular head of the empire needs to know that his policies are devastating people as much as the same policies did when Bush was president.
I would rather be able to go away and spend the rest of my life worshipping my grandchildren, writing, reading, resting, and doing humanitarian work where I am needed.
I wish the wars would go away, but they aren’t going away if we the people don’t get more militantly insistent.
see
S.S. Camp Casey Sets Sail from and around Martha’s Vineyard Next Week! By Cindy Sheehan
We Have the Moral High Ground by Cindy Sheehan
The President Exhibits Crazy Speech Patterns by Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox: Cynthia McKinney + Sheehan to lead protests against the wars
Dandelion Salad 
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We are with you Cindy. I live in Canada now, and I am very sick of people, even up here, saying, “Everything is fine now, Obama is here”.
Obama is as big a war hawk as Bush was. I knew it during his campaign when he talked of starting a war in Pakistan.
People of San Francisco should have voted for you, not the current war head Nancy. Keep going.
The G-20 Meeting of International Finance Ministers & Central Bankers is going to be held in just over a month (Sept. 24-25, 2009) in Pittsburgh, PA. This meeting will provide an excellent opportunity to protest with international solidarity against the oligarchs who are most responsible for the socio-economic disaster we find ourselves confronting. I urge everyone to ORGANIZE locally for an international general strike! New tools for organization, like TWITTER, are now at our disposal — everyone around the world should be encouraged to call in sick & take to the streets! Call your local radio stations, write letters to the editor, tweet, blog, and do whatever you can to make this happen! It is something that needs to happen for the sake of future generations and life on this planet! Get dialed in to what’s already being organized around the world and help make this an historic event! This could be the largest day of international protest in the history of the world! We can no longer afford to go down the slow road of reform while we are actually being dragged down the fast track of war and environmental devastation. We can create the kind of change that no politician could ever give us! We can stop the wars and we can bring peace. This is what the world has been waiting for. This is our opportunity.
Cindy, we are all still behind you. It’s like you said the MSM ignores the greatly important issues and hawks the Sh*t thinking we will forget. Even when the anti-war protests were in full swing they (MSM) only reported about 3% of them. Then they LIED about the numbers of people who were protesting. We are over 750 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan already and I bet they (MSM) wont start picking this up until it hits ONE THOUSAND DEAD!!…….(as if the first 999 don’t count)…….. GOD only knows how many Afghanistan innocents have been killed and maimed. But we must clear the way for the big oil Co’s pipeline and we must keep the M.I.C. flush with our tax dollars. JUST AS IKE WARNED. These people are SO evil. there is just no other way to say it.
Carry on, Cindy. Those who want you to sit down are not your friends in any case. They aren’t following the issue and can’t be trusted to know what is right from what is wrong.
As dandelionsalad points out, the poor are the ones going to war. With the economy being driven down for most of us in favor of those who profit from war, the realization will grow as more and more American kids from the middle ranks of wage earners find themselves with few options other than enlistment. Someone needs to speak out against these wars until enough recognize the futility in them. It took many years during the Vietnam War for this to happen, but that didn’t deter those brave few who carried on the protest in the face of extremely hostile opposition. They were the ones who had the correct view of the situation to back their stand in the end.
Pingback: S.S. Camp Casey Sets Sail from and around Martha’s Vineyard Next Week! By Cindy Sheehan « Dandelion Salad
very good. WAR is EVIL and makes the rich richer. Why do they always send the poor?
Thanks, Shawn.
We have an economic draft. No jobs at home so where do the poor go but into the military. It’s disgusting. They are being sacrificed for capitalism.