I've answered the last troll post on a Cindy Sheehan thread. I've had it with you, and the Republican spin machine trying to tear Cindy down.
It must feel nice to be on the side that attacks grieving mothers as hard as it attacks quadraplegic veterans who hold key senate seats. Real brave and honorable of you.
But enough of the cheap shots. I need to address your arguments on their merits.
1. Cindy is disrespecting her son
The premise here is that Casey went to war in full support of the mission. We don't know that, actually. Casey is dead and cannot speak for himself. His mom knew, however. From what she has said, he supported the war when we attacked Afghanistan, but began to seriously question our efforts when we invaded Iraq and certainly as the occupation dragged out.
But let's say he died believing 100% in what he was doing. Should we respect that? Certainly. Should we continue in Iraq just to "honor" Casey's service? Well, don't we have to use some other, more objective criteria for determining whether to spend more lives and treasure on this enterprise? To do less than that is to engage in superstition. Now, I know many of you right-wing nut cases are into "intelligent design" and other superstitous ruses. But it's been my experience that superstition makes for lousy policies. Staying in Iraq doesn't bring Casey back. And then, there's my mom's admonishment that "two wrongs don't make a right." Listen to mom.
2. Cindy is "politically motivated."
OK. What the hell does that mean? She's not running for office. She's not profiting from this. If you think she is, the onus is on you to prove it. She's politically savvy. Good for her. It's her right as an American citizen to speak up for what she believes. Now why should we be any more critical of Cindy than we are of our own elected and 100% accountable President? Was the invasion of Iraq and subsequent massive loss of life politically motivated? I think it is and I don't need to re-state the incredible amount of evidence that backs that up. You can read the other diaries yourselves. There's a Downing Street Memo you can start with.
3. Cindy's relatives are against her.
This is my favorite one of all. Please show me the extended family of in-laws, outlaws, aunts, uncles, teens and tots that are all in complete agreement and harmony with each other and I'm sure it's because they're all dead. Living relatives are often a source of embarrassment, disagreement, but rarely, accurate information about you or me. I could give a rip about Cindy's relatives.
4. Cindy is being disrespectful to the President."
Ok all you Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson wannabes. (I mistakenly caught a piece of Gibson's radio show subbing for O'Reilly today. He attacked a veteran who thought the war in Iraq was wrong. "What about Saddam Hussein?" Gibson asked.
The vet replied "We managed to control the Soviet Union for 40 years without invading them and they had nuclear weapons."
How did Gibson respond? By saying the guy was an idiot and questioning his military credentials. Gibson, ye of no military credentials whatsover:
SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE.
Sorry for digressing. Why should we respect the President? Millions of you felt no qualms about disrespecting Bill Clinton after he had some sort of sex in the Oval Office with an intern. Where was the respect for the office five, six years ago?
Well I've got news for all of you. I have lost all of my respect for a President who would ignore the real threats and enemies to this nation in favor of going after a nation that posed no threat to us whatsoever.
He either did this because he is stupid or because he has other designs and motives in the Middle East that he's just not sharing with the rest of us.
I was scared shitless on 9/11/01. I was depressed for weeks about the future of our country. Now I'm angry because my President told me he'd keep us safe and bring the perpetrators to justice. No justice has been served. He started a discretionary war and plenty of young American men and women are dying because of it. And an entire nation of innocent people is decimated.
I am to respect that?
Hell no.