Posted on 08/24/2005 9:37:59 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
DUMMERSTON, Vt. — The easiest way to judge a person's reputation is to see who their enemies are and what they are saying.
By this measure, Cindy Sheehan is eligible for sainthood. Even by the admittedly low standards of the Karl Rove era, the amount of slime that has been dumped on Sheehan has been disgusting.
"Wacko." "Crackpot." "In bed with the radical left." "Traitor." "Communist." "Self-righteous ignoramus." "Hateful." "Un-American." "Unhinged." And these are some of the milder epithets directed at her (see FreeRepublic.com and some of the other right-wing hate blogs for the truly vile characterizations). But it's the same old trick — throw lots of dirt at your enemy, and even if it doesn't stick, you manage to confuse enough people to sow doubt.
But this isn't a politician that is getting slimed. This is a Gold Star Mother, someone whose son has made a ultimate sacrifice for his country.
A mother who lost a child in combat used to be sacrosanct. They were the women who rode at the front of Memorial Day parades. They were looked upon with a mixture of sadness and reverence. They gave their country all that they had to give. They were honored for that sacrifice.
But that was a time before people like Karl Rove and the right wing screech monkeys in the media existed. Now, if you dare question their great and glorious war, you are considered a traitor — deserving of the worst treatment that can be handed out.
What's worse, this is a Gold Star Mother getting slimed by a group of men who actively avoided combat in the Vietnam Era, men who seem almost proud of it, while they are attacking the patriotism of others who oppose their war.
These are people without shame.
How could Dick Cheney — a man who helped himself to five draft deferments and who said he had "other priorities" rather than serve in Vietnam — address the 73rd convention of the Military Order of the Purple Heart last week with a straight face?
How could George W. Bush — whose family pulled strings to get him into a safe National Guard unit and who, by all accounts, never completed his military obligation — appear before the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention on Monday and compare our ongoing misadventure in Iraq to World War II. How could he do that without everyone in the hall laughing him off the stage?
How can people like them wrap themselves in the flag while sending other people's children off to die? Because the paradigm has changed. It's now patriotic to attack a Gold Star Mother rather than having members of your own family enlist to fight in a war you wholeheartedly support. It's now patriotic to support a president who lied and deceived our nation in an immoral and unnecessary war. It is now patriotic to mock and vandalize the makeshift memorials erected to honor those killed in that war.
This is messed up.
How did it come to be that the left honors war dead and the right desecrates them, like the drunken Texan who mowed down the crosses at Sheehan's vigil site? How did it come to be that veterans are mocked and attacked for their service if they dare to speak out against the Iraq war?
The answer is simple. Right-wingers have put winning and maintain power ahead of everything, including truth and integrity. Partisanship is more important than patriotism. Cowardness is a virtue. Bravery and sacrifice are for suckers. Shame and remorse are not in their vocabularies.
To these people, keeping soldiers on the frontlines of a failed war built upon lies and wishful thinking is the height of patriotism. Pointing out that the war is a failure and that lives are being wasted in Iraq for no good reason makes you a traitor.
I stand with Cindy Sheehan. And I suspect that a growing number of Americans also stand with her. They are sick of the lies. They are sick of the excuses. They are sick of the spineless politicians who are happy to have other people's sons and daughters die for their half-cocked schemes. And, most of all, they are sick of cowards who would slime a mother who sacrificed far more than any so-called supporter of this war ever will.
Randolph T. Holhut has been a journalist in New England for more than 25 years. He edited "The George Seldes Reader" (Barricade Books). He can be reached at randyholhut@yahoo.com.
ping
Is there really a town in Vermont called "Dummerston"?
The horror..
Good thing Paul Wellstone wasn't your senator.
Imagine a memorial service there. ;-)
"A mother who lost a child in combat used to be sacrosanct."
Bull. Sheehan is using her son's death to score cheap political points off Bush. She is not acting in good faith, and I don't know where the hell you idiot libs came up with Gold Star Mom. LOL.
Have you noticed that Karl Rove is off the front pages?
Cindy started it......She's the one who chose to dishonor her son's memory.
YES!
No. The liberal kiddies are signing up for it.
"The answer is simple. Right-wingers have put winning and maintain power ahead of everything, including truth and integrity."
omfg. The audacity of this creep, right after he distorts Bush's guard service. What a shill. Do these people really believe in their own bs? Or is this just talking points for the Moonbat Faithful?
I wrote this to the dummy, not that he will read it...
RE: this little story you wrote...
It is hilarious that you stick up for an anti-semite. By the way David Duke Supports her. I am glad to see the liberals are showing their TRUE nazi selves. Ever wonder why the Democratic Party keeps losing? Look no further than the nuts in the Media, like yourself, who are the most evil and vile people I have ever seen.
"Partisanship is more important than patriotism."
On the author's part, this criticism exudes hypocrisy.
Fantastic, the left is going to jump on the Sheehan bandwagon. Are they really this stupid ?
The Left "honors" the war dead by funding the people who kill them.
And to think they did that to themselves!!!
Somebody call the Waaaaaaahmbulance. Another crybaby who can't grasp the concepts of "cause and effect" and "you can dish it out but you can't take it" has weighed in.
Hey Randolph, did you know that Axis Cindy considers the thugs who killed her son to be freedom fighters, and that she harbors no ill will towards them? Did you know she said that this country isn't worth dying for? Did you know that her own husband and kids want her to knock off her histrionics and go home?
Buy a clue, fool. She is derided and mocked for very good reasons. She has earned every single nasty epithet.
"How can people like them wrap themselves in the flag while sending other people's children off to die? It's now patriotic to attack a Gold Star Mother rather than having members of your own family enlist to fight in a war you wholeheartedly support."
Oh, absolutely. Because we all know not a single conservative in the entire United States of America has a family member serving.
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