The Sheehan Spectacle

I have to agree with Chrenkoff's assessment of the Sheehan situation.

In fact, what Cindy Sheehan's vigil increasingly reminds me of most is a vaguely blasphemous spectacle. Here we have Casey Sheehan, the martyred Messiah, and Cindy Sheehan, the grief-stricken Mother of God, sitting at the foot of a forest of little white crosses, while the anti-war crowd partakes in the unholy communion of Casey's body and blood, in the hope that he - through the agency and intercession of his mother - will be their new savior, leading them to the Kingdom of Heaven where the US troops are out of Iraq and George Bush is out of the White House. Casey Sheehan might have died for - and because of - President Bush's sins (and if we believe Cindy's anti-Semitic ravings, Casey, like the medieval Christ, was murdered by the Jews), but his sacrifice will surely bring the political resurrection to the anti-war movement, buffeted by the re-election of BushHitler.

What has happened to her family is truly awful. But her time in the spotlight has proven her to be a truly misguided woman in desperate need of help. If she would spend half as much time with a counselor as she has at the President's gate, she might actually find herself able to move on. But then, our country has made it convenient to make a name, and a dollar, for yourself off of your pain. Sadly, Cindy is another unfortunate example of a person who believes that she will find solace in all the wrong places.

She has convinced herself that by sharing her suffering with those around her, she will find peace. And she also believes that if she can "just make it right for the other families," then perhaps she will have righted the death of her son. But it is not through these things that Cindy will find the end to the pains he feels. But she's too busy selling the party line to stop and realize that.

But what happens when her 15 minutes are up? What happens when all the "supportive" families are gone. What happens when the press goes away and the Democratic party has left her? Then she'll have the same issues, the same pain. She'll realize then that the pain can't be fooled. The war will have gone on, her son will still be gone, and her pain will still be there until she learns that healing doesn't come from politics. This misguided woman is seeking her own peace though all the wrong channels and the far-left Democrats are all too happy to help her along.