Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Cindy Sheehan, once humble grieving mother, has now turned into a talking head for the anti-war and anti-Bush movement. Every day, as her entourage grows, the authenticity that won her prominence in the first place has diminished, but the national debate about the War is heating back up because of her actions.
Cindy is the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq. She has been camping out in front of President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, in symbolic protest, demanding to meet with the President to ask him one simple question: What is the noble cause behind the Iraq war? She departed the ranch Thursday, when her mother had a stroke.
Her actions have re-ignited anti-war and anti-Bush sentiment during a time when the movement has been waning, lacking the galvanizing symbol to inspire action. Now, Cindy has become that symbol, but at a cost.
Her one woman protest has turned into a circus of interest groups controlling her message, which in turn is destroying the legitimacy of her personal mission. Groups such as MoveOn.org, which works to bring real Americans back into the political process, its public relations firm Fenton Communications and Democracy for America have all stepped in and taken over. Cindy is no longer the lonesome, grieving mother the media portrays her as, but rather a talking head for the people giving her support. The message machine Fenton Communications came up with a simple, catchy analogy for Cindy as stated by Tom Matzzie, MoveOn.org’s Washington director, “Cindy is the Rosa Parks of the peace movement in 2005. Cindy, Rosa Parks, Paul Revere —they’re people who try to start something.”
Comparing Cindy Sheehan to Rosa Parks is a vast stretch. Rosa Parks’ problems resulted in her arrest and trial, a 381-day Montgomery bus boycott, and, finally, the Supreme Court’s ruling in November 1956 that segregation on transportation is unconstitutional. Cindy’s actions will not result in any precedent-setting Supreme Court cases. What Cindy has started, although highly influenced by outside groups, is something that has the potential to focus the apathetic American public’s eye onto the substantial problems in front of us.
Grieving mothers who have lost their children and loved ones in war hold an important place in history, with momentous achievements in Latin America and abroad. Every movement has a single moment when it torques up, and Cindy’s effort may have broken the camel’s back here in the United States.
The demands of one despairing, enraged woman, standing alone in front of the President’s ranch on a country, dirt road have inspired thousands to act. According to MoveOn.org, last Wednesday, tens of thousands of supporters gathered at 1,627 vigils to acknowledge the sacrifices made by Cindy Sheehan’s son, Casey, and more than 1,800 brave American men and women who have given their lives in Iraq — and their moms and families.
Cindy will never be an idol, looked up to by middle school children in history class, but her persona, twisted by the deconstructive nature of the media, will be carried on through political experts to promote their pre-fabricated message. We are no longer being shown the heart of a mother grieving the loss of a child; instead, we are being sold the idea of that mother, which is marketable by the interest groups who are spending days developing the perfect sound bite and visual for Fox or CNN.
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