On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 09:34:58 -0700 (PDT), Gautam Mukunda wrote > I'd say that that description is much more accurate of > the anti-war movement that's cruelly using this poor > woman.
I keep reading about Cindy is being "used" by somebody or other and it is baloney. Cindy is not somebody who does a lot of listening to other people. Cindy does what Cindy wants to do. Suggesting another course of action to Cindy is a good way to set yourself up for frustration. She is a very strong-willed, articulate, pissed-off mother. And although I don't want to remain angry as she has or insist on someone taking the blame for this war as she does, I still am happy to call her a friend. I will distance myself from some of her words, but never from her as a friend. > In this case, you're dealing with someone who > has _already_ met the President, and who also deals in > pathetic anti-Semitism, incidentally. Christopher > Hithens dealt quite well with such things in Slate, > amongst many other people. > http://www.slate.com/id/2124500/ Hitchens didn't have the gall to call her anti-Semitic when he repeated her opinions about Israel's role in the politics of this war. Cindy is not anti-Semitic. As for her meeting the President before, the words that I keep hearing attributed to her are actually the words of her husband, Pat. I know other people who were at those same meetings with Bush, too, and I've been dismayed at how they were treated. My neighbor, Dolores Kesterson, has started talking about her encounter with Bush at the same meeting. She wasn't pleased. > Out of curiosity, had I been killed in Iraq, would > that mean that my parents would then have the right to > demand a _second_ meeting with the President and > insist that he continue the war so that my death was > not wasted, or does such a privilege only go to people > who agree with you? Do you really think that's all this is about? Do you really think Cindy expects Bush to meet with her? I think you're more politically savvy than that. I haven't asked her, but I suspect that Cindy is demanding to hear why her son died precisely because the question is unanswerable by anybody who was part of the decision to go to war. > What I would ask also is, has the anti-war movement no > sense of decency, using this poor woman as a prop in > its attempts to attack the President? How do you feel > rallying to someone supported by David Duke > (http://www.davidduke.com/index_print.php?p=350) - it > seems to me that people willing to exploit a poor, > bereaved woman as she lashes out to assuage her grief > should be comfortable in his company. Hmm. Perhaps I should go back into our archives to recall when you attacked the poor, grieving uncle of a Marine killed in Fallujah? Speaking unofficially for Gold Star Families for Peace, the organization Cindy started and I'm part of, I'll say that we're not looking for your pity. We would like people to grieve and heal *with* us, rather than treating us as if we are merely a small group whose losses are only personal, not losses to the entire nation and world. Cindy has personally asked for people to come to Crawford; nobody else is sending those invitations. She has personally asked for the candlelight vigils tomorrow night. She has asked for the media attention. None of this is second-hand info. I've been in touch with Cindy almost every day since this started and a bit before. Cindy has the spotlight at the moment, but it will fade. The real importance of what she is doing will be how the rest of us respond to all that attention, so that we can grieve and heal together as a country and as a world. -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Voicemail: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
