The Revolution Is Nowby
Sheila Samples
~ Emile Zola Raw Story is publishing a letter it acquired on Tuesday, Aug. 9, from 16 Democratic Representatives (whose number has now burgeoned to 38) urging George Bush to meet with Cindy Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was slain in Iraq in 2004. Sheehan has been camped on Bush's doorstep since Saturday when she and a small group of supporters were forced to walk in a ditch struggling through knee-deep weeds as they made their way to Prairie Chapel, the Bush "ranch," a former pig farm in Crawford, Texas. According to The Iconoclast, Bush's hometown paper, Sheehan said she decided to go to Crawford because of comments Bush made which coincided with the deaths of 12 Marine reservists from Ohio who were killed in perhaps the deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq. Sheehan was outraged at Bush's remarks to about 1,800 members of the American Legislative Exchange Council in Grapevine on Aug. 3 that the men and women who’ve lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan died in a noble and selfless cause. "We all know by now that that’s not true, and I want to ask George Bush, ‘Why did my son die? What was the noble cause that he died for?’” said Sheehan. “I don’t want [President Bush] to use my son’s name or my family name to justify any more killing or to exploit my son’s name, my son’s sacrifice, or my son’s honor to justify more killing. As a mother, why would I want one more mother to go through what I’m going through, Iraqi or American? "And I want to tell him that the only way to honor my son’s sacrifice is to bring the troops home now.” There are few things more relentless this side of Hell than an August Texas sun. Unless it would be the lost souls of Fallujah crying out for justice through the Napalm flames. Or perhaps it is a mother so engulfed in grief at the cruel and needless loss of her child that her primal screams reverberate throughout the world. Except at the pig farm. Or within the entire US Senate. Or on the deaf ears of all but 38 of the 435 representatives in the US House. Six soldiers and marines were killed today. Four yesterday. In just 10 days of August, 44 Americans and many, many more innocent Iraqis have been murdered. We don't "do" body counts of Iraqi citizens, so there's no way of knowing how many have died, but we do know that more than four soldiers and marines have been slaughtered in a single day – every day. The pig farm president may not know where his children are tonight, but Casey Sheehan knows where his mother is – sweltering in 100-plus-degree weather on a desolate prairie – ignored by the commander-in-chief – but still out there, bravely supporting the troops. There are many mothers whose anguish matches Sheehan's, not only those who have lost children, but those whose children are returning broken and maimed; doomed to lives of desperation and pain. Mothers like Sandy Briggs, from Keokuk, Iowa, whose son, Sgt. Robert Briggs, a soldier in the 224th Engineer Battalion, was hit by shrapnel from an artillery round April 16 at Iraq's Camp Ramadi. According to the Burlington, Iowa, newspaper, The Hawkeye, "Surgeons took one of his eyes. The other is partially blind. Head trauma paralyzed his left side. Metal litters his body...An operation removed part of his skull. Now he wears a helmet to get out of bed." Bush says he "grieves 'n mourns" for the dead and maimed. His "thoughts 'n prayers" go out to them. He 'preciates them making the ultimate sacrifice for his noble cause. Many, however, are beginning to think Bush has a strange way of showing his compassion. He has not attended a single funeral of the now 1,848 Americans who have died in Iraq because of his lies and lack of planning, and he continues to stubbornly "ditch" Sheehan as she keeps a lonely vigil on the Texas plains. Bush might wish later that he had come out to meet with Sheehan upon her arrival Saturday when there was but a handful of supporters accompanying her. If the media covered the meeting at all, he would have been portrayed as a caring president, and by Sunday it would all have been over. But that isn't how Bush operates. He does not negotiate; remember, his will is strong, his resolve will not be broken. Bush is not satisfied until everything he touches turns into a steaming, odious pile of manure. He made the cowardly choice to send out a couple of minions – national security adviser Steve Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin – to tell her that Bush really really cares, but nobody's coming home until "the mission is accomplished..." So – as Bush likes to say, "history will show" the Revolution started on a steamy August day...at the pig farm. Who knew? Who would have believed just a week ago that, after all our years of hard work, the crude and pitiless Bush would run out there, ram his middle finger in the face of a heartbroken mother, and jump-start the Revolution? By the time Cindy Sheehan leaves her station at the pig farm, Bush will know that he was wrong. He will know, because "Mother" is not just half a word, as Bush and his Texas buddies, his Skull and Bones cohorts, his PNAC perps were raised to believe. "Mother" is an invincible, protective force that, if awakened and sufficiently outraged, will sweep the entire murderous bunch from their seats of evil power. Ultimately, "Mother" will bring our troops home. The mainstream media will find, much to their chagrin, that the Revolution is now, and will continue apace without them. The Iconoclast is offering hourly updates on the Sheehan vigil. Friends of Peace and Justice of Waco is mobilizing support for Sheehan’s vigil, which could last until the end of August. More information can be obtained at the Crawford Peace House website or by calling (254) 486-0099. Air America Radio hosts, especially Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy, are all over this story, giving minute-by-minute updates, many of them coming from Sheehan herself, who calls the station regularly. Google "Cindy Sheehan," and you will discover the entire Internet is wide awake and on the march, and will join the Revolution – at the pig farm. August 12, 2005 Sheila Samples [send her mail] is an Oklahoma freelance writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. Copyright © 2005 Sheila Samples |