A face.
Apparently that is all the antiwar movement needed in order to be jump-started from a group of disorganized peaceniks to a major public force. The members of the movement needed a face to put on their loss and anger, to allow them to understand why they oppose the Iraq War.
In Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar movement may have found that face.
Is it a direct effect of Sheehan's newfound notoriety that, within the past few weeks, support for the Iraq War among the American people has plummeted? I'm not sure, but with a recent Harris poll showing that 61 percent of the country wants the troops home within a year, one thing is certain: This war is quickly becoming very unpopular. As a result, President George W. Bush is becoming one of the most disliked presidents in recent memory with near-Watergate-level job approval ratings - 36 percent according to the American Research Group.
Cindy Sheehan's loss is one that is bound to tug on the heartstrings of any American. After her son Casey was prematurely killed on April 4, 2004, in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq, Sheehan became active in the antiwar movement, recently grabbing headlines by demanding that Bush take some time off of his five-week summer vacation to meet with her.
Currently, a media circus now surrounds "Camp Casey," the shanty town where Cindy Sheehan and her supporters hold vigil just down the road from the president's vacation home in Crawford, Texas.
Sheehan has become an instant icon of the antiwar movement and, consequently, the movement is quickly gaining momentum. Now, even some in the president's own party - like Senator Chuck Hagel - are beginning to distance themselves from the war. It is as if Cindy Sheehan was the first to jump in the pool and is now telling everyone, "Come on in, the water's warm."
Despite attempts by conservative shills like Bill O'Reilly to paint Cindy Sheehan's protest as "borderline treasonous," most Americans aren't buying it.
After all, it's becoming increasingly harder to paint Sheehan as a radical, considering the majority of Americans now hold beliefs about the war that are closer to Sheehan's than to the president's.
Bush is not doing himself any favors by refusing to provide answers to the many difficult questions being asked about the war. The American public is beginning to see through his act of holding scripted press conferences, sidestepping tough questions and, my personal favorite, giving speeches only to those who take a "loyalty oath."
As Jon Stewart put it last week on "The Daily Show," many Americans are upset "about the way this war has been conducted ... [The president] refuses to answer questions from adults as though we were adults and falls back on platitudes, phrases and talking points that do a disservice to the goals that he himself shares with the very people he needs to convince."
Stewart is dead-on. By treating reporters as if they are six-year-olds, the president is insulting the intelligence of this country's citizens.
By refusing to form a coherent plan for postwar Iraq, aside from the "stay the course" mantra that has become the core of his policy, he has doomed himself to continue losing the confidence of Americans as the war drags on.
Write to Steve at
nawarainthedn@hotmail.com
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
