It’s High Noon for George Bush and Cindy Sheehan.
Sauntering down one side of the street, the President of the United States and his hard-core supporters who steadfastly believe the war in Iraq is right. Sauntering down the other side of the street, California housewife Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother of a fallen young soldier, and her hard-core supporters who liken her to Rosa Parks, that courageous woman who many say helped launch the Civil Rights movement.
In the middle: Americans who are following this story of the mother camped out in Crawford, TX demanding an audience with a vacationing GWB as a news story and drama — not as activists do, as a part of a life-and-death partisan struggle in which each side peppers the other with verbal atomic weapons.
At stake: whether Sheehan’s sincerity (which some of those on the other side insist doesn’t exist) and guts will make her a catalyst for the crystallization of a higher-profile anti-war movement.
And whether her not taking the expected stance of a dead soldier’s mother (support of the war) means she is to those who steadfastly support the war and dismiss or downplay questions about it a troubling and dangerous symbol that must be defused ASAP.
So now the key questions have become: how has this impacted each side? Who has benefited most — and lost the most? How has the White House handled this — and could they have handled this better?
An outraged mother, as her supporters say? Or a political opportunist as her opponents insist? Stories surface on this faster than zits on a teenager. What’s clear is that the politicization of the Iraqi war issue — an issue that has been enmeshed in politics from the outset — is accelerating on both sides.
The AP has a great piece that explains Sheehan’s transformation after her 24-year-old son Casey was killed in April 2005. It notes she first felt shock and grief and then….
Then, two months later, came what she considered to be a disturbingly placid meeting with President Bush. While she found him to be a “man of faith,� she also said later that he seemed “totally disconnected from humanity and reality.� And when she later heard him speak of soldiers’ deaths as “noble,� Sheehan felt she had to do something.
“The shock has worn off and deep anger has set in,� she said.
Sheehan co-founded an anti-war organization and began talking, demonstrating, speaking at a congressional hearing. She got a Web site, a public relations assistant (financed by an anti-war group), an entourage of peace activists and a speaking tour.But while her message was strong and widely disseminated, she didn’t become world famous until about a week ago when, after speaking at the annual Veterans For Peace national conference in Dallas, she took a bus to Crawford, Texas, site of Bush’s ranch, to have a word with her president.
For the record, here’s what she said she wants to tell him: “I would say, ’What is the noble cause my son died for?’ And I would say if the cause is so noble has he encouraged his daughters to enlist? And I would be asking him to quit using Casey’s sacrifice to justify continued killing, and to use Casey’s sacrifice to promote peace.�
Sheehan’s peaceful vigil, her unstoppable anguish, her gentle way of speaking, have captured attention for an anti-war movement that until now hasn’t had much of a leader. Over the past week she appeared on every major television and radio network and in newspapers around the world.
So is that the whole story? Not quite. According to the Washington Post, an extensive anti-war organization and mechanism is now in place behind her:
But what began as a solitary campaign to force a meeting with President Bush by setting up camp along the road to his ranch has quickly taken on the full trappings of a political campaign. Sheehan is working with a political consultant and a team of public relations professionals, and now she is featured in a television ad.
Sheehan began her protest here last Saturday after crisscrossing the country for more than a year demanding answers on why Bush continues to wage what she calls an unjust war in Iraq. After her son Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed in Baghdad last year, she founded Gold Star Families for Peace, an antiwar organization that labored largely in obscurity — until now.
In part, Sheehan’s case has echoed as her grievances merged with what polls show is growing dissatisfaction with the war. But her cause has also been aided by political organizers who swiftly mobilized around her — recognizing an opportunity to cause acute discomfort for a vacationing president and put a powerful emotional frame around the antiwar movement.
No one watching cable television news this week, dominated by coverage of Sheehan’s crusade, could doubt that they largely achieved their aim.
But Sheehan makes no bones about her goals, writing in The Milwaukee Journal:
After 30 U.S. troops were killed in one week recently, the president reiterated his pledge to complete the mission of our fallen soldiers. But that mission originally was to protect the U.S. from a lethal attack by Hussein – with weapons it turns out he did not have.
Anyway, I don’t want the president to use Casey’s memory to justify continuing this war, which will end up only needlessly killing more wonderful young men like him.
Many people have been streaming in to Crawford to support my vigil and convince the president to listen to the people who want an end to this war. We are camping out in a drainage ditch, in 100-degree weather, but it’s worth it.
If and when I do meet with the president this time, it will be for all of the Gold Star Families for Peace who lost children in this war, for all of the mothers and fathers and husbands and wives who are grieving and who want to tell the president to end this devastating war.
No one else, not one more mom, should have to lose her son in Iraq.
And since for every political move there is a counter move, there is now a batch of pro-Bush demonstrators in Crawford:
As about a dozen Bush supporters stood across the street holding signs, down from more than 250 who gathered there Saturday morning, one exchange became heated. A Bush supporter approached an anti-war veteran, and they stood chest to chest as deputies tried to separate them.
When the veteran shouted about his wartime experiences and yelled, “I earned the right to be here!” several of his fellow protesters subdued him, moving him away as he sobbed and his knees buckled.
Sheriff’s deputies and Secret Service agents otherwise kept the groups on opposite sides of the road, and no one was arrested.
The morning pro-Bush rally was organized by Darrell Ankarlo, a conservative radio talk-show host for KLIF in Dallas, who said, “In my heart of hearts I believe that we’re trying to do the right thing” in Iraq.
He also asked to meet with Sheehan, but she agreed only to meet privately Saturday evening with Bush supporters whose relatives have died in Iraq.
The 250-plus Bush supporters stood in the blazing sun for a few hours in a ditch across the street from the campsite. Most waved American flags and held signs, including “Help! I’m surrounded by America hating idiots!” and “Thank you, Mr. President.”
Meanwhile, Sheehan is being praised as a courageous, history-making grieving mother and being blasted by others such as Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Robert Jamieson:
Her accusatory tone suggests that she wants to flog the president with blame and vitriol and not have a meaningful, respectful dialogue.
At the very least, she gets her name all over the news as the mom who tried to stick it to Bush.
If Sheehan wants sober war policy answers, I have a one-word suggestion for her: Google.
She can read up on Bush’s shifting justifications for the Iraq debacle. She won’t get solid answers, but she will read a lot about a Bush administration that misrepresents facts and lies as a matter of habit.
She also will come across accounts of our “heartless” president crying with families of dead soldiers.
Sheehan’s Texas tantrum wittingly or unwittingly abets left-leaning forces that are happy to use her to get at the president. If the anemic antiwar movement needs a mourning mom to lead the charge against this unjust war, then the movement is in dire straits.
Protest marches and demonstrations, which powered public sentiment against the war in Vietnam, have been reduced to this — a mom with a mic.
So what can we discern from all of this? A few things:
HOW HAS THIS IMPACTED EACH SIDE: It has given a dash of energy to both sides on the war issue and increased polarization to heights not seen since the Vietnam War. But it still is not at the level of polarization that existed during Vietnam.
HOW IT HAS IMPACTED THE LEFT AND ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: It has given the floundering anti-war movement a focus, direction, and what Hollywood likes to call a “high concept” symbol to press its case against the war.
There are all kinds of images that Mr. Bush’s foes will be reminding voters of for several years, such as GWB’s motorcade going past the demonstrations and not stopping, taking GWB to a fundraiser. Or of him working out with his trainer or running but not having the time to meet with Sheehan. Sheehan’s supporters will discount criticism of her likely message to Bush, arguing the point is he was too afraid or uncaring to meet with her.
The net result could a boost to the left and anti-war movement.
But there is a danger here, as well. If the spotlight on Sheehan and the people around her reveal a drift towards radicalism then the political center will align with Bush. In his book Independent Nation John Avalon notes the vital role of America’s political center throughout history. Will Sheehan win over many centrists and moderates or will they be turned off and go to Bush?
HOW IT HAS IMPACTED THE RIGHT AND STEADFAST WAR SUPPORTERS: It has again provided an instance where the rapidity of conservative response to Bush problems has been impressive. But it could prove a net NEGATIVE to right and steadfast war supporters.
The vehemence of the criticism aimed at Sheehan (who, as you can see is no political shrinking violent) is bound to have a backlash in some quarters. Why? Because this kind of massive effort in going after someone who takes on the administration has happened many times before. Rightfully or wrongfully, the image that’s coming across is that if you cross the administration, whether you deserve it or not, you could get nailed to the cross. And that’s the danger:
Sheehan’s foes are giving her the image of a martyr.
Can they counter this by grieving mothers who support Bush? It won’t have the same news value. It’s not news that most military mothers support the war and don’t hold Bush personally accountable. The counter demonstrators will only PERPETUATE intense media coverage of this story. The net result will be a negative. Many non-activist Americans can appreciate the argument that the U.S. can’t pull out of Iraq until the situation is stabilized, but signs saying “Thank You Mr. President” for the war will probably not play well, if you look at recent polls.
HOW THE WHITE HOUSE HAS HANDLED IT: When the history of the Bush administration compared to other administrations is written one thing will be certain: few administrations in American history have boasted so many topnotch political pros. And seldom has any team of pros been so ineffectual in issues that involve defusing their political foes. Activate the base? They can do it. Power politics? They can do it. Head off political confrontations? They seemingly don’t have a clue.
A team more politically professional would have found way to defuse Sheehan’s vigil. Even a statement earlier by Bush would have helped. The image of Bush driving past demonstrators, clearing brush, exercising in Crawford and ignoring Sheehan won’t help the White House except among Bush partisans.
And the irony is: what Sheehan is asking now and the way she is asking it locks the White House — due to its own early ham-handedness — into a nonaction reaction. If Bush meets with her, it’ll be seen as yielding to political pressure — something he doesn’t like to do. And if he meets with her it could set a precedent where people on other issues can camp out and gather supporters until the President sees them. Yes, we know, the White House used to be open to all of the people but this is the 21st Century and most modern Presidents simply have NOT gone out and met demonstrators or their leaders — particularly if the leaders had demanded they do so.
ON BALANCE? Bush is caught in a political pincer. Sheehan and those demanding a change in war policy have greater room to maneuver. They’re also more likely to gain support from Sheehan’s high visibility, while no matter what Bush does, he’s likely to be hurt in some way, partly due to the poor political skills of his own White House staff in dealing with this issue at an earlier stage — or the hubris of power.
OUTLOOK: Sheehan will help unify the anti-war movement which still is not close to its Vietnam era potency, and probably will never be at that point since there is no military draft. And, unless there is The Mother Of All Political Bungles from Sheehan and those who’ve joined her, Bush’s image could take another hit.
UPDATE: Bush responds with a new comment that will likely hurt his image even more with those who disagree or don’t totally agree with him.
SOME OTHER VOICES ON OR REFERRING TO THIS POST
The always lively Crooks And Liars notes our post here. It also has some must read info and an audio interview here.
Dean Esmay
Ann Althouse (at InstaPundit)
Pokoryny Pundit
Daily Pundit
Michelle Malkin
John Cole
Teacher’s Lounge
Capital Region People
Booker Rising
Enormous Incongruities
Winds Of Change
Classical Values
ATypical Joe
Protein Wisdom
Ron Beasley
The All Spin Zone
Media Lies
Centerfield’s Rick Heller
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.