…I believe it is of vital importance that we separate the method of delivering the message from the message itself.
Ms. Sheehan is not the first to invoke the dead to convey a political message, nor will she be the last.
Once we actually do the mental work of separating the gut reaction out to analyze the methods used, we might see how our emotions are being cynically manipulated by those on both sides of the political spectrum seeking to gain a momentary partisan advantage in an emotional blackmail that uses the specters of the dead to say “listen to what is said, otherwise there will be more dead like me to haunt you”.
Regardless of whether we agree with the message or not, we should condemn the methods being used by anyone on either side of the political spectrum when they conjure the ghosts of the dead to give credibility to a message that should be able to stand on its own.