Cindy Sheehan was speaking at the community college this morning. It wasn't easy to park and it wasn't easy to find the building but as luck would have it, we passed the search, fast talked some "guards" and sat in the front of the auditorium where the faculty was supposed to sit. 
On this brisk and breezy day here on the Guyland, there were about 100 non students and faculty there to hear Cindy speak in addition to the many students who were lined up and let in first. A man on line to see her apparently was not a Sheehan supporter and told the news cameras that "he supported the troops" (as opposed to those of us who hate to see our young men and women get screwed by the government and lied into an illegal war.)
Maybe it was because of people like him, that we were all searched for bombs and weapons before we could enter the building. The man who checked my bag had to make sure I didn't have one of those little pen knifes on my key ring. Can you imagine? What, was I going to take Cindy hostage with one of those? War mongers are really war mongers, aren't they? Can't trust them. Can't put a peace sticker on your car here or it will get keyed. Fascists. (Where I live is NOT the liberal part of NY you all hear about so much.)While Cindy Sheehan was speaking, my heart was breaking more and more, not only for her tragic loss, but for the loss of what I once believed was at the very least, a nation that had possibly learned its lesson after Vietnam. Sitting right in front of her and listening to her tell her story in person had me in tears. I listened to her speak in the DC Rally last month, but this was more intimate and moving. Cindy vowed to fight for peace until she dies so that in another 30 years, we don't have to go through this again.
She should be an example for all of us, I thought. One woman with the courage and guts to speak out and hopefully make a difference. She spelled out all the lies of the administration and also of the recruiters who promise the world to young recruits and then, excuse my french, let the military fuck them in the ass by not following through on any of the promises, not to mention issuing Vietnam era flack jackets, if they were lucky enough to even get one.
She admonished citizens who want peace to work for it by staging rallies, sending petitions, letters and emails to their representatives and let them know that we want a plan to get the troops OUT of Iraq. She said that she has spoken to many representatives who said that if only more people would actively make the anti-war movement or peace movement more visible, that they would have the courage to speak out against it in Washington. She said that we must tell our reps that they better start to represent us or that they are fired. That is something for you to keep in mind.
What made me disgusted was her account of her first meeting with bush after Casey was killed and how he refused to call anyone by name, referred to the dead as loved ones and called the parents mom or dad. As I have stated many times on the blog, this president has less manners than an amoeba. His parents dragged him up rather than raised him thus he is more a national embarrassment than anything else. I have met 2 year olds with more manners. What's more, bush went to Cindy's daughter and told her that he wished he could bring her brother back after he asked her what her relationship to 'a loved one' was (not the name of the loved one) and she replied, "Yes, me too." The pretzeldent then gave her the dirtiest look anyone had ever seen. What a pig.
Cindy told the students that it probably wasn't a good idea to enlist in the military at this time... not until things change, that promises are kept, that this administration quits lying and fabricating more reasons for more illegal wars for oil. I couldn't agree more.
"The pioneers of a warless world are the young men (and women) who refuse military service." -Albert Einstein
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