Say Anything Blog

Imagine having a son or daughter in Iraq. Imagine the 24 hour-a-day stress.imagine getting that knock on the door notifying you that your loved one was killed in action. That was the nightmare come true that Cindy Sheehan faced in Apriil of 2004 when her son Casey was killed during combat in Baghdad. Like the parents of 3723 other brave servicemen she must have been heartbroken. But unlike many of the others, she spoke out about her tragic loss. She was determined to prevent more parents from facing losing their sons and daughters in such a foolish war.

As she spoke out against the war, her critics savaged her. Rush Limbaugh and America’s version of the wicked witch of the West,Ann Coulter, said she was exploiting death. Convicted felon Gordon Liddy made the absurd claim that she was anti-Semitic,and England’s favorite drunken curmudgeon, Chris Hitchens called her a liar.

But the name calling did not stop this humble, soft spoken mother. As she became more involved she became less naive. Her travels took her to Cuba where she protested against GITMO, and to Venezuela where she met and praised Hugo Chavez for his stance against our war in Iraq.

But her most famous visit was to Crawford, Texas where President Bush vacations. After failing to get a second meeting with the president to hear his explanation of the “noble cause” for which her son Casey died, she founded Camp Casey, an area close to where the president presides.

Her efforts attracted growing crowds, including many parents of soldiers killed in Iraq. To accommodate the crowds, Sheehan bought five acres of land for 50,000 dollars. The money was from the benefits from Casey’s death. Sheehan promised to eventually donate the land provided they make a peace park in honor of Casey.

Sheehan became more optimistic in 06 when the Dems won back both houses of congress; however, those hopes were dashed when Speaker Pelosi announced that there would be no impeachment efforts against the president. Because of that Sheehan announced that she will run against Pelosi for her house seat in the 8th district of California. It will be an uphill fight trying to unseat the speaker of the house, but Cindy Sheehan is a fighter who has come a long way since the death of Casey.
No matter what the outcome, she is my hero for courageously speaking out against this immoral war.