Last week when I first heard of Cindy Sheehan I thought, "Uh oh, Bush has got himself a problem." The more I read about
this story the more doo doo I think Bush is in. The conservative right like Matt Drudge (I'm never going to read the DrudgeReport again by the way), Bill O'Reilly, et al. seem to think that if they keep aligning her with the left-wing protesters that surround her then they can turn her into something that they can deal with. I don't think they'll succeed in fooling anyone but themselves. In her current state, she is invincible, she is a mom who lost a son and doesn't know why. As such, we can all understand her. Her place in history is all but secured. All she has to do is sit in that drainage ditch for another two weeks holding up a sign to the President's passing motorcade and writing an occasional blog. This lady is smart too. She's succinct and to the point like a punk rock lyric. Here's a sample: "No one else, not one more mom, should have to lose her son in Iraq." Who can argue with that?
In Cindy Sheehan I'm reminded of the lone student standing in front of a line of tanks during the Tianamen Square slaughter and also of Harriet Beecher Stowe, "the little woman who started the big war." Indeed Bush is in trouble with this one. He can't ignore her, nobody can.
Having said that, if I were advising Bush, now would be the time to broaden the scope of this thing. This was never about Iraq. It's about stability in the Middle East (US control). It's about oil. This is a good ol' fashioned resource war, the most important resource ever. It's time the American people heard the truth. I think we can handle it, and in my opinion, if the war is talked about in this way, it makes sense. The entire future of our economy and country depends on cheap oil, without it, we can kiss the American way of life goodbye. Bush has a good opportunity right now (especially with what is going on in Iran) to level with us. Do I think he will? Of course not.
