Thread started by Roadblock at 05.29.07 - 5:38 pm

wow. Bravo to this woman. She put in work and really gave it a great run.... I applaud her. knowing that the talking droids on the rightwing/mainstream media will only give out choice snippets and soundbytes I am posting her entire farewell address in yet another spot for google searching thinkers to happen upon it. She woke up to the sad truth. as Chomsky states.... we are in a one party system. that is the business party with it's two factions, the democrats and the republicans.



"Good Riddance Attention Whore"

by CindySheehan

Mon May 28, 2007 at 09:57:01 AM PDT

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.

I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me.

The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a "tool" of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our "two-party" system?

However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the "left" started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong."

I am deemed a radical because I believe that partisan politics should be left to the wayside when hundreds of thousands of people are dying for a war based on lies that is supported by Democrats and Republican alike. It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Blind party loyalty is dangerous whatever side it occurs on. People of the world look on us Americans as jokes because we allow our political leaders so much murderous latitude and if we don't find alternatives to this corrupt "two" party system our Representative Republic will die and be replaced with what we are rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland. I am demonized because I don't see party affiliation or nationality when I look at a person, I see that person's heart. If someone looks, dresses, acts, talks and votes like a Republican, then why do they deserve support just because he/she calls him/herself a Democrat?

I have also reached the conclusion that if I am doing what I am doing because I am an "attention whore" then I really need to be committed. I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither. If an individual wants both, then normally he/she is not willing to do more than walk in a protest march or sit behind his/her computer criticizing others. I have spent every available cent I got from the money a "grateful" country gave me when they killed my son and every penny that I have received in speaking or book fees since then. I have sacrificed a 29 year marriage and have traveled for extended periods of time away from Casey's brother and sisters and my health has suffered and my hospital bills from last summer (when I almost died) are in collection because I have used all my energy trying to stop this country from slaughtering innocent human beings. I have been called every despicable name that small minds can think of and have had my life threatened many times.

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most.

I have also tried to work within a peace movement that often puts personal egos above peace and human life. This group won't work with that group; he won't attend an event if she is going to be there; and why does Cindy Sheehan get all the attention anyway? It is hard to work for peace when the very movement that is named after it has so many divisions.

Our brave young men and women in Iraq have been abandoned there indefinitely by their cowardly leaders who move them around like pawns on a chessboard of destruction and the people of Iraq have been doomed to death and fates worse than death by people worried more about elections than people. However, in five, ten, or fifteen years, our troops will come limping home in another abject defeat and ten or twenty years from then, our children's children will be seeing their loved ones die for no reason, because their grandparents also bought into this corrupt system. George Bush will never be impeached because if the Democrats dig too deeply, they may unearth a few skeletons in their own graves and the system will perpetuate itself in perpetuity.

I am going to take whatever I have left and go home. I am going to go home and be a mother to my surviving children and try to regain some of what I have lost. I will try to maintain and nurture some very positive relationships that I have found in the journey that I was forced into when Casey died and try to repair some of the ones that have fallen apart since I began this single-minded crusade to try and change a paradigm that is now, I am afraid, carved in immovable, unbendable and rigidly mendacious marble.

Camp Casey has served its purpose. It's for sale. Anyone want to buy five beautiful acres in Crawford , Texas ? I will consider any reasonable offer. I hear George Bush will be moving out soon, too...which makes the property even more valuable.

This is my resignation letter as the "face" of the American anti-war movement. This is not my "Checkers" moment, because I will never give up trying to help people in the world who are harmed by the empire of the good old US of A, but I am finished working in, or outside of this system. This system forcefully resists being helped and eats up the people who try to help it. I am getting out before it totally consumes me or anymore people that I love and the rest of my resources.

Good-bye America ...you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it.

It's up to you now.

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thank you for posting this



dannyzuko
05.29.07 - 5:48 pm

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Fuck the Democrats. They didn't deserve Sheehan.



PC
05.30.07 - 4:14 am

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Extensive interview with Cindy on today's (5/30) Democracy Now!.



trickmilla
05.30.07 - 8:02 am

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thanks for posting!

Man, time flys. I remember her first interview on Democracy Now! What a strange journey she's been on.



Bootlegger
05.30.07 - 9:50 am

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Speech given at a bikes not bombs event by Noam Chomsky. Old and long but still extremely relevant...

http://www.bikesnotbombs.org/chomsky2.html



420LaHaRR
05.30.07 - 11:14 am

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I have two quick gut reactions to this:

First; the activist work she was doing looks to me, as part of a healing process she is going through while grieving the lose of her son.

Second,; If she always was, or what happen to her son brought it out and made her one, the lady is a warrior. Those that battle, need time to pull back and recuperate. Rest periods are important for all. I don't think we have seen the last of Cindy Sheehan. Even this letter is saying for people to take notice, that you won't ever get what you want, until you realize you want it. I think she is going to take a much need brake, relax, regrouping and will be back to continue the struggle. Anybody who has been called to do what she has been doing, doesn't usually leave the struggle, until the struggle is really over. The struggle is never over. I would guess it is in her bones. It also looks as if she is going to deal with her own personal struggles, it sounds as she as lots to deal with in her self and those that she cares for the most, her children.

I don't know her personally besides, meeting her way back when, (but I meant a gang of people, doesn't mean I know them), she was and sounds as if she is still going through immense pain. I never pegged her for doing what she has done. I don't see it as more then sharing her grief with the world. That has been very powerful in so many ways, I never thought of that as a tool to stop injustice. So obvious, I didn't see the forest from the trees.

I remember meeting some of the people that had decided to be her handlers (I know from meeting these people, and how these grassroots movements work, that she didn't choose them, nobody chooses comrades in these struggles, you just happen upon them), they where not people you would choose to befriend. How she came this far around those folks, is a sign of how much pain she must of been/be in.

Just some thoughts, I'd thought when I read this.

I see this as another reason this non-sense has to stop. Cindy shared with the world her grief, and lucky for everybody else, she got heard. Those that called her unkind names and said negatives things about her, that made the person saying those things, sound and look unbecoming as a human being, God bless them. Imagine if every mother had the ability to share with the world their grief, as Cindy was able to. That would be close to or over a million mothers in the "Iraq massacres" alone. If the media covered the deaths caused in Iraq the way they cover Virginia Tech, this war would of been over a long time ago. Imagine if they covered all violent conflicts like that.

I'm sorry Cindy, and I'm sorry for all of those that have and are suffering from the crimes of power hungry, greedy, poor (in soul) people.




sexy
05.30.07 - 11:36 am

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"Most of the United States population just don't care..."

"People like you are the only hope..."





Joe Borfo
05.30.07 - 11:47 am

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I think the majority of the US population would care if they knew or were informed about all the foreign policy corruption....... Human beings, I believe, have an innate sense of fairness. sadly the vast majority of the population doesnt know.... and furthermore the vast majority of US citizens live relatively comfortably. If people are ignorant and are living comfortably how can you expect them to get angry or even to care about some far off land or people that they've been conditioned to believe hosts " suicidal maniacs in mud huts."

The key to the root cause, I believe, is that the media is not telling us what's up. This is one of the true cancers of our society. That includes especially AM radio shows that slam "liberals" and the "liberal media" 24/7/365. Lets all remember that the definition of Liberal Thinking is to consider all points of view. So to call the media liberally "biased" is a fucking ridiculous statement. The news media should be liberal by definition. They arent. They never have been. it used to be better. It has gotten tragic.

In fact I doubt the media ever really has sought to tell the truth about many important issues because in our so called society of "free press" the information we get is supported by advertisers. Advertisers pour BILLIONS and BILLIONS into media. These Advertisers are the biggest businesses in the land. They live and die by how informed a public is about certain issues. Their stock prices tweak at the hint of news... Meaning, the people and entities that control the messages that get the loudest voices are the concentrated money interests of this country and they are very concerned with image.. An advertiser is NOT going to support a voice that dissents against it's general view of how things should be. Problems keeping dirt out of a particular media source? Buy it! Not getting the message out about some issue that needs to be bent towards them? Create a magazine and get the word out. Support the idiots and dont fundd critical thinking. That's the strategy here.

Sure.... you can argue that's not true because of stories that do make it out the criticize corps or this or that scandal. A newspaper does have to actually report some news ya know, but when those rare investigative reports come out it's about a car failure or a contaminated food source etc. NOT about the real deal that's going on abroad... And when a major advertiser is caught best know that the very day plans are made as to how to engage in damage control.... meaning new marketing strategies are studied on focus groups, polls are taken and new advertising is placed... money is poured into PR campaigns new feel good stories are put out there by said violators.... and people forgive.... Denny's accused of racism? Ooops better pump money into the Denny's inner city out reach fund and put advertising in all the major papers of the "generous donation" milk it for the PR etc.... and soon enough we forget that people died eating Jack N' a Box hamburgers (after all Jack is pretty fucking funny) or that Merck pharmaceuticals intentionally put out meds that werent properly tested or that Nike uses slave labor or that Chevron wrecklessly polluted the environment.... No sweat! Chevron will just drop twice the duckits on ad spots claiming that "they care" when the reality is they only care if it means better profits.....

So... the Anti War movement is up against near impossible odds trying to out shout billion dollar media outlets. Their voices get distorted and just plain lost in the overwhelming power of mainstream media's voice...... I'm saying that If people really wanted to cause change they'd have to begin by legislating for broadcasters and media to actually tell us the TRUTH about corrupt shit, and to actually go out there and find the facts rather than the media being their lazy fucking selves and parroting what the politicians say.. To be critical and informative of ALL points of view and to actually be on the people's side rather than their bosses (advertisers) side. When I read the paper I am tripping on how much of a sales pitch it is rather than a cold hard look at the facts. Lots of product news, weather and celebrity news..... not much in the way of reporting on our corrupted ass foreign policy across the world.

We're taught over and over in the media that "state run media" is a bad thing. That it's propaganda..... If you have a healthy and strong government that is actually a tool of the people, that actually took steps to regulate the sales pitch that is our news, that problem would not be so much of a problem now would it?

I say BRAVO to Chavez for shutting down media stations that spread lies about his government. these agencies are very much supported by money interests who oppose his reforms that benefit the poor. I hope he gets rid of CNN too. It's a serious problem for a small country when you have these foreign US major media outlets squawking and stirring the pot and basically pumping people's minds with garbage trying to undermine governments that may actually be working for the people in their country but might not be doing what the USA wants - or rather - the money interests that control the US govt.. Media consolidation is RAMPANT in this country. FOX happens to be the most extreme but you know what? CNN MSNBC ABC all these stations are GARBAGE and they own a ton of outlets.... They are corrupting our society by NOt telling people how it really is but rather distracting us with news about celebrities or some bullshit. Ever wonder why they give so much valua-able aritime dedicated to weather? you can gimme the five day in 15 seconds. spend the rest of that time on foreign policy issues or something actually informative......

I haven't paid for cable or even basic TV ever and I never will..... So when I actually do watch the cable network news here and there I am shocked and disgusted by what I see. I know it has gotten a lot worse.

Start attacking the media via legislation. That's a start. It's not the only thing that needs to be done but it's at the top of my list.

Another thing that I think would force people to pay attention is if we brought back the draft. The powers that be realized after viet nam that they werent going to be able to run game with a population that isnt buying the storyline about some "enemy" in a foreign land. so believe it or not I want the draft re-instated and the paid military disbanded. It's literally our only chance to vote on wether we go to war. obviously neither faction of the business party cared enough to vote against this illegal occupation of Iraq. had there been a popular vote I dont think this country would have invaded...... had there been a draft and a real actual critical media best believe people would be opposed to the invasion. and if that isnt enough people can just ditch the draft. fuck it. now that's a VOTE.

The government belongs to the people. It should be a strong tool to represent and serve the people. Right now we have rightwingers railing about big government and calling to privatize everything in sight. Weakening government is their game (except of course for the military) they want to make it easier for their big business interests to dodge out of paying it's fair share of taxes..... the rich people in this country are not paying their fair share of taxes. they hire lawyers to study tax loopholes because it pays off. and that lack of funding weakens our government's ability to enforce laws or to keep corruption from regulatory bodies like the FCC. I cant believe that the FCC got all worked up about a nasty ol titty but didnt peep a damn thing about Clear Channel owning more than the allowed market share or that FOX news spreads distortions and lies.

When we scream about the actions of the Bush regime we are not getting to the core of the problem. Our system is corrupted STARTing with the information we recieve as voters.

News droids yack about how their job is to:
"Tell News in a compelling way."

FUCK THAT.

Their job should actually be to simply:

"Tell Compelling News."





Roadblock
05.31.07 - 6:57 am

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Here's some good media:

I recommend you see Amy Goodman's piece on the movie called War Made Easy. It is narrated by Sean Penn and the movie shows key facts on how we've been deceived as a country by so many presidents.

Excerpts of it were on yesterday's Democracy Now show : Watch Here in RealPlayer

"...Today we spend the hour looking at how presidents from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush sold wars to the American public. Media critic Norman Solomon and the Media Education Foundation have released a documentary titled "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." The film is based on Solomon's book of the same name. The film features extended commentary by Solomon."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/29/1322235

I think we should get this Movie and have a ride to a screening night. Anybody interested?



Joe Borfo
05.31.07 - 9:22 am

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I'm definitely interested.



420LaHaRR
05.31.07 - 9:42 am

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Once I get this DVD I'll post a movie screening Ride.



Joe Borfo
05.31.07 - 10:44 am

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Howard at Athena cycles in Studio City, wants to have an after party after a cruz with us in his parking lot. Maybe that would be a good night.



sexy
05.31.07 - 11:46 am

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Cool.

Does anyone have a decent projector we can use for this?
(or something the office wouldn't notice missing for an evening?)





Joe Borfo
05.31.07 - 11:59 am

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Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!



spiraldemon
05.31.07 - 12:01 pm

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I think Big bike Dan has one, I know thinkpeace has one also.



sexy
05.31.07 - 12:31 pm

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