GOLD STAR MOM

GOLD STAR MOM

I've been struck by Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside the Dumbya ranch. I'm impressed that she's made it difficult for the president's advisors to work out a win-win situation -- they will, eventually, you know... Karl Rove makes the nicest stuff grow out of the nastiest, don't you know? -- for at least a week now.

Sheehan, for those who have missed the coverage the past week, is the mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq. She has posted herself on a public right-of-way near George W. Bush's home demanding that she get a face-to-face with him. He has refused, and only yesterday acknowledged her presence.

There are some issues even a liberal can take with Sheehan. I wonder about parents who are angry with the government for sending troops into dangerous places when they had no problem with their child's enlistment in the first place. I know: It was all for the college education, or it was two weeks a year and a weekend a month, but all the guns and boot camp should indicate there are other issues. These kids knew they were signing up for possible death, and despite the Madison Avenue campaigns to gloss that over, it's still different from how it was during Vietnam, when they could just send you a piece of mail because you happened to be born on the wrong day. Then you had to decide if you wanted to go, wanted to figure out how to go through the conscientious objector maze, or wanted to become Canadian. I am lucky; between 1975 and 1979, males turning 18 didn't even have to register for the draft, so anything the military has on me has been illegally or immorally obtained.

That said, until Bush actually sits down and has an audience with this woman, she has the upper hand and it grows stronger.

At her cyphering blog, Kelly Allen reprints the information Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Susan Paynter published this morning on how to support her effort.

You can assist Sheehan through Crawford Peace House (www.crawfordpeacehouse.org), by clicking on the donation link or sending checks to Crawford Peace House, P.O. Box 710218, Dallas, TX 75371-0218. The phone number is 254-486-0099.

Donations to support the Military Families Speak Out car caravan for Crawford can be sent to Arthur Ruger at P.O. Box 335, Bay Center, WA 98527. More information about the Northwest branch of that organization is available at www.nwmfso.org.

To the above, I'd add that even if you totally disagree with the war and those military over there who will tell you that we need to be there to use bombs and bullets to make Iraq over into a democracy, that there are still other places to investigate for making donations... the USO, veteran's groups, and many more. Of course, I personally would also recommend a donation to the DNC, but let's keep politics out of this.