Sheehan the Light

The Huffington Post Blog went all Cindy Sheehan, all the time yesterday (and continues somewhat today) with almost every post dealing with some aspect of the anti-war movement's new de facto leader. Sheehan isn't looking for a leadership role, just to speak with the President about why her son had to die in Iraq.

The fact that a grieving mother has become the lead anti-war spokesperson is kind of sad since we, supposedly, have an opposition political party that should be taking up that cause. One of the HuffPo's contributors yesterday, Senator Gary Hart, makes this point rather well:

If democracy only works when there is open discussion of opposing ideas and policies, and if the opposition party, in this case the Democrats, has hand-cuffed, blind-folded, gagged, and hog-tied itself to a failed invasion and occupation in the Middle East, where will the expanding majority of Americans look for a representative, a spokesperson, a voice for their anger, frustration, and distrust at being misled?

The circumstances suggest it should be a Senate or House Democratic leader, a recognized authority on foreign policy constantly seen on the Sunday talk shows, certainly one of the many “leaders” lining up to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2008.

Strangely, no one in any of those categories comes to mind. Their voices are silent. Thus, both they and the party they claim or presume to represent look dumbstruck, awkward, pitiful, and timid. Where the single greatest issue of the day, and one of the most potent issues of our time, is concerned, there is no courageous opposition.

Meanwhile, the caskets keep coming home…with no public official to greet them or to respect them. They are the forgotten dead and they represent thousands more of the even more forgotten wounded.

Indeed. This is why I am not a Democrat. I want an opposition party that will stand up for what is right and not cower before the mighty Rupublican smear machine. A majority of the American public doesn't like what the Republicans are doing to this country but find not leadership in the Democrats either. If the Dems want stand up to their political opponents, they figure, how are they going to deal with threats internal and external.

Go read the whole thing and hang around and read all the other Cindy-centric posts from yesterday and today.