This morning the anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan — the woman who spent so much time leading well-publicized protests outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas — announced that she will demonstrate next week at Martha’s Vineyard, where President Obama will be vacationing. “There are several things that we wish to accomplish with this protest on Martha’s Vineyard,” Sheehan said in a statement:
First of all, no good social or economic change will come about with the continuation or escalation of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. We simply can’t afford to continue this tragically expensive foreign policy.
Secondly, we as a movement need to continue calling for an immediate end to the occupations even when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office. There is still no Noble Cause no matter how we examine the policies.
Thirdly, the body bags aren’t taking a vacation and as the U.S.-led violence surges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so are the needless deaths on every side.
And, finally, if the right-wing can force the government to drop any kind of public option or government supported health care, then we need to exert the same kind of pressure to force a speedy end to the occupations.
Will Sheehan’s stay in Massachusetts attract as much attention as her time in Texas? Probably not. Even the left wing of the Democratic party seems unconcerned with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan these days, compared to their bitter opposition during Bush’s time in office. It seems unlikely that reporters who paid so much attention to one woman’s crusade against the war will find much time on their newscasts or space in their paper to cover this one.
