Monday, August 15, 2005

Hot Topics: August sure is boring. And that's generally a good thing. Our government isn't actively screwing anything up at the moment. And it's warm enough to go swimming.

Of course, even though our government takes time off to recuperate, our news organizations do not. So we must fill time and newsprint with utter nonsense.

Enter Cindy Sheehan. The attention given to this woman is unreal. But with nothing important going on, she gets full command of the spotlight.

The truth is, she's just another nutty protester. There are 1,800-plus parents of dead soldiers and Marines. Some of them support the war, some of them do not -- eerily similar to the overall mood of the country.

While we all feel for her loss, we also know that a parent who just lost a child is not the most rational. Just like the father of a dead Marine who set fire to a Marine Corps van after hearing the news of his son's KIA, we sympathize and make excuses for odd behavior.

But this doesn't give anybody moral authority over anything. In fact, if Jenna were to be kidnapped, Bush would probably be removed from office under the XXV Amendment. (I think that was the theme of a West Wing episode.)

Ms. Sheehan has already met with the president once. That's more than many other military family members got. Now that she has the attention of the news horde, she spouts off anti-Israeli ramblings and conspiracy theories.

She has the right to speak her mind. But she doesn't have the right to make any of us listen.

Update: (via Centerfield) Newsweek has an article about how Bush has met with more than 900 family members of more than 270 troops who died in the war -- and Cindy Sheehan was already one of those members. Some of them were supportive, others showed up to give the president a piece of their mind. Just about all found Bush to be a caring and compassionate man. That may not mean much to you if you don't support the War in Iraq. But I just wanted to let you know nonetheless.