Reply #20: This is not a flame ... [View All]

[RoyGBiv]

It is some pointed criticism.

On the Daily Show, Jon Stewart regularly has a segment showing clips of talking heads, politicians, etc. repeating the same message, using the same words, over and over, implying rather clearly that this message has been handed to them by someone. It's a script with few alterations, and it's funny only because it is so absurd that those spouting this rhetoric don't seem to understand it is so transparent. But, when you think about it, it's not funny at all because most people don't understand it is just rhetoric, and even if they disagree with the message being offered, they find themselves using the same language, validating it, giving it power. They've accepted the message without realizing it.

Starting near the end of Cindy's vigil in Crawford, we started hearing a lot about how she was a potentially loose cannon. Most of this came from the right-wing noise machine, but little by little, people on our side of the fence starting using the same words. Within a few weeks, as it became apparent that Cindy is not in fact a brilliant politician with a cadre of advisers to write her speeches for her, she began making statements that some found objectionable. In response, people on the left, right, and in the middle began questioning her sanity, suggesting that a grieving mother was not necessarily the best leader for the anti-war movement because she was too emotionally involved and could not be trusted to choose her words wisely. Some went so far as to suggest she be abandoned as a spokesman, that she was doing more harm that good by offering "stupid" comments that reflected "badly" on "us."

That died down for awhile as we dealt with the aftermath of Katrina and focused on impending indictments of high-ranking administration officials, but the noise machine was still hard at work, looking for ways to redirect the focus. So, in the last several days, as Cindy has made her intentions not just to let this die, not just to give everyone a free pass merely because they belong to a certain political party, not just to bask in her fifteen minutes, we start hearing the noise again. It started with the right-wing machine, and it has found its way into our own discourse, by what path I shall not begin to opine.

Cindy has jumped the shark. What an insulting -- and repetitive -- thing to say. This isn't Happy Days. Cindy isn't The Fonz. No stunt-men will be involved and no script writers will be able to ensure a positive outcome. This is war, an illegal, immoral war based on lies that has taken the lives of thousands. I only wish I had the courage to lash myself to a fence, knowing full well I would be arrested, or worse, in order to ensure the focus remained where it should.

Half a century ago, another woman did an incredibly stupid thing. She jumped the shark and refused to give up her place on the bus, in Alabama of all places. What nerve. A group of people in Oklahoma, then Kansas, then other places all over the country figuratively chained themselves to lunch counters and refused to be moved. How dumb. These people were heroes, doing what they had to do to raise awareness, to force those in power to deal with their message.

If you don't like her tactics, come up with some of your own, enact them, and let us know where you'll be and when so we can support you. And when you jump the shark by doing something incredibly stupid, I'll be there with my repellent and tell everyone you were doing what had to be done.