Sheehan should stick to grieving
August 20, 2005 ~ 6:34 p.m.
Should President Bush meet with grieving mother Cindy Sheehan? Sheehan lost her son Casey who was serving in Iraq. Since August 6, she has been camping outside the President�s ranch in Crawford, Texas, calling upon Bush to see her. Bush has said he sympathizes with her, but has not seen her yet.
Part of me cannot blame Sheehan for the way she feels�and to want to express these feelings to Bush in person is perfectly natural. As one Sheehan supporter neatly summed up, �She�s a grieving mother with a right to protest, and I think President Bush should talk with her.� Nothing unreasonable about that at all.
But grief can also lead to irrational beliefs and throwing blame all around. At this, Sheehan is excelling. Suddenly, every rag-tag member of The Great Unwashed came out in support of her and you just knew this was going to turn into something beyond a personal quest.
Sheehan has given a fresh face to the anti-war movement, which until recently had lost a lot of momentum. Just how much Sheehan represents American opinion can be hard to tell on the surface. Across the country, American flags fly proudly and �Support Our Troops� stickers can be found on most vehicles. But then, one needs to look no further than the petty display by anti-wars during Bush�s inauguration in January to see evidence of their presence.
I feel that if Sheehan was serious, she would not want this media attention and would want to keep the issue as localized as possible. Instead, she�s allowed herself to be put on a pedestal and to talk nonsense about how we�re �nuking� innocent Iraqis. Since the anti-war movement believes any old garbage, and the media thrives on giving credence to it, Sheehan has gained instant celebrity status.
Pundits wonder if Sheehan can help inflict damage on Bush and humiliate him. That reminds me a lot of avid fox-hunter Lucy Ferry�s vow to bring down Tony Blair. Nothing came of that, and, if common sense prevails, Sheehan will be a thing of the past within another month or so.
She is not being sincere. She has the right to question Bush personally about just what her son died for. But by bashing the military that her son was part of and using Jane Fonda-style tactics to criticize the war, she has really overstepped the mark and sold her soul to the unscrupulous Left.
Illegal immigration testing our humanity
If there was ever a more pressing reason to get serious about border control, I�d be hard pressed to think of it. Illegal immigrants are perishing in the Southwestern U.S. deserts at record levels. So for, 130 illegals have died.
Forget all right-wing arguments about Mexican �migr�s tying up health care and welfare, and changing the face of Southern California. Forget even the important issue of controlling terrorism along the southern border. This is now a humanitarian issue.
Liberals had now better join conservatives in demanding border control. Better these people remain alive in Mexico than bake to death in the Arizona wilderness.
Humanitarian group Humane Borders have posted notices on the Mexican side of the border announcing, �No vaya! �No est� digno de el sufrimiento! (�Don�t go! It�s not worth the suffering!�)
Another humanitarian group, No More Deaths, has set up camps to help illegals. Beth Sanders of the project says, �Each of these individuals has dignity, and we need to recognize that.� I couldn�t agree more.
The illegal immigrants often start off with nothing more than a Thermos of water and a plastic bag on which to sleep. When they run out of water, that�s where problems begin. If the blistering temperatures don�t finish them off, coyotes will. Despite Spanish-language media campaigns warning them from undertaking the dangerous adventure, these Mexicans still cling to their dreams of employment.
This latest crisis in Arizona underscores the government�s weak attempt at controlling the border. In the 1990s, concentration focused on California and Texas; soon thereafter, urban areas along the border received much of the attention. Now they come in through Arizona and New Mexico.
A comprehensive plan to control the entire border must be put into effect, and no agency would be better prepared to take the initiative than Homeland Security. But Bush continues to smirk and say �Ah, what wonderful, down-to-earth people!�
Mr. President, these people are now dying. Let�s get tough with Border Control, covering as many bases as we can. Consider it tough love.
� M.E.M.
|
[Sign My Guestbook]
[View My Guestbook]
|
Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
AMERICA FOR TRUE AMERICANS!