Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

No, wrong. There is an implicit understanding when someone serves that their service will be used to protect the country. There is also an implicit and explicit understanding that the leaders of the nation will not lie to us, especially about life and death matters like war. Sheehan's point isn't that her son was a soldier who died; her point is that her son was a soldier who died in a war of aggression that has nothing to do with protecting the nation, and that the current administration lied in order to get us into.

My husband served. There is a difference between a just war and an unjust war, and there is a difference between truth and lies. If you are going to put someone's life at risk, you damn well better tell them why, and tell them straight.
 

That is the fault line between those who favor and those who disfavor the war in Iraq: does it, in any way, protect this country?

I say it does. I wish the lying liars hadn't lied to themselves, then misled us about the particulars. But they did. And now we're there -- and to leave the hornet's nest out of control, when we actually could fix it -- would be a greater wrong.

Bush & Co. can take their tax cuts and shove them. Repubs tried to pull off this war like every other thing they attempt with the government: half-assed.
 

Disagreeing about whether the Iraq war makes America safer is one thing; mocking Cindy Sheehan's legitimate political position and legitimate grief as "air-headed" is quite another thing altogether.
 

Maybe. But she chose the path she's on, and it has turnouts, itself, to Mocking Lane, Ridicule Road and Ludicrous Lane.

I have nothing to say about her grief. I don't have much to say about her position on the war; she's entitled to it.

But shame on her for trying to make this show about her son, when it quit being that quite awhile ago.

My friend's e-mail should be seen, however, for what it is, a "yawp" from the heart, from the heartland. The writer does not hang onto every word of the news, nor does she, as far as I know, read political blogs. She does not eat and sleep current affairs. Her interpretation is closer to that of everyday people, I'll bet, than almost anyone else who comes by here.
 

Well, pretty much any public thing any woman does has turnouts to mocking lane. That doesn't mean it's okay to mock. And I don't see why you say that she's making it about her son--I don't think she's put words in his mouth, the way many of those who object to her have. I think she's saying it is *her* position, as a woman who has lost a kid in a war that is unjust. And I think that's totally sustainable and viable.

I also don't know if it's fair to say that your friend is representative of "everyday people." There were vigils the other night in support of Sheehan all over the place--those are "everyday people" too. As are you and I, really.
 

B, you are about as "everyday" as winning the lottery -- and I mean that as a compliment.

And I am about as "everyday" as robbin' a feed store -- and I mean that as a smart-aleck, self-defecating remark.

Ms. Sheehan mocked first. That's all I'm saying. .. And suddenly I want to rewatch "First Blood." ...
 

A self-defecating remark. Interesting.

I once accidentally called a friend that when I was talking about her sense of humor. Not at all what I intended, but I couldn't stop laughing for about two months. Especially when my then-boyfriend said "What else would she be?"
 

I think B would argue with a fence post. But then, that's what I like about her. And, I think she fights fair, whicih is such a rarity in blogdom it's another reason I listen to what she has to say.
 

Dearest ER, it won't surprise you, I suppose, that I'm w/ Dr. B on this one. Sheehan's methods may be distasteful to some, but then some just can't EVER take their medicine straight and must lace it up w/ patriotic sugar lest it offend.

Sheehan's son died in an unjust and illegal war of choice. Had this madministration not chosen that craven path, he'd likely still be alive and still serving somewhere. Sheehan can be forgiven for being a stickler on this point, methinks.

The gubmint lied to her, and, more importantly, it lied to Casey. No one disputes he was there doing his job, not least his mother, but that is not the question. The question is why was he there doing his job under false pretenses? Why did they lie to him about the need to do that job? What does "support our troops" mean if we do not ask hard questions about what our troops are asked to do?

The gubmint's mightily at fault on this one, as you suggest:

--lied to us to get us into it
--didn't put enough troops on the ground
--didn't fund it properly
--didn't provide the right protective equipment
--didn't plan for these so-called "insurgent" contingencies
--didn't appropriately secure the support of our allies (Don't forget Poland!)
--has alienated the world community w/ our arrogance and ahistoricity
--Abu Ghraib

I say Sheehan's exercising her God-given right as a Murkan, standing there railing against the admittedly grossly arrogant and ill-informed powers that be. She does not dishonor her son by exercising her rights as a citizen. Her son died, if you listen to the glowing propaganda steaming out of the WH Comm. office like a pile of barnyard poo, for her right to do just that.
 

AE, I never suggested anyone should hush Cindy Sheehan, as some have. Was just commenting on her, ah, commenting. :-)

You, I and B, I think, agree on our assessment of lots to do with this war. But not the end game.

To bring them home now, with the job left undone, would be the greatest crime of all. To maintain the status quo for much longer would also be wrong. Which leaves one thing:

More war, to put it bluntly, sooner rather than later. Actual sacrifice on our part. Maybe even the draft (but I WILL haul my Bird out of country if they draft women, another point we probably disagree on).

Maybe this is a man thing. It's shameful to pick a fight with someone littler than you. It's even more shameful to let him kick your ass.

Come back, AE. This here war thing is awful big, but there are other topics I'll bet we can agree on. And consensus, where it's possible, is the only way this country is gonna get its s--- back together!