It seems to me that any self respecting educated civil individual could express their viewpoint without the conversation devolving into a relentless litany of insults, even if the topic is something they very passionately disagree with. From the time I was attending college until today, I have prided myself on understanding all sides of issues, particularly controversial ones. This is a great strength if you are to become involved in debate and public discourse, particuarly as a leadership member of a large politically oriented college club. That being said, why does the left insist on parading out a woman who clearly has no scruples about dancing on the back of her deceased son? Being a supporter of the War on Terror, I was pleased to see the liberation of Iraq. This sets me up as a polar opposite of Ms. Sheehan, with whom I fundamentally disagree on almost all issues she has publicly taken a position on. Soon after the honorable death of her son, which Mother Sheehan has proclaimed to be "for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel," she met with President Bush. This meeting appeared to go fairly well, as Bush attempted to console Casey's family and assure them he had died for a noble cause. Following the meeting, Cindy proclaimed to the world, "I now know he's (President Bush) sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith." Seeing the opportunity for fame and fortune, however, that changed to ""And the other thing I want him to tell me is 'just what was the noble cause Casey died for?' Was it freedom and democracy? Bullsh--! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East. We're not freer here, thanks to your Patriot Act. Iraq is not free. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." This leads me to believe that Mother Sheehan wasinsincere the first time (unlikely as this was a spontaneous comment and not a planned well orchestrated media event), the smell of money and fame were more important to her than honoring her son respectfully (more likely, given her highly public statements COMPLETELY unrelated to the death of her son, or the anti-war movement is manipulating her for their own purposes. All of this being said, let us pretend for a second that Cindy Sheehan really is a grieving mom who is so upset by the death of her son in combat that she feels obligated to do everything she can to end the war. Wouldn't it then make more sense in the public eye to be a bit more diplomatic? At least to the point where your family doesn't disown you and your husband can respect your position? End of rant. My main point here is that while Mama Sheehan was a nuisance before, she has taken it to the next level and is now actually harming our chances in Iraq and beyond. She has insulted not only President Bush and the fighting men and women of this great nation, but the nation itself, and its hard working, patriotic residents. I suppose it's easy money to call America an imperialist nation since its inception, since the earliest days of the colonialists and settlers. To Sheehan, our founding fathers were racists, our president is a terrorist, and our culture is a cancer. This from someone who cannot accept or respect the decision of her son to fight for his nation. At first, I figured it was OK to let this woman get it out of her system, to let her rant and rave until she was tired and could sleep it off. It's clear now that powerful individuals on the left will not let her rest, and that with her newfound fame she does not care to. As I've said many times, she actually hurts the anti-war movement over here in the States. The problem is that she's feeding delicious lines to the terrorist and Arab media that helps them find motivation to keep fighting a desperate war of attrition. SHUT UP CINDY. JUST SHUT UP ALREADY. My brother is home, so you aren't endangering him any longer, but my sister-in-law's brothers are BOTH on the front lines fighting proudly. STOP GIVING THE TERRORIST MEDIA FUEL FOR THE FIRE. You give them reason to believe they have a chance. As your voice grows "stronger," so do their chances of establishing a caliphate in Iraq. Follow the respectful example of previous pro (who far outnumber you, by the way) and anti-war moms who have quietly grieved the passing of their sons and daughters.