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But Who Will Protest the War?

May 29, 2007 11:30 AM

indy Sheehan's going home. I thought she had gone home a long time ago, but I guess not.

Ms. Sheehan's always annoyed me. It's not that I'm not sorry that her son died--I am. I clearly have no idea what losing a child would be like, but I imagine it would be very, very terrible. So I'm certainly sympathetic for her loss. But I guess that's one of my issues with her: I feel terrible for every parent that's lost a son or daughter in the war. Ms. Sheehan's loss, while terrible, is not unique. That hasn't stopped her, however, from behaving as if her opinion on the war is the only valid opinion and that anyone who disagrees with her is callous, uncaring, or evil. The fact of the matter is that other parents have lost their children and, while they are presumably also deeply affected, still support the war and President Bush. I don't agree with those opinions, but that doesn't mean they are objectively invalid (remember: there's a distinction between having a valid opinion and having a correct opinion). Having lost a son does not entitled Ms. Sheehan to denounce or belittle all opinions other than her own.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Ms. Sheehan, you must concede that she's a zealot--and that's not a good thing. She's no better than religious fanatics who insist that theirs is the only way. For the religious folks, it's about outlawing sodomy or something; for Ms. Sheehan, it's about ending the war. Ending the war would be great. But that doesn't mean that it's easy to do, nor does it mean we should actually end the war this instant--and certainly not on some civilian's say so. You simply cannot build a viable logical position by elevating one concern above every other issue; ignoring the realities of the situation you're trying to change ultimately will hurt you much more than it will help you.

So, I'm not sad to see Ms. Sheehan go home. Maybe now she can start to deal with her son's death.



1 Comments


Santi said:

Any credibility she had was lost when she met with Hugo Chavez and called George W. Bush the greatest terrorist in the world.

May 29, 2007 1:12 PM



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