[Peace-discuss] Fwd: We Have the Moral HIgh Ground by Cindy Sheehan

Wed Aug 19 14:42:49 CDT 2009

Cindy follow-up. Some think Cindy is too harsh, but that's what's  
needed. --mkb

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Cindy Sheehan for Peace <CindysSoapbox at gmail.com>
> Date: August 19, 2009 2:22:28 PM CDT
> To: mkbrussel at aya.yale.edu
> Subject: We Have the Moral HIgh Ground by Cindy Sheehan
> Reply-To: CindysSoapbox at gmail.com
>
> We Have the Moral High Ground by Cindy Sheehan
>
> "Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a  
> greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of  
> love..." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1958
>
> "There comes a time when silence is betrayal…" Dr. King, 1967
>
>
> I remember back in the good ol' days of 2005 and 2006 when being  
> against the wars was not only politically correct, but it was very  
> popular. I remember receiving dozens of awards, uncountable  
> accolades and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
>
> Those were the halcyon days of the anti-war movement before the  
> Democrats took over the government (off of the backs of the anti-war  
> movement) and it became anathema to be against the wars and I became  
> unpopular on all sides. I guess at that point, I could have gone  
> with the flow and pretended to support the violence so I could  
> remain popular, but I think I have to fiercely hold on to my core  
> values whether I am "liked" or not.
>
> Killing is wrong no matter if it is state-sanctioned murder or  
> otherwise. Period. Not too much more to say on that subject, except  
> what I quote above from Dr. King.
>
> However, while the so-called left is obsessed over supporting a very  
> crappy Democratic health care plan, people in far away countries are  
> being deprived of their health and very lives by the Obama Regime's  
> continuation of Bush's ruinous foreign policy.
>
> I was never dismayed when the so-called right attacked me and called  
> me names for protesting Bush. However, something inside me gets a  
> little sick when I hear people who claim to be peace activists  
> supporting the Obama Administration's foreign policy, a policy that  
> is not like Bush's in the fact that it's much worse.
>
> I have been called a "racist" from the so-called left. In these  
> people's opinion, I was totally justified in protesting Bush, but I  
> am a racist for protesting the same policies under Obama. When I  
> opposed Bush's policies, I was called traitor, anti-American, anti- 
> Semitic, and other names I cannot print. Name-calling is a great way  
> to shut down critical thinking and discussion. And, not to mention,  
> I think the murder of innocent life in the Iraq-Af-Pak regions is  
> racist and morally corrupt.
>
> There are many people in this country who oppose Obama because  
> they're racist, but I am not one of them. I oppose Obama's policies  
> because they are wrong…again, period!
>
> One cannot obfuscate when innocent lives are being destroyed, here  
> and abroad. We cannot allow "political reality" to get in the way of  
> morality. Human sacrifice is not worth the political reality.  
> Violence, killing, war and more war are NEVER the solution to any  
> problem. Period.
>
> If Obama has violent shadow forces around him pulling him in the  
> direction of violence, which begets more violence and more  
> resistance; then we, especially people in the peace or anti-war  
> movements need to gather and organize to pull him in the direction  
> towards peaceful conflict resolution and solutions that aren't based  
> on exploiting people's fears, anxieties or ignorance.
>
> I am going to Martha's Vineyard because we have the moral high  
> ground. The war supporters aren't going to protest Obama's wars.  
> They are strangely silent over his foreign policy, unless they are  
> praising it.
>
> I am going to Martha's Vineyard because someone has to speak for the  
> babies of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan that do not deserve the  
> horrible fate that has been handed to them by the US Military  
> Industrial Complex. The voiceless need a voice, and even if I am  
> called every name in the book by all sides, I will speak up for them.
>
> I am going to Martha's Vineyard because so many people have been  
> blinded to the fact that the system has momentum that rolls on and  
> over and around no matter who is the titular head of the system.
>
> Let's just pretend that elections are fair in this country and my  
> candidate, Cynthia McKinney, won for president. If she wasn't able  
> to rein in the systemic violence, then I would be going wherever she  
> vacationed to protest her policies, too. I guess at that point, I  
> would not only be called "racist," but I would be called a "self- 
> hating female."
>
> In a recent conversation someone was trying to convince me that I  
> should not be so stridently opposed to Obama's policies and I  
> responded that today 75 people were killed and 300 people were  
> wounded in a bomb blast in Iraq and 26 mostly women and children  
> were killed in a wedding party in Afghanistan this week and she  
> said: "Oh, that wouldn't be acceptable if it happened here."
>
> And that 's the problem: it's not acceptable if it happens anywhere,  
> to anybody, no matter who is President of the USA.
>
> Not only is the death toll mounting for innocent civilians but also  
> is once again climbing for our troops.
>
> While the "festivities" are occurring on Martha's Vineyard next  
> week, there are families all over the world who will never again be  
> able to fully feel festive. Ahhhh…. everyone should just stand down,  
> relax and sip an Obamarita on the beach…Hope reigns once again in  
> The Empire.
>
> And, yes, we are going to Martha's Vineyard to get attention. We  
> vehemently want to call attention to all of the points I have made  
> above.
>
> Even though there is a small anti-war, peace movement in this  
> country, there still is one and this movement has the moral high  
> ground and punditry, personal attacks, glitzy marketing, or  
> "political realities won't drown us out.
>
> Members of Dr. King's own caucus tried to convince him not to  
> publicly speak out against the Vietnam war, and that's when he  
> delivered his brilliant Beyond Vietnam speech at the Riverside  
> Church in NYC exactly one year before he was assassinated. That  
> speech was in response to the critics. Dr. King took the moral high  
> ground when he said: "There comes a time when silence is betrayal."
>
> That time has now come, once again. By our silence we are betraying  
> humanity.
>
> Love the President or hate him, or anywhere in between, but we must  
> speak out loudly and without any timidity against the institutional  
> violence of the US Empire.
>
> #########################################################################################
> For more information please email, or call:
>
> Laurie Dobson
> lauriegdobson at yahoo.com
> (207) 604-8988
>
> or
> Bruce Marshall
> brmas at yahoo.com
> (802) 767-6079
>
> Or donate to help with the expenses:
>
>  Go to: www.CindySheehansSoapbox.com
>
>  And click the DONATE link.
> or mail a check to:
> Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox, LLC
> 55 Chumasero Dr. STE 5D
> San Francisco, Ca 94132
> @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>

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