Sorry Cindy, This Really Hurts to Say

Cindy Sheehan has now returned to her Crawford, TX vigil to again carry the flame for a meeting with Sir Stumpy. And as during her first turn at bat, I have to shamefully admit that I still don't want SS to meet with her... *Sigh*

First, I need to preface my reasoning by making a few affirmations: 1) I'm as anti-Bush as they come, 2) I vehemently oppose our presence in Iraq (well, I actually oppose most of our Middle Eastern policy for that matter) and 3) I truly feel sorry for Mrs. Sheehan and every other parent who have lost a child in this utter quagmire.

In addition, I love the downward public opinion spiral that her campaign is causing for the administration. Without a doubt, she has created a scenario where any single action regarding her taken by SS or his cronies is going to invariably add only more bad press to the mix. And the reason that they can't handle this situation with any form of finesse is due to the simple fact that she's one of the millions of 'common' people (us working and decent schmoes out there) who they just don't understand anymore. When you stay disconnected from reality for too long, it becomes hard to connect with those who remained real...

Anyway, my point on this matter is that I'm afraid this doesn't stand up to the OTB (Other Than Bush) Test. Let's change the facts in this case a bit to accommodate a comparable, but OTB, situation. Suppose that a thousand troops had died in Kosovo during Clinton's tenure. Yeah, I know, I know, that's a really bad example as not one single soldier died from combat during that operation, but let's really wear our pretend hats for a minute or two. Okay?

So, a 1,000 troops died in Kosovo. Should Clinton have had to meet with a single parent of a dead soldier who was upset and demanded it? Absolutely not. More to the heart of this matter, is a President accountable to each individual person for the actions made during his term or is his peer audience more the society as a whole? Personally, I don't want a President to be accountable to any single person. Even when he's in the wrong as badly as Sir Stumpy. I mean, when would it stop? With the first 50 family members who demanded a private meeting? The first 500 family members? If a President is required to meet with every wronged American, then the VP might as well just start running the show as there wouldn't be any time left for the job (and that is a very, very scary thought in these times).

Granted, it's easy to throw perspective out of the equation when it comes to issues involving the West Wing Wankers that have taken control of our system and made such a mess of everything, but, again, if this scenario was with any President OTB, I wouldn't flinch an inch at giving my opinion about it.

Oh well, I am still enjoying that Mrs. Sheehan's crusade is not only giving SS a black eye but is drawing more sincere attention to the Iraq issue. Keep going, Cindy, and give 'em Hell! (but I still don't expect or want SS to stop when he drives by...dammit)... Jage

Update - I've received several e-mails disagreeing with one specific aspect of the OTB analogy, so here's a bit of a clarification...everybody needs to remember that they were supposed to wear 'pretend hats' for the Clinton comparison. Sure, Clinton would have stopped to talk to Cindy and, sure, he wouldn't have let this turn into a problem this grandiose...but that wasn't the point that was being made. It was that Presidents shouldn't have to answer to an individual member of society for their actions. Rather, the body of the nation as a whole should be their ultimate judge. I know, it's hard to get past the red visor covering the eyes on this issue since it involves Bush rather than another person in that role (I do have trouble with it as well), but if you look at this issue as it relates to the 'office of the President' and not 'a President', then I still stand by my guns. And that's a belief that shouldn't be unique to our country, either. I don't think a duly-elected leader of any country should have to explain himself to the individual...the concept of a democratic government in no way guarantees access for the individual to demand or receive such specific recognition from their President. Sorry, but granting extraordinary privileges such as that are not only impractical in reality but are somewhat redundant to the theory of representative government as well.