Drudge has this photo on his site with the caption “FUN: CINDY ARRESTED AT WHITE HOUSE.” Equally, if not more disturbing, are these photos of Cindy waving, smiling, blowing kisses, and embracing Rev. Jesse Jackson as if the two were at a family reunion instead of a protest demanding that America withdraw its troops from Iraq.
Well, one might say, she can’t wear sackcloth and ashes all her life. Isn’t she entitled to moments of happiness from time to time? That’s a bit problematic, in that she has used the grief of her son’s death as the sole means of her credibility as an anti-war celebrity. She has waved her son’s bloody shirt so often and so vigorously that her name is now known worldwide. That she has allowed herself to become the lightning rod for every far left organization from the Free Mumia Coalition to the Israel out of Palestine terrorism supporters is immaterial here: she has earned the benefit of the doubt that she is serious and has made her own decisions.
Years ago, when I took college courses in Buddhism and other Asian religions, I also underwent the practice of zazen (Zen Buddhist meditation) under the tutelage of a very nice man named S. Nagatomo for about six months. This wasn’t a prerequisite of the academic coursework, but a good friend of mine was also doing zazen with him, and I’d always been curious. This went on through part of the summer and fall, and during this time the actor River Phoenix died from taking way too many drugs. While taking off our shoes in the vestibule and generally getting ready for zazen, one of Nagatomo’s students made a general comment to the effect of, “Why do these stars take all these drugs and die of overdoses all the time? They’ve got all this money and they act like junkies.” I don’t remember the exact wording, but Master Nagatomo told us that most famous people tend to get high on fame, on their own celebrity. Being recognized, respected, and loved, even for petty reasons, is a drug in and of itself. Unfortunately, this false “high” never lasts, and it leaves in its wake a depression and sense of loss that for many can be absolutely crushing. To medicate, the celebrity takes drugs like cocaine and heroin. It’s a self-destructive cycle that takes great effort to withdraw from. Many cannot, and some die young.
Is Cindy Sheehan part of this cycle? Jeff G. points us to her own words, written on September 24:
i am watching cnn and it is 100 percent rita…even though it is a little wind and a little rain…it is bad, but there are other things going on in this country today…and in the world!!!!
Obviously, Cindy Sheehan resents being pushed out of the limelight, however briefly. What is she going to do when the party’s over in front of the White House, and everyone else goes home?
Actually I thought it was a bit odd to see her smiling too. The only thing I could think of was that she was happy to finally be arrested. What good is it if she isn’t even arrested? Where is the letter from jail? I mean, there is a tradition here to uphold. In that case, they might have done better not to arrest her. I haven’t seen what the ostensible reason for the arrest might have been. One thing I’ll say in her defense is that I really do believe that the issue is what she wants in the spotlight, not so much her person. At this point, though, it might be time for others to step forward a little more.
I think Sheehan can smile once in a while. Just because she has become a symbol doesn’t make her any less human.
It’s also too early to tell how she’s truly reacting to fame. If she starts signing endorsement deals, then I know she’s lost the feel for her cause. But if she embraces other anti-war activists in public, that’s ok. It’s a peace and love movement, not a sack cloth and ashes movement, though the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It’s hard to sustain and angry yell 24 hours a day and when there are cameras on you 24 hours a day, a smile will have to break out, especially if she feels that she is being embraced by her own kind.
There’s a time and a place for joyful smiles, and being carted away by the po-po isn’t one of them. She indicts herself by her own words when she complains that the media spotlight has been focused more on Hurricane Rita than herself. I don’t believe that Sheehan’s only concern is for her cause to get more notoriety; it’s clear by now that she gets a charge from being famous. Who wouldn’t?
I can’t disagree more strongly with her supporters being characterized by the term “peace and love movement.” Noted leftist Christopher Hitchens provides the context for Sheehan’s fellow travelers here:
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2126913&nav=tap2/
These people aren’t about peace and love:
http://flickr.com/photos/michellemalkin/46181282/
Nor is this guy:
http://flickr.com/photos/michellemalkin/46179085/
Not him, either:
http://flickr.com/photos/michellemalkin/46181281/
In addition, it IS a sackcloth and ashes movement. Cindy Sheehan has used her son’s death as a platform to attack everything the Bush administration does or has done since the poor man died. I don’t know how closely you’ve been following her story, but Sheehan has done nothing BUT wave the bloody shirt, as if her grief gave her more authority to set foreign policy than anyone else. When you characterize yourself as a grieving mother, the movement you create is, by definition, a sackcloth and ashes movement.
One thing I’d like to make clear is that just because she’s become an activist for far left causes, she hasn’t given up her right to smile. The fact that she was having a good time being carried away by the police, however, shows more about her character than a hundred angry, staged demonstrations in front of the White House.
I personally think she’s into minute thirteen of her fifteen minutes of fame. The media has got about all it can out of her. She’s not a charismatic speaker, but she is slightly unstable. I believe they are waiting for her to snap. Like vultures sitting around a dying ox, the media will eventually begin to fly away with their hunks of flesh.
How will she handle being out of the spotlight once the people manipulating her are done with her? I don’t know. Hopefully, she has an understanding family that will come to her aid once all is said and done.
I’m guessing that there was a range of emotions across the weekend. Michelle Malkin handpicks the photos that fit the argument she makes, just like anyone with a strong opinion. I wasn’t there, so I’m even more hesitant to rely on just one photo selection. People are angry, and they are sad, and there are moments where they are hyped up, and moments of annoyance and a million other things too.
I doubt very much that she feels or even is manipulated. Seems to me she started something then all the other groups wanted a piece of it to promote their various perspectives as well. Her message was a fairly simple one.
Did you see the original Drudge heading?
Oops: Here’s the link to a copy at File It Under:
http://www.fileitunder.com/2005/09/heh.html
Heh, yeah. It reminded me of what we used to call my old boss, who learned Mandarin and a few dialects of Vietnamese at DLI: “The Cunning Linguist.”