Instead of Using Cindy Sheehan; Use What She Taught Us
By Tom SwannCamp Casey Alumnus
Founder Casey Sheehan American Veterans Post
Rancho Mirage CA
Thank God Cindy Sheehan will no longer be kicked around by the lazy Liberals. But before cowardly Liberals hit the delete key let me assure you that Cindy Sheehan has been doing God’s work. Cindy has seen her equivalent of the burning bush. She will be back on God’s time in a more targeted effort. Cindy Sheehan’s most productive days of peace are ahead of her. But it is not my place to tell you she will be back. So keep on mourning. But don’t mourn the loss of Cindy. Mourn the lost opportunities because we used and abused Cindy instead of using what she taught us to do.
I have not read Cindy’s resignation letter. I hope you do. Her message is very important. I have my own unique God given method in these difficult times. To understand Cindy’s frustration I put my brain in neutral and my Soul in gear. That is when and how I write my best letters. And Cindy’s resignation deserves my very best attention.
Most Liberals that I know have a 6th sense of Spirituality. I intentionally say Spirituality and not religious. However in political campaigns most Liberals depend on their 5 material senses to plot phone banks and precinct walking. They forget to use their 6th sense that will tell you if an Election has already been stolen before you pull out the precinct map.
I heard Cindy’s Sheehan’s testimony at the Camp Casey crosses on Maundy Thursday 2006. She spoke of Jesus humility as he washed the disciple’s feet. You must be pure to have inner peace and teach peace to others. I can understand Cindy’s disappointment. Some, I said some Liberals viewed Cindy as a rock star to make money instead of a pure peace teacher. Some were more interested in having Cindy attend so they could sell more tickets than bring home the troops.
I knew this day was coming. The day Cindy Sheehan would resign. Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty Cindy is free from the lazy Liberals at last. On March 4 my special Camp Casey Alumnus who bought me a pecan pie in Crawford Texas told me the disturbing news. Some Veterans for Peace chapters accused Cindy of abandoning them in favor of Code Pink. These PTSD veterans need healing. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon abandoned you and not Cindy. Cindy is not a flashback from Vietnam. The bright light you see around Cindy is not Napalm. Her radiance is not Agent Orange. It is the halo of the God spark inside of her. Cindy spent so much blood money on peace that she had to start speaking where her hosts could afford her plane ticket. She did not sell out or abandon you.
Speaking Truth to power is NOT preaching to the choir. Cindy Sheehan taught us that to make heroic change you must sacrifice and speak Truth to power. She walked down a dirt road in the Crawford Texas July sun until Secret Service Agents pointed a gun at her. She refused to retreat but took lateral steps to a ditch. Cindy was in the wilderness to take on the most evil person in the country, George Bush. Jesus went into the wilderness to overcome Satan’s temptations. John the Baptist was in the wilderness. Daniel was in the Lion’s Den. 3 Jews were placed in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. Rosa Parks did not give up her seat. But instead of using the technique Cindy and Rosa taught us, some Liberals felt more comfortable taking shots at Cindy and preaching to the choir. Let me illustrate this point with 2 failures of the peace movement.
When Cindy was preparing to come to Cathedral City and teach peace to the “Guardians of Iraq War Lies” motorcycle gang I practically had a nervous breakdown. It was not pressure from the conservatives. It was complaints from the liberals. I resigned and I came back. In 1995 the Israeli military industrial complex wanted perpetual war with the Palestinians because it meant perpetual war profits. So the Israeli conservatives conspired to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Some Liberals allege Cindy Sheehan is anti-Semitic because she challenges Peace plan. The multi-national corporations take power away from the individuals, unions and small business and create oligarchy. Sheehan loves an Israel at peace.
Liberals in the Inland Empire wanted to detract from the Cathedral City Sheehan speech and have her speak at their church. When Cindy’s scheduler did not reply they had ugly unmerciful words to say about Cindy. Cindy was given no slack for her health concerns. The goal of the church was to gain more members. It would have been Cindy preaching to the choir. They wanted to use Cindy instead of using what Cindy taught us to do. What Cindy taught us to do was speak Truth to power. Cindy needs to challenge Rep. Ken Calvert and not a Liberal church. Cindy needs to debate Rep. Jerry Lewis when he says it is immoral to cut funding from war profiteers that give him bribes. Cindy needs to charter a Casey Sheehan AMVETS Post in a conservative veteran organization to convert warriors to peace activists. It has taken over one year to charter this new veteran organization named after Casey. That is what Cindy taught us to do.
The Casey Sheehan AMVETS Post challenged our members to take a peace resolution to the state convention next week. Liberals said the conservatives will be nasty. The hotel might kick us out and make us sleep in a ditch. We might have to do what Cindy did. We would rather go to the Progressive Democrats meeting and preach to the choir. We feel more comfortable with peopled who want peace. What Cindy Sheehan taught us to do is too difficult so instead we will use and abuse Cindy. It is easier to bitch than get in a ditch.
On Easter 2006 Cindy Sheehan called upon Liberals to shut down the country on July 4. She challenged Citizens Action for Peace (CAP) to take your signs off the Redlands sidewalk and stand in the middle of the ten freeway and shut it down until the Iraq War ends.
We responded the highway patrol might point a gun at us. They might move us off the freeway and make us sit in a ditch. We might have to do what Cindy Sheehan did. We might get hot and dirty. We did not do it and we wonder why the Iraq War continues. Every Liberal who thought it was inconvenient to shut down America for peace caved in long before Senate Democrats. Before you call Harry Reid a coward go stand in the mirror.
The goal now is to continue. We are not codependent on Cindy. The God spark of peace and justice rests within each one of us. We must purify ourselves and be willing to sacrifice more. Then when Cindy returns we will be more focused and triumph.
Tom swann
tomswann@earthlink.net