wow. Just wow.

My three Feline Americans wish to protest your species-ist comparison of their fellow cats to (spit up hairball on cue) the ideological offspring of Maureen Dowd. Kidding aside, another fine essay.

"Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004." Died for his country, died for his ideals, and died trying to rescue his friends and brothers-in-arms.

I thought that he died for water

Control of Iraq is not about the oil, it's about the water.

This is an end of the day required reading. Thanks.

"Then up jumped Barbara Frietchie..."(who was Whittier-than-thou. Not so bad as holier-and more-worthy-of-fabulously-attentive-sympathy-than-thou).

'a woman who had fallen deeply in love with her son's death and all the wonderful things it could do for her ego'

Best commentary on this fiasco ever. Thank you for not commiserating with this narcissistic loon.

Boy, you can write! Terrific! I've bookmarked your blog. Most enjoyable. Thanks.

I recently, on FoxNews no less, saw an amateur video clip of Ms. Sheehan's remark that "this country is not worth dying for". I was only able to see it that one time, but was left with the impression that she was not referring to the U.S.

I thought it odd that if she were disparaging our country she would remark immediately afterward that she would be willing to fight in the streets with a rolling pin if necessary, should we be attacked. Her final remark was that "we were not attacked".

Where is a clip of the complete, unedited video?

You start an unnecessary, counter productive, unwinnable, open-ended war, and this is what you'll get. You'll get Joan Baez and every reasonable facsimile of an anti-war persona showing up in the media. And know what? The longer it drags on, the more you're going to get. Welcome to Vietnam redux. You asked for it. You got it.

Has Joan Baez ever actually...you know, DONE ANYTHING? Is she one of those Lefty icons that is famous only for being famous?

Have the South Park guys done anything on this yet? They are usually pretty quick to skewer this kind of thing.

You tell it just like I would tell it! Amen!

Remember when Bushie's brain trust said of Iraq, "you break it, you bought it"? Well, Cindy and more like her coming down the pike are what you get in the bargain.

Slamming Cindy will not put the genie back in the bottle. Too many other Americans have been affected by a loss like Cindy's. And for what? Even Bush has no idea.

Clearly, neither do you.

A little quick math for you:

Since the revolutionary war over 1,700,000 soldiers have died for their country. I assume they also had mothers. I can just envision 1.7 million women standing in a line saying to Ms. Sheehan ..."the line starts back there, Sweetie."

Perspective: In one day at the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War almost 17,000 were killed. Not wounded or captured but killed. Iraq isn't a war. The freeways are more deadly.

Actually Libby, I didn't ask for it, it was handed to me on 9/11.

Excellent. Pointed and so well written.
But one little aside from me. I do live in a monastery and you can't even escape the Sheehan
antics here. The networks love this stuff. However, here, I'm proud prayers for our soldiers are one of our priorities. Most people see through Sheehan, I'm convinced of it.

>Has Joan Baez ever actually...you know, DONE ANYTHING? Is she one of
>those Lefty icons that is famous only for being famous?
>
>Have the South Park guys done anything on this yet? They are usually
>pretty quick to skewer this kind of thing.

Joan Baez is a musician. For those who like sixties folk-protest music and the singer-songwriter material which that morphed into, she made several fine albums. I still enjoy listening to them. My favorites are "Joan" and "Any Day Now."

Trey and Matt of South Park are welcome to take their shot at Baez, but Al Capp's "Joanie Phoanie" and National Lampoon's "Radio Dinner" already got there. The Lampoon's lampoon ("Pull the Trigger, Nigger") is an absolutely hilarious and prescient take on Western self-hatred.

I still have affection for Baez and the anti-war movement which were an important part of my life for decades. I'm sad to see that they have both become jokes.

"Welcome to Vietnam redux. You asked for it. You got it."

Are you a waitress, libby? Because you sound like the kind that would confuse an order of steak with chicken nuggets.

In response to a question about what will happen if the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, Baez said,

“...there will be chaos, but it will be our chaos. Yes, there will be massive chaos, but nothing is going to stop the massive chaos. That’s my answer.”

There it is -- the passivity that escapes responsibility by pleading helplessness. Last time it gave us Jimmy Carter and all the evil that followed. "We won't be fooled again."

SaltLick: I'm afraid when you gave GWB a blank check to wage this unnecessary war, you got fooled again. Only this time the long term consequences will be much worse.

I'll go with the "long term consequences" brought by our invasion and reconstruction of Iraq anytime. America is now aligned with the freedom of the Arab street, and that change is not only a miracle, it spells the beginning of the end for jihadists. We are winning and will continue to win.

"I'm sad to see that they have both become jokes."

Actually, they were jokes from the beginning. We were just too blind to see it. (But then, sad to say, many of our generation made that mistake.)

Salt Lick,
Don't you think it is still early to put forth claims of success? Meshing democracy as we know it with Sharia law is akin to sorting wildcats, isn't it?

I am especially concerned about Mr. Gerecht's remark that a democracy resembling ours in the 1900's would be a good thing.

SemiPundit -- I'm not putting forth a claim of final success. I said "we are winning" and that's accurate when you look at all that's been accomplished. The change in how the Muslim world views the U.S. is itself amazing. Remember when 9/11 occurred and we thought it might be us against all of Islam?

I can't figure out why everyone thinks this is a short-term project. It's going to take 20 or more years. There is no short-cut. The cries to pull out of Iraq are like the protests of putting those short-range missles in Germany back in Reagan's time.

It's worth remembering that when it turned out to the surprise of no one who was paying attention that the North Vietnamese were not merely poets and agrarian reformers, Joan Baez did speak out.

Her idea about what would happen if we left Iraq and why that would be preferrable to the current situation are sad to read. But, fine singer though she is--I have her records dating back to, well, when they were records and she sang actual folk music--she's a chucklehead politically.

But she's a decent one, by and large, and that's more than you can say for a lot of the people she hangs with.

By the way, I did a quick Google search, found the names of half a dozen parents who have lost sons in Iraq who support our efforts, and e-mailed them to Maureen Dowed. I asked her why these people lacked the absolute moral authority she conferred on Cindy Sheehan.

I'll let you know as soon as she answers.

Sick post.

Thanks for putting the Cindy Sheehan spectacle in proper spective. The woman is a performance artist gone amok. The people joining her have been waiting for years to bring their protest posters and hippie garments out of mothball. Joan Baez has come from deserved obscurity to talk show favorite in just a matter of days.
Can Jane Fonda wearing her Vietnam fatigues be far behind? I wouldn't be surprised. Thanks again.

Hey America! Don't fret a cunt like Cindy Sheehan; her type has been with us since the Torries in 1776, and unfortunately, always (seemingly) will. Look upon them as not being able to live without having to shit now and then.