Sheehan gave a son, and more in return, she got death threats, called all manner of obscene names from the upright and "patriotic", and lost her husband to divorce. Prompted by the death of her son Casey, who died in Iraq on April 4, 2004, she met with the President, who evaded all mention of her son. I presume it's easier to send people to war if you don't put faces and names with the numbers. Failing that, she launched a campaign few could have missed. Some agreed with her, others still continue to criticize her even after she has thrown in the towel.
I wish she could feel that she'd made a difference, that she'd moved people to speak out, for the newly elected Democrats to change things, but it seems her protest ends with a sad and discouraged farewell. I cannot say it better than she did.
"I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither. The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing...Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Replicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and that Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most."
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