Oh no, look who’s back in the news! We’ve watched Cindy Sheehan as she and her supporters desecrated American flags in various ways in Crawford, then waved the Palestinian flag in Washington. And now she’s taken the desperate step of flying to Europe to see if she can stir something up there.
Earlier today, Sheehan held a live demonstration of her now famous facial contortions while as many as 100 demonstrators protested the war in Iraq outside the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain. Last week, Fidel Castro’s Prensa Latina (Latin American News Agency) predicted that "Mother Courage" (Sheehan) would "Shake (the) US Embassy (in) Madrid." A hundred people, give or take fifty, watching spellbound as Sheehan performs her facial antics is not exactly what you might think of as "shaking" the Embassy.
If Sheehan had brought along some American flags and a box of kitchen matches, I’m sure she could have drawn a sizable crowd with a flag-burning party. But alas, hind-sight is 20-20. The real issue here, of course, is why has Sheehan taken her road show to Madrid? Because she has lost what audience she had here in America.
Her triumphant return to Crawford, Texas for the Thanksgiving weekend was a complete flop. The first Camp Casey, held last summer, was initially covered extensively by the press who were hoping that it would grow into something meaningful. But when radical groups like ANSWER, with their mile-long Palestinian flag and their pro-Palestine, death to Israel message, took over the show, the press left in a hurry lest they be embarrased.
The press, particularly the television people, avoided her Washigton, D.C. protest and they were not about to give her air-time in November. And now that the tide seems to have turned in Iraq, no one from the political left here in America wants to be seen with her.
Good news about Iraq is finally being reported and it seems that the Iraqi people are embracing democracy in a powerful way. In fact, just a month ago, it looked like Iraq would be the main campaign issue for the 2006 elections. But now, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is saying that the war in Iraq will not be part of the Democrat Party agenda for the 2006 campaign.