Cindy Sheehan

Today's Observer, which I have been reading in the garden, enjoying a beer and my first full day on holiday (that does sound good) had a very intelligent article, not so much on Cindy and her protest as such, but the debate that she has instigated in America about why American troops are being sent to a foreign land that was not threatening the US in any way, and being killed. She asks the simple question, what is the "noble cause" that her son died for? This is a debate that America has needed to have for quite some time, and has been stopped by Right-Wing fanatics as being "unpatriotic". To me, it is grossly unpatriotic to use your country's foreign policy for personal gain! It does seem that "draft-dodger" Bush is probably going to chicken out as usual in talking to this lady about her son's death. How many funerals of the "brave boys" has Bush been to?

Any way, the article talks about the deep division in the US over this issue. 54% of Americans now, finally, believe it was a big mistake to invade Iraq and a higher proportion now accept that they were lied to prior to the war happening. Professor Rick Stoll of Rice University points to that other US calamity - Viet Nam, and said that once support dipped below 50%, it was impossible to get it back. The momentum is clearly, now with the anti-war movement. As Bush is not standing again, he'll probably carry having America's boys killed for spurious reasons regardless. He probably recognised that he had lost all possibility of being a great president, way back in his first term. I wonder how long it will be, before Republican "chancers", looking to succeed him, start criticising the war - particularly the complete lack of an exit policy, in an attempt to woo those supporters who have now woken up to the fact that they were probably duped.

Clearly a few paid up members of Loonyville are still supporting Bush and toeing the party line such as that pinnacle of the intelligentsia; Rush Limbaugh, who is something called a "shock" jock. The only shocking thing about him is his support for the indefensible. The other great supporter who still clearly has difficulty understanding the complex issues surrounding Cindy's protest is Bill O'Reilly of Fox "News" who thinks that Cindy is only there to embarrass the President. What he doesn't seem to understand that for the rest of the World, President Bush has been an embarrassment to America for quite some time - particularly when he opens his mouth!

I'll finish now as the sun is still shining, and a bottle of Tangle Foot is calling me from the fridge. A few more pictures now loaded onto Flickr.