Angry Mothers and Trembling Grizzlies: The Sheehan Effect

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Thu, 11 Aug 2005 13:52:40 -0700 (PDT)

Angry Mothers and Trembling Grizzlies: The Sheehan Effect

 

 

 

http://www.antiwar.com/whitehurst/?articleid=6912

 

August 10, 2005

Angry Mothers and Trembling Grizzlies: The Sheehan Effect

by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst

 

 

 

 

" Sheehan has been involved in protests against Bush since last year.

She founded Gold Star Families for Peace...She said she decided to

seek another audience with Bush when she heard his comments about the

war last week, after a spike in American deaths. The fallen men and

women " died in a noble cause, " Bush said Wednesday. " Their families

can know that we will honor their loved ones' sacrifice by completing

the mission. "

 

" Sheehan said she wants to tell Bush not to use her son's death as a

reason to continue the war, and to ask " why (Bush's twin daughters)

Jenna and Barbara and the other children of the architects of this

disastrous war are not in harm's way, if the cause is so noble. "

ArmyTimes.com, August 8, 2005

 

For some, Cindy Sheehan's lonely journey through the shock and sorrow

of her son Casey's death in Iraq is of no interest. What, they ask, is

the big deal? One soldier killed, one mother grieving – so what?

Mothers have no business meddling in the manly business of war, or

expressing inconvenient, disloyal, unpatriotic feelings like grief or

anger. Get over it, critics command, and think about " the mission "

instead, a mission that " we should see through " so that other people

can't make fun of us for " cutting and running. "

 

Instead of focusing on one poor misguided woman, or on how many more

Americans and innocent Iraqi families will be killed in this war,

we're told to think about how great it will be when other people

admire us for killing every terrorist and future terrorist in the

whole wide world. Instead of thinking about the new fundamentalist

Islamic " democracy " that Bush's war has ushered in for the poor girls

and women of Iraq, think about " the good news " way, way down the road

when they get used to wearing the burqa and live happily ever after.

In short, Americans should focus on " the big picture. "

 

But for mothers – even those who've tried valiantly to believe the

president when he exclaims that the war on Iraq is a " noble cause " –

there IS no big picture. For mothers of slain soldiers, there are only

little pictures: their lost child smiling at 10 months in his high

chair; riding his first bike without training wheels; opening

Christmas presents (Hot Wheels, Transformers, or GI Joe); and making

silly faces for the camera.

 

The little picture encompasses all those times when parents stay up

all night with their sick children, or protect them from bullies, or

wipe away their tears after a friend's rejection. It's not just the

happy times that mothers remember, it's the multitude of little

moments, little pictures in a parent's mind, of time and love invested

in one's offspring. When this enormous investment is squandered by

reckless military adventures that zip kids into body bags, parents are

owed great compensation. And they are owed the truth.

 

Do George and Laura Bush ever imagine how it would feel if all they

had left of their beloved child was, as Cindy Sheehan has, a few

snapshots and an abyss of sorrow in their hearts? Must they suppress

their natural compassion in order to convince themselves of their own

administration's spin – that it's " worth it " when American kids die

far away from home for reasons that have consistently turned out to be

false?

 

Do the Bushes feel the earth tremble beneath their feet at the mere

thought that thousands of parents of slain soldiers are beginning to

ask questions, to see the folly for which their children died…to find

their voice?

 

Cindy remembers the little picture, which is why George has been

hiding from her. She is his worst nightmare, for she is not just Cindy

Sheehan, mother of Casey. She is Every Mother. And, no matter how

uncomfortable it gets, she's not going to dishonor her son by saying,

" Well okay, if you say so, I guess this war was worth my boy's life. "

 

Support Our Wars or Else

 

What does it really mean to " honor " a soldier's death…and life? To say

that he or she willingly died " to end terrorism " (impossible), or

" make Iraq a democracy " (ditto)? Unless they were suicidal when they

enlisted (I know one boy who was), dying in Iraq is not the soldier's

" sacrifice " because by definition, a sacrifice is something that we

choose and willingly make. Most young people never imagined when they

enlisted – often for reasons their recruiters understood but their

parents didn't, such as finding a sense of belonging, or escaping bad

neighborhoods or dead-end jobs, or finding a way to afford college

some day – that they'd be dead within a matter of months.

 

To swallow ridiculous, ever-changing reasons for the futile war that

has killed over 1800 idealistic youths with their whole lives ahead of

them is to take the easy, socially acceptable way out. Pro-war pundits

and politicians constantly threaten parents with social disapproval

and even hatred if they dare to question those reasons – and it's

worked for a long time. Parents have felt pressured to mouth the

hawks' lines, lest their love for their child be called into question.

 

What a devilishly mean but perfect system for subduing the parents of

fallen soldiers! Politicians and talk show hosts threaten: " Support

our troops (the war), or we'll accuse you of dishonoring your dead

child. " The last thing that worried or grieving parents can bear is

the suggestion that they're " dishonoring " the memory of the one they

love. And so they have acquiesced. They have submitted. Archie Bunker

would be pleased: Like Edith, they've learned to stifle themselves.

 

Until now.

 

Protective Fury: The Tipping Point

 

One day, back when Americans lived in peace and we'd never even heard

of the Bush dynasty or the plotting neocons whose reckless ambitions

it would serve, I was watching a nature show about grizzly bears in

their natural habitat. I will never forget one particularly

electrifying scene that comes to mind whenever I hear about Cindy

Sheehan's vigil outside Mr. Bush's gated compound.

 

A large male grizzly came upon two adorable little grizzly cubs, who

looked up at him with wonder and naivete; clearly, they didn't realize

the danger they were in. To my great surprise, however, the male

grizzly stood bolt upright as though startled, then starting running

away from those harmless little cubs. Why on earth did he do that, I

wondered. The narrator explained that the male knew instinctively that

there's nothing more dangerous than a mother grizzly who senses that

her cubs may be harmed.

 

As the huge male ran off into the woods, the narrator continued:

" While the male grizzly is larger and could probably kill the female,

he knows that in the process, her protective fury would leave him

seriously, if not mortally, wounded. Mother grizzly bears will fight

to the death for their young, ripping the flesh of any animal, no

matter how large, that threatens their cubs. Coming upon the

youngsters frightened the adult male so badly that he ran and hid

because the mother, unseen but without a doubt somewhere near by,

could at any moment sniff his presence and roar into action. "

 

Human males can also sense danger, and know very well the hazards of

facing protective mothers – particularly when other mothers are

watching, too. This explains why the mainstream media has worked so

hard to make antiwar parents of fallen soldiers look pitiful, and why

George Bush is hiding inside his compound, hoping that Ms. Sheehan

will lose interest and go away.

 

But what the president doesn't understand is this: She's not going to

lose interest, and furthermore it isn't just Cindy Sheehan anymore.

Parents of servicemen and women all over the country are beginning to

see the little picture again. This is the tipping point, a showdown

fueled by motherly devotion that will embolden other families to start

questioning the integrity and fitness of this administration and this

president: It's what I call the Sheehan Effect.

 

And that's the worst news ever for a man who can only see the " the

mission, " the big picture, and how noble it will look under " Bush,

George W. " in the history books.