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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt just occurred to me: Cindy Sheehan was the first #Occupier.
I know some here are done with her, and that's fine; everyone is entitled to their opinion.
But remember 2005: the war had been raging for three years, but the media basically hid the war, so it wasn't part of the public consciousness.
Until Cindy Sheehan sat down in the mud outside George's ranch in Crawford and refused to leave until she got some answers.
I was there, and it was a privilege to be a part of. When she was done, the war had a face...and from that point on, support for the war went into the tank.
She was the first one.

valerief
(53,235 posts)
sinkingfeeling
(55,075 posts)WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)gopiscrap
(24,324 posts)that also to me in August of 2005 what when the Bush administration was starting it's slide downhill.
barbtries
(30,348 posts)in the history books.
i marched with her in los angeles and saw her speak in culver city oh so long ago.
i'll never forget gw's response to some reporter about why he would never sit down with her: "i have to get on with my life." bastard.
phantom power
(25,966 posts)southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)But she rubbed me the wrong way. The thing is she didn't help living outside of Bush's house. Sorry I just think she took advantage of a situation. I think many people felt that way.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)You are profoundly wrong.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)donheld
(21,322 posts)Mainly because she was the only person to lead it. If someone thinks they could do better then they should step up.
MedicalAdmin
(4,143 posts)She shone a light on that entire travesty when it wasn't being considered at all in the wider society.
She made a difference.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)right but I just feel she was the wrong person in front.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)claims upside down when she demanded an answer from Bush as what was that noble cause and he refused to answer. She went off their carefully managed script and was the first to do so, as a victim of the war, undoing all their propaganda.
There is no one who could have done the job better and even the MSM could not ignore her.
She took the smirk off Bush's face and showed him for what he was, a swaggering, faux 'hero' who did not have the guts to face the mother of one of his victims. The Emperor had no clothes and no one, up to that point, had more effectively demonstrated that.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)roguevalley
(40,656 posts)and the first OWS thing. She didn't take advantage of anything. She is the bravest woman on earth. She stood up to a tyrant alone that cowed the entire fucking world.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)
redqueen
(115,183 posts)Well said.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)I was there during her protest in Vacaville when some neo con bald head frakturd started shoving people and the ladies fought back. I'm glad I wasn't close enough to get in on the shoving or hooboy.
She is totally awesome and I totally admire her courage.
Cindy Sheehan has what many liberals do not: COURAGE!!! Hoorah!
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)_ed_
(1,734 posts)You mean the "situation" of having her son die the in war? Your post makes me vomit.
proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)Will is right.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)You honestly believe this?
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)that little old lady has been camped out in front of the White House for over 20 years? I'm thinking her name is Consuela. I loved her. She may not be the very first but man is she tenacious.
Anyone know her name or have a picture. I have one of her somewhere..
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)issues are. That doesn't mean I wouldn't support her. Tell me about her. She sounds interesting.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)and she has been there since 1982. I don't know her whole story buy you can google the White House Protest Lady or something like that to get more info on her. We thought she was both remarkable and adorable.
Don't know how to post links so you will have to cut and paste
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)is a woman I can respect.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)We met her in 05.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)white a couple of time since I've been home to visit however I never noticed her around. Of course I wasn't really paying attention either.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)Look for her next time you go. She camps out there all year long. Incredible lady.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)and make a donation.
WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)I suppose I'm speaking of the 21st century Bush/post-Bush phenomenon of Occupy, dealing specifically with the issues of these days. But your point is well-taken.
I didn't say she was the first "sit-in." I said she was the first #Occupier. A fine hair to split, but there it is.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)marriage problems over the situation. But your and the others are great to stand by her because you feel positive about her so you should. I don't feel positive about her. I'm sorry I wish I could feel different but I don't. Like I said right cause, wrong person.
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)Explain why you mention it three times & offer no reasons as to why she was the "wrong person".
I await your wisdom.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)her. That is good enough reason for me. You have an opinion and I have mine. I am not trying to change your opinion. I don't like her, she was a pushy loudmouth person and I just didn't like her. Period. It is my personal feelings.
frylock
(34,825 posts)just wow. pushy loudmouth?! did your son FUCKING die in an illegal and immoral war. great, you don't like her. guess what? whole lotta people around prolly don't much care for you.
opinions are like assholes, and your entitled to yours, as wrongheaded as it may be.
MedicalAdmin
(4,143 posts)
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)sorry more like a dog-cat fight.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)your cat poster it is really funny. This comment was meant for the comment above yours sorry.
noamnety
(20,234 posts)Also worth noting: a lot of people think that men who speak out are heroic or brave, while women who speak out in exactly the same way are whiny, unfeminine, or pushy.
A lot of people prefer men as leaders in general.
A lot of people prefer that women in the public eye meet some kind of porn/model standard, and if they look like "normal" real life women they should stay at home.
I suspect if she had been a deceased soldier's father and looked like JFK and done everything else exactly the same, there would be an entirely different attitude about her. We say we hate privilege, but many of us are still attracted to it in some form.
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)I (unfortunately) find that I am vulnerable to this prejudice as well...and I know better.
Conditioning is a hard thing to overcome.
Thx for this reality check.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,285 posts)
easttexaslefty
(1,554 posts)because she has as dead son. Loosing a child can do that to a couple.
I met her in Crawford. She was a genuinely nice woman. She was doing what she did because of her child. I saw the sorrow in her eyes and believe me, I know the look.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)Response to southernyankeebelle (Reply #48)
Post removed
proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)CTyankee
(66,034 posts)The unreasonable, contrary, argumentative angry person that is hard to like. But I think she saw her job as being not to please people but to piss off certain people and get her point across.
Frankly, I didn't want Sheehan to "be my best friend." I have plenty of nice friends. But Cindy got under the skin of the very people I believe should have been bothered.
I am not saying you are in that group and she just may not be your cup of tea. That doesn't make you a bad person. It's just that she rubs you the wrong way...
Avalux
(35,015 posts)Met at the house then headed out to the ranch; Code Pink was there, so were Iranian dissidents; lots of comraderie, music and free food. And the markers for all the dead soldiers......moving.
It was an occupy-type of protest that became a lot bigger than Sheehan.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)WilliamPitt
(58,179 posts)
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)support for the war was something like 66% for it. Then after the encampment and the following protest in DC, the numbers pretty much reversed with about 66% now being against the war. Cindy Sheehan and the war protesters became the most dangerous thing to the *regime's dominance.
I personally believe we stopped the draft. Seems like they were starting to nudge into that direction but the whole anti-war movement put too much spotlight on it and they backed off.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)Rose Parade. Both times I took note of the mom-like feeling when she hugged me. I felt safe & comforted in her presence.
She is a very cool person & I admire her courage in the face of ignorant fools...including those on DU.
First Occupier? I don't know, but she was there risking it when few had the guts...thanks Cindy!!!
T S Justly
(884 posts)bigwillq
(72,790 posts)
tawadi
(2,110 posts)maximusveritas
(2,915 posts)As others have pointed out, she was far from the first. And the support for the war was already in the tank before she had her protest. The levels of disapproval in June 2005 are the same as they are now. I supported her at first, but she gradually became more and more extreme and turned off many who were on her side, much less those in the middle. I don't have feel anger towards her, just sadness.
JitterbugPerfume
(18,183 posts)and it took a huge amount of bravery for her to do it
Mira
(22,517 posts)ever lasting admiration for Cindy Sheehan. One of the s'heroes of the last years.
dembotoz
(16,922 posts)for a time she was the face of the anti bush anti war movement is this country and for that she deserves credit
rustydog
(9,186 posts)When people were placed in free speech zones miles removed from Shrub, she planted herself outside the "ranch" and stayed there!
denbot
(9,931 posts)K&R
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)And she went about it differently and not effectively.
MADem
(135,425 posts)lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)radhika
(1,008 posts)to the assembled marchers at the 'Occupy the Rose Parade' event in Pasadena on January 02, 2012. I haven't searched but there should be some Youtubes and Livestream of it online.
As for the W years, Cindy was a one-note activist, but her timing was impeccable. She was camped out in Crawford for weeks, drawing the world's press to the Bush vacation site. Katrina struck during late August of 2005. While she was still camped there, if I recall.
It helped show the world how ineffective that President was - hiding in a 'ranch' dodging the press and eventually just heading off to John McCain's B-day party.
LizW
(5,377 posts)Interesting that you should mention her right now, Will.
I just finished Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. It was assigned to my high school son by his English teacher, and I was a little surprised. Then I remembered that I was asked to read Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun when I was in high school and the Viet Nam war was still going on.
So I picked up a new copy of Johnny and found that Cindy Sheehan wrote the forward to the recent edition. It is wrenching to read. It brought back so much anger and guilt and helplessness that I had pushed down and forgotten. While I've been blithely raising my two sons to young adulthood the last seven years, Cindy was still mourning her lost one.
I think a lot of people recoil from Cindy (as one said above "she rubs me the wrong way" because she forces us to face how angry and helpless we were, and are, about Iraq.
karynnj
(60,209 posts)I do agree that her technique of standing in witness to something very wrong is the same - but I think that she follows in a tradition of peaceful protest that has been used throughout our history and the history of the world.
I do not know US history well enough to know the first, but I can list earlier attempts that used the idea of camping out to make your plight and opinion known. Here is a link that speaks of the Army ejecting war veterans who were demanding a promised bonus payment that could have helped them as the country fell into depression - http://www.historynet.com/the-bonus-army-war-in-washington.htm
Many of the civil rights actions were similar - and their quiet dignity in the face of repression was amazing.
As to trying to change the course of a war, there was the Dewey Canyon encampment in DC that was led by John Kerry. Now before you say that it doesn't count because it was shorter, you might consider that the pre announced end actually enabled it to be successful, because they controlled their story's end, while getting their message out.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)They will be remembered for their WORKS,
not for their excuses.
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proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)And proud to call Cindy my friend.