August 21, 2008 at 05:48:35

"Peace Mom" v. "Guardian of Power"

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Stephen Lendman (about the author) Page 1 of 6 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

For OpEdNews: Stephen Lendman - Writer

"Peace Mom" v. "Guardian of Power" - by Stephen Lendman

Credit both titles to the book authors. Cindy Sheehan as a mother, peace activist, and now candidate to succeed Nancy Pelosi in California's Eighth Congressional District. Pelosi as both "guardian" and possessor of what Davids Cromwell and Edwards wrote about in their powerful critique of the media.

Both women represent hugely different interests, so let readers choose which ones they prefer. First some background on both candidates.

Sheehan is a peace activist, not a politician, and think how refreshing that is. Here's some background about her from her cindyforcongress.com web site:

-- born in California to working-class parents who experienced the pain of the Great Depression;

-- raised four children, including her son Casey; killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004 at age 24 - five days after he arrived;

-- Sheehan bitterly opposed the war and begged her son not to re-enlist in August 2003: "I begged Casey not to go. I told him I would take him to Canada. (I would do) anything to get him not to go to that immoral war;"

-- as an adult mother, she attended Cerritos College and UCLA;

-- she then worked as a Youth Minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Vacaville, CA for eight years and coordinated an after-school program for at-risk middle school children;

-- everything changed when Casey was killed; it energized her to action;

-- she founded Gold Star Families for Peace in January 2005, an organization of family members whose relatives were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and that's dedicated "to ending the occupation in Iraq and bringing our troops home;"

-- in August 2005, she organized demonstrations close to the Bush ranch in Crawford, TX - what became known as "Camp Casey;" it drew thousands of activists and celebrities from around the world in protest against an illegal war they want stopped;

-- prior to her congressional campaign, she travelled the world to meet with world leaders about resolving the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts; the US Congress and governments of South Korea, Scotland and Canada paid her special recognition;

-- numerous organizations around the country and world now have her as a keynote speaker and honored guest;

-- she receives dozens of peace awards and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005; in addition, Dario Fo, 1997 Nobel Laureate for Literature, wrote a play about her called "Peace Mom," the same title as her book;

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.