Why Casey Sheehan Died (Updated)

I have not posted anything about the death in Iraq of Casey Sheehan, or the ongoing and growing protest of his mother Cindy Sheehan, for a couple of reasons. One, I feel tremendous sympathy for her and her family over their suffering the loss of Casey. Two, Cindy, like every other American, has the right and duty to express their beliefs to our govenrment. Three, I didn't want to contribute to the chattering frenzy so ably facilitated by the news media. To Cindy: I salute your motives and courage in your initial efforts to gain audience with President Bush. I only wish you had not succumbed to the coterie of loonies that have attached themselves to your plight. To the anti-war, anti-American, anti-Bush crowd who jumped on Cindy's bandwagon: Shame on you! Shame! Shame! Shame! Had you supported Cindy's original purpose you would have been doing well. To purposely hijack her cause, and subvert it into the venomous farce that it has become is immoral, unethical, and just not right! To the Media creating this frenzy: Since you have no shame, you have no allegiance, you have no values beyond the bottom line, I have nothing to say other than you'll regret this, historically. So, why did Casey Sheehan die? Thanks to Classical Values for the link to the Carnival of the Vanities hosted this week at WILLisms, here is a well-written answer from Kid Various at The Idiom: [...] And he knows that if he allows this seed of Liberty to germinate, prosperity and power in small amounts will follow, followed then by more breaking down of traditional ties and more Liberty, followed then by more prosperity and power in an ever upward cycle until his dysfunctional traditional way of life has been utterly usurped. That is why the enemy killed Casey Sheehan. That is why they will kill many more like Casey Sheehan. Because if Casey Sheehan, and the hundreds of thousands like him are successful in their mission, the enemy’s way of life is doomed. [...] Please, if you read nothing else today, go and read this, and the subsequent comments. Here's the link again. * * * * * * * * * * * Update: Paul A. Miller at Along the Tracks and I seem to agree, both about Cindy S. and those that have taken advantage of her. He posted two days prior to me, and says it better. It takes an unusually callous attitude to co-opt a grieving mother for a media circus. It takes a heartless level of cruelty to rob a mother’s pride and convince her the son she loved died a worthless death in an unjust cause. It takes a special shamelessness to toss that mother before television cameras to repeat the foolish conspiracy theories you are unwilling to admit are false. [...] Cindy Sheehan, who actually did meet with President Bush last summer and now is pushed out into the spotlight as a sympathetic figure by those whose wild theories could find no sympathy on their own, has every right to protest the president, question his judgment and challenge him to a face-to-face confrontation. Her son fought and died to make certain she could – and she should be proud of him for that. We all should be. Technorati : Casey Sheehan, Cindy Sheehan, Current Events, George Bush, Global War On Terror, GWoT, Iraq, Mainstream Media, MSM, Protest, United States, War For Survival