Framing Cindy Sheehan - we are making errors

dataguy

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Saturday August 13, 2005 · 6:56 AM PDT

2005/08/13 · 06:56

We are making errors with references to Cindy Sheehan.

What are we trying to accomplish with promoting her?

Emphasizing her sacrifice.
Emphasizing her stating truth to power.
Emphasizing her plain speaking, clear statements.
Relate her vigil over her dead son to universal archtypes of all vigils over dead children killed by dictatorial rulers throughout all history.

My suggestions below:

We should call her "Mother Sheehan". We should never call her Cindy; I don't know her. "Mother Sheehan" is her title, and expresses her ceremonial status as a bereaved mother, calling forth over the dead body of her son. She is not a person now, she is a mother, which is not an expression of her individuality, but rather the expression of her eternal character: the mother, the bringer of life who has been wronged by state power.
We should use the word "sacrifice". She has sacrificed the most precious thing a mother has, the life and promise of her child.
We should use the word "useless" frequently. The death of her son is a useless sacrifise, done for the vanity of the ruler.
We should not use the name of her son. Her son is a symbol of all sons who have been sacrificed for this useless and criminal war.
The term "vigil" should be used to describe the persons and their patient petition to the dictatorial ruler. It is a vigil over the body of the dead son, killed by the ruler for his own purposes.
The right will try to INDIVIDUALIZE and SPECIALIZE her complaint. We must try to make her cry the UNIVERSAL and ETERNAL cry of all mothers whose children have died at the whim of the tyrannical and dictatorial ruler, who has made the decision to push children to the front of the army for his own, useless purposes. We must seek to make this like funeral vigils over all time. This is not Mother Sheehan's vigil, this is a vigil over the dead son, killed by the ruler for his own selfish reasons.
If there are any persons who are theatre professionals at the Sheenan vigil, they should arrange things much more theatrically.
If I was there, I would not let Mother Sheehan talk to the press, but I would have her talk only through a spokesperson. In particular, I would not allow her to argue with critics, and would allow no critics to approach her. Her dignity must be preserved. If lesser emissaries from the ruler arrive (C Rice, etc), these should not be allowed to speak to Mother Sheehan.

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Framing Cindy Sheehan - we are making errors

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