Dear Cindy Sheehan:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/28/12530/1525

"...when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I
held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the "left"
started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid
attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no
reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong."

I am deemed a radical because I believe that partisan politics should be left to the wayside when hundreds of thousands of people are dying for a war based on lies that is supported by Democrats and Republican alike. It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Blind party loyalty is dangerous whatever side it occurs on. People of the world look on us Americans as jokes because we allow our political leaders so much murderous latitude and if we don’t find alternatives to this corrupt "two" party system our Representative Republic will die and be replaced with what we are rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland.

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every[sic] since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives."

Ah Cindy, I completely understand. I've been a protestor of this war since before it began. I too am becoming disillusioned with the Democratic Party and most of those who represent us.

It sickened me to watch so many Democrats vote to hand Bu$h everything he wanted on a silver platter without any timelines or even any milestones. Yesterday - Memorial Day - was the bloodiest day in Iraq since early 2004. Why don't people care about that? Why do they care more about who wins American Idol? I could sit here and point fingers all day and it wouldn't do any good.

You have given more to this cause than anyone else I know of. You fought the good fight but they have beaten you down. I've tried not to let them do the same to me but it's so very hard these days. I will be calling my Democratic Senator's office as soon as she returns from her little break to let her know that she'll not get any more support from me because she chose to side with those too worried about winning elections than how many more lives are lost. I applaud those who chose to stand against the Emergency Spending Bill last week. Those are the Democrats I will focus on and help keep in office. Mark my word - this will be a very bloody summer over in Iraq and they will come back from their summer break filled with the angry protests of constituents sickened by this war. Then I pray we will begin to see a change.

On Sunday during yet another beautiful sermon, Rev. Steve Crump at our local Unitarian Church said it best...

I am in the midst of a lovers' quarrel with the country of my birth."

I'm afraid my quarrel will not end any time soon. But I continue to persist in hopes that one day we may live peacefully.

Godspeed, Cindy Sheehan, and thank you for carrying the banner for so long.