Sheehan's Public Nuisance

Jim Hoaglund:

Sheehan's personal tragedy is degenerating into farce or worse. She has become a celebrity whose divorce proceedings hit the wires this week to reverberate in the great national echo chamber.

If I felt that Mrs. Sheehan's request for a meeting with the President would help comfort her, I'd support it, and I think he would give it to her if he thought it would help. But I agree with Hoaglund:

A vigil by a war victim's mother should be an act of devotion that transcends political theater. Bush owes Sheehan the respect of the meeting she seeks -- if she demonstrates that she will show him the respect any elected president deserves.

And if the people who are mobbed around her had any real sensitivity, they'd have stayed home with their phoney crosses and candles. This is another event like Paul Wellstone's memorial service, what should have been a time of reflection and sharing of sorrow has turned into a political rally full of hatred and fury.

As a political tactic, Sheehan's protest is likely to backfire, bringing other parents of troops who have died in Iraq out of the woodwork with support for Bush. They may not get the publicity she has gotten, because they won't go organize media events, but they will provide an answer.

There were reports yesterday about how the mobs along the roads in Crawford have become a nuisance to other residents. Does seizing on an opportunity to hammer a political opponent really trump the right to peace and quiet in one's home? I'm not advocating suppression of freedom of speech, just some common sense and regulation of time and place.