Cindy Sheehan: Blogger

As the days on the hot fields outside Dubya's Crawford "ranch" drag on, Cindy Sheehan is still all over the news, being alternately praised and lambasted by the media. (See coverage here, here, here and here for examples from both sides.) The slime patrol from the right wingnuts' 101st Fighting Keyboarders continue their campaign of lies about her, trying to smear the name of the mother of one of "Our Troops." (Examples of the mendacity patrol can be found at Michelle Malkin, The Anchoress, and Power Whine.) Yesterday, Ron provided links to some supportive voices from the progressive half of the world. And through it all, Ms. Sheehan keeps up an air of quiet dignity. She has now been given a voice in the blogosphere to present her own views, unfiltered by everyone else. Yes, Cindy Sheehan is blogging at Huffington Post. It's clear that she is well aware of the right wing smear campaign, but refuses to lower herself to their level.

I am a continued thorn in the side of right-wing bloggers and right wing-nut "journalists." One man, Phil Hendry, called me an "ignorant cow." But you know what, the people who have come out from all over the country to give me a hug and support the cause of peace, overwhelms me so much, I don't have time to worry about the negativity and the hatred. The people who are slamming me have no idea about what it feels like to unjustly have a child killed in an insane war. Plus, they have no truth to fight truth with, so they fight truth with more lies and hate.

Three active duty soldiers from Ft. Hood came to visit me and tell me that they really appreciated what I was doing and that if they were killed in the war, their moms would be doing the same thing. That made me feel so good after all of the negativity I had been hearing from the righties. I also got to hold a couple of toddlers on my lap while their mom or dad took pictures of us. I am honored that people have resonated with the action that I took to make our mission of ending the war a reality.

Even for someone who has been through the anguish that Cindy has endured, it is a hopeful sign that she can remain so positive about the world.

We are here at the Crawford Peace House now. I came here so angry and I have been so encouraged and overwhelmed by the support from all over. I was thinking that there is no reason for us progressive liberals to be angry anymore. We have the power. One mom has shown that ordinary citizens can make a difference. We the people have to hold George Bush accountable. We have to make sure he answers to us. If he doesn't have to answer to Congress, or the media, we will force him to answer to us.

The "Crawford Peace House." Man, I've never heard anything sound so good when it appears, at first blush, to be such a complete oxymoron. The Bush family blitzed past Sheehan and her supporters yesterday in their motorcade, on their way to a big barbecue and fundraising party at a neighbor's ranch. Cindy hoped that Laura Bush saw her and would stop down with some brownies and lemonade. She waited all day.

I have a feeling she has a much longer wait in store.