Cindy Sheehan--A Perfect Storm

You get a perfect storm when a number of conditions all come together at the right time. Cindy Sheehan's vigil in Crawford is just such an event. I directed you over to Hullabalo below to read a post by digby, The Appearance Of Winning. In short, what digby was saying is that people support a war when they think it can be won. I once again suggest you read the entire post. The most recent polling data indicates that over 50% of Americans think that the war in Iraq is going badly and a similar percentage thank the war wasn't worth it. While George bush has attempted to equate Iraq with the war on terror over 60% of Americans now think it has made us less safe. Over 60% disapprove of George W. Bush's handling of the war. We add a grieving mother and an increasing number of supporters and we have all the ingredients for a perfect storm.

When you have a perfect storm headed your way there is not much you can do. Bush made a hollow statement about feeling the grief of those who's friends and relatives had lost their lives in his Iraqi mis-adventure and then the following day speeds by their encampment to attend a fund raiser. Can there be any doubt he was making jokes about them behind the tinted windows of the SUV?

You can feel the desperation in the air. You can hear it over at FOX news as their attempts to slime Cindy only succeed in digging a bigger hole. Republican lawmakers have been quiet, they read the polls and midterm elections are rapidly approaching. In addition they have troubles of their own. How many of the beans is Jack Abramoff going to spill to keep his jail time to a minimum?

This week may well turn out to be a "tipping point", the week the gig was over, a "perfect storm".

Digby said it well:

There is nothing that isn't just a matter of PR and marketing to these people. Unfortunately when your soft drink tastes like horse piss, you have a problem no matter how resolute you are about saying it tastes good. Apparently they all agree that if the president just goes around singing "I'd like to build Iraq a coke" until you feel like jamming icepicks in your eardrums, everyone will be satisfied.

Here's the problem. People might be willing to stay the course and stick with the mission --- if they knew what it fucking was. They've changed their rationale so many times that nobody has a clue. And people aren't as dumb as these guys think they are. Setting phony "benchmarks" in a process nobody understands isn't "winning."