Last week I had the honor, along with other progressive bloggers from around the country, to speak with Cindy Sheehan. Cindy's son Casey, died in Iraq and, as she said to us the people on the blog call, it was not until after the death of son that she became so politically active. I can completely understand.

As a mother, it's my kids' welfare and future that fuels my political activism. Childbirth radicalized me. It was Cindy Sheehan's death that move her to action.

Ms. Sheehan is starting her second week of camping out in Carwford , Texas, waiting to meet the President to ask him why her son died and if it was for a noble cause. Here are my notes on the call. They were first published at

c u l t u r e k i t c h e n: Conference Call with Cindy Sheehan
http://www.culturekitchen.com/archives/003269.html

One person cannot make a difference but one person with millions of people behind them can make a difference and that's the beauty of the internet.

Yesterday I had the honor to listen in and ask questions to Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan, a US Army private killed in Iraq. Cindy has vowed to camp-out in Crawford Texas during the five weeks President Bush will be vacationing at his ranch. She has set-up shop at DailyKos with a series of diaries called "The The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford".

I was earlier in the year at a fundraiser for United For Peace and Justice here in New York City. It was at a Joe's Pub and I felt at the time that these people were ... well ... out of touch. I just could not for the life of me see how they could have any effect when the majority of people in that cabaret were over 50 and from a era of top-down grassroots. Not only that, when I mentioned blogs to some of the people and the impact they were having in the political arena, more than a few of the people around just scoffed at me. "Blogs", they said.

Yet now, I hear things like this :

I've been working for peace for a while and publishing on the net ... people on the DailyKos suggested I open a blog and I intended to do so ... I still don't understand blogs too well ... This is about putting the war back on the front page ... If it weren't for the internet; we wouldn't know what was going on.

Condoleeza Rice and Dick Cheney are on their way to Crawford for a fundraiser. That should be rather interesting indeed. How much they're choppering into the ranch and not driving?

When asked, once again, what would she ask the president, Sheehan responded pointedly: I am going to ask him what the noble cause Casey died for ... if he encourages his daughters to enlist?

Back in January, I was disappointed with what I saw as a movement out of touch with the grassroots. Yesterday, Cindy Sheehan, turned me into a true believer.

Thank God for the internet. If we did not have the internet that we would not know what was truly going on ... This is about putting the war back on the front page. If it weren't for the internet; we wouldn't know what was going on.

See also:

JoeTrippi.com » Blog Archive : Cindy Sheehan's Blog Conference Call

BlogCall9 with Cindy Sheehan | Democrats.com

Salon.com - Daou Report | SINS OF OMISSION VS. SINS OF COMMISSION

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