Cindy Sheehan's book signing.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Sandman
You sure it's not 00:15:00.009?

one could only hope

[Mighty1]

Originally posted by Sandman
As a matter of fact, I haven't been paying attention to Sheehan. Thanks.

Then why make a post defending her?

Originally posted by Sandman How would you know? I can't recall any media attention given to Sheehan while her son was alive.

[Sixpence]

Originally posted by Stringer
I don't believe Sandman, A.)ever got an answer to his question about how she is being exposed for money grubbing....I mean what a great plan....have the US invade on manipulated intelligence, then have your son sent over and killed in this war and then cash in on it...wow, brilliant!,

and B.) how is she Anti-American?

I don't agree with her views and I think her son's death has led her to her opinions (which everyone has their own personal reactions to a loved-one's untimely death), but I don't think she is against Americans.

Unless you count the most American of traits as being Anti-American, and that is the trait to disagree with and voice your opinion about what your elected, representative government is doing, whether it be a war on foreign soil or even something as local as opposing city ordinances.

I mean, wasn't it that trait that started this whole USA ball rolling some 200 odd years ago??

Seems to be a trend lately, if you don't agree with the majority, you are classified as anti American

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Mighty1
Then why make a post defending her?

I'm not defending her. I'm questioning perceptions of Sheehan. She may truly be nothing more than a money grubbing bint, but saying so without any evidence whatsoever doesn't make it so.

[Yeager]

I feel bad for her and her family.  She lost her son.  I dont know whether she is being manipulated by the politics or if she is a willing participant, in any event, I would hate to see the mission her son died for being abandoned before it can be completed.  The mission to stabilize Iraq can succeed, if we allow it to.

[Seagoon]

Hi Sixpence, et al,

Originally posted by Sixpence
Seems to be a trend lately, if you don't agree with the majority, you are classified as anti American

I hear this kind of statement quite a bit these days, and I must confess I am struggling to understand it.

It usually follows statements along the lines of "America is on the wrong track, we torture, we wage agressive war, we have created and secretly funded terrorism for political gain. We are the world's greatest terrorists" or "America is a nasty imperialist nation founded by war-mongering slave-owning heterosexist misogynistic white males." These statements often follow a course of "Yes, I support the aims and struggle of self-proclaimed enemies of the USA, but don't you dare accuse me of not being patriotic!"

I find myself scratching my head, because I wonder what then is anti-American or unpatriotic behavior? I fear it has become a category without meaning. One person can make statements on Al Jazeera designed to inflame hatred against the USA and be quite open about desiring the downfall and destruction of the "great Satan" while someone in the United States can say essentially the same thing and then protest loudly that they are an American patriot.

Does Patriotism simply consist of being able to exercise your right to freedom of speech regardless of what the content of that speech is? Is to be "American" simply to exercise the rights granted to all citizens? To me it all seems as meaningless as the statements by men and women attacking the Christian faith root and branch, but then loudly proclaiming that they are Christians. The label ceases to have any coherent meaning at that point.

So then, is "American" an entirely subjective reader-defined term, meaning whatever we want it to? After I (godwilling) become an American, may I spend all my time viciously attacking everything that America does and promoting her avowed enemies and then claim I am a "patriotic American?" If Cindy Sheehan is an American patriot, then is George Galloway an American Patriot too? After all, they are basically saying the same things.

Can I be Tokyo Rose and an upstanding Pro-American at the same time?

Hopelessly confused about how this "patriotism" thing differs from unbridled freedom of expression.