Sheehan quits peace movement

Cindy Sheehan has quit the peace movement with a post at Daily KOS.

"I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called 'Face' of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such 'liberal blogs' as the Democratic Underground. Being called an 'attention whore' and being told 'good riddance' are some of the more milder rebukes..."

Click here to read the AP story that reacts to her KOS diary.

"...[Sheehan] said the most devastating conclusion she had reached 'was that Casey did indeed die for nothing ... killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think.'

"Sheehan told the AP that she had considered leaving the peace movement since last summer while recovering from surgery. She decided on Memorial Day to step down and spend more time with her three other children. She said she was returning to California on Tuesday because it was Casey's birthday. He would have been 28."

It's sad to see Sheehan leave in this way, but I can't say that I blame her all that much. Too often, these days, the tactics and use of language by the so-called "left" are difficult to distinguish from those of the ultimate rightwing propagandist Karl Rove. Moreover, I have never believed Democrats will benefit in the long run from imitating Rove's style.