No Pity For Cindy But They Continue To Wrap The Red, White And Blue Bandana Over Their Eyes

By now, we all know that the matriarch for the Gold Star Mothers for Peace,Cindy Sheehan, stepped down and has ungraciously stepped out of the "movement." I can't say I blamer her.

I do think that the replies to her letter, and her protests over the past year, are more telling about the people than they want to let on. The vitriol and hatred is apparent, and if you ask me, Cindy deserves some credit rather than rage-based finger wagging and death threats. Moreover, when she challenges democrats as well as republicans on their slothful and willful disregard for what is being perpetrated in Iraq, I think she deserves some applause.

However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the left started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left," but of "right and wrong."

That she had the courage to stand while others preferred to vote for their American Idol favorites says a great deal about her character. She may not have been the most tactful or unused by the left, but she did stand for something, which is much more than most. Those who would toss verbal barbs and threats of all manner at her are the one's who don't deserve the freedom supposedly being protected and defended by our troops. For example:

Goodbye, Cindy Sheehan'

Editor -- Goodbye, Cindy Sheehan. We all know you hate America. You are not a Gold Star mom, but an embarrassment and a traitor. You'll hug a thug such as Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and put down your own president, calling him "worse than Osama bin Laden.''

I have no pity for you. Your brave son and other soldiers, who gave all for their country, are rolling over in their graves for giving you the freedom you enjoy today in this great country. You should be ashamed of yourself.

STEVE GORNALL

San Francisco

Steve would do well to turn his own shame inward and conduct an honest self-assessment. Cindy, on the other hand, by speaking her mind and message of peace was exercising her liberties in a fair and just way. That some don't like the message says to me that perhaps she hit just a little too close to the truth for the comfort of and American people that continue to wrap the tight red, white and blue bandana over their own eyes.