As a strong supporter of what Cindy Sheehan is about in Crawford (`Mr. Bush, please explain the “noble cause” my son died for’) I decided to attend a support-Cindy rally sponsored by “Troops Out Now” this afternoon in Manhattan’s Union Square.
There were about 100 people there, plus a good number of people with “press” badges and cameras. As I listened to the speakers and watched the circulating activists, my heart began to sink. It sank even further when I saw that there was a little tent there labeled “Camp Cindy”–not even “Camp Casey.” These weren’t people looking to Cindy Sheehan and the loss of her son Casey. They were there only for themselves.
There was a speaker demanding a free Palestine. And someone from the Green Party. There were people giving out Workers Vanguard newspapers. Others chanted for impeachment, against troops in Haiti… there was even one guy there collecting signatures on a petition to lower the maximum number of students in NYC classroom!
Now, I must say I do support almost all of the causes being promoted. But I wasn’t there for them. I was there for Cindy Sheehan.
And I wanted the concentration to be on her.
I know: Sheehan herself doesn’t mind being used as a focal point by activists of all sorts–but I do mind.
And for a very practical reason.
The media in America not only have the attention span of a gnat, but have the intelligence of one, too. If we do not keep our focus simple, the media won’t understand it. Or will manipulate it to make it match the media’s preconceived notions of what we are about. Only a simple statement (“What is the noble cause?”) will keep the media focus where it belongs.
One of the failures of the left over the past twenty years has been an inability to concentrate on one thing at a time. Sure, there are many pressing needs in the world, but we are dealing with a situation where things have to be simplified to succeed. What Cindy Sheehan has done is simplify the issues of this war. The rest of us should take that and run with it.
We should not try to insert other issues. Yes, there are people on death row who shouldn’t be there. Yes, we are in danger of losing many of our traditional freedoms. And these are issues we need to address.
But, when something striking happens, something like a woman showing up at the President’s house with a simple yet powerful question, we should take advantage and concentrate on that.
Not only is the media unable to deal with more than spoon-fed information, but many people in America who have questions about this war will be turned off from the growing “Cindy” movement by news stories about her that also trumpet other causes completely–causes these Americans might not agree with.
They will agree with us about Cindy, because the question is so clear.
Let’s fight one battle at a time. We have a possibility for victory, here. Let’s not lose it by charging in seventeen directions at once, making us easy pickings for our foes.
After half-an-hour of listening this afternoon, I turned away, saddened. None of the people at the rally seemed to realize that they were defeating themselves as they talked and cajoled. Instead of a new mass movement against the war, they made it look like this was nothing but a sorry gathering of the same old out-of-step leftists who’ve been trying to get something going ever since the end of the Vietnam War.
[Crossposted on dKos and MyLeftWing].
