Burn-out

Cindy Sheehan is getting out of activism after getting her share of abuse from both right and left. I'm not surprised that it's not fun being the face of the antiwar movement, however much the country wants the war to end, but this is sad to read:

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance.

This war is indeed eating up and spitting out many good-hearted folks, from activists like Sheehan to the generals and intelligence agents who have left government service, and not least the soldiers getting killed while policing a civil war. Heck, even those of us just watching from our couches are getting worn down. How much longer, and for what?

(via Medley)