Cindy Sheehan: Partisan Politics Is Off The Table – OpEd

After Camp Casey in the summer of 2005 (before MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter were invented), three RVs filled with campers took off from Crawford, Texas to take three routes to the large “antiwar” rally in Washington, DC. On September 23rd that year. Now, I, and so many others, thought it was going to be an antiwar rally, but the longer I have been in the movement and the more I know, I now realize it was just an Anti-Republican War Rally. Hundreds of thousands gathered and we, unfortunately, haven’t seen anything like it since.

During that crazy time, I, myself, flew from route to route and made appearances all over the country between the last day of Camp Casey (August 31) and the rally. While I was on that whirlwind tour, (which included a stop in New Orleans shortly after Katrina), someone named Nancy Pelosi called me on my cell phone.

I am a little embarrassed to say that I had never, ever heard of Nancy Pelosi before that phone call—after all, she was only the House Representative for the next Congressional district over from my own in San Francisco and House Minority Leader—somehow, she had never entered my consciousness.

Anyway, she called me to express her support and invite me to meet with her when I arrived in DC. I visited many, many Congress people when I arrived in DC, and most of the Democrats I met with, including Pelosi, told me: “Cindy, you help us take back the House an we’ll help you end the wars.” So, I thought that was a great deal and the movement worked hard to “take back the House.”

Consequently, with MoveOn.org, the Democrats proceeded to exploit the energy the Camp Casey movement to regain the majority. Pelosi became Speaker and one of the first things the new Democratic Majority did with their toadies in MoveOn.org supporting them, approved the supplemental funding to continue and expand the wars while NOT holding the Bush Crime Family accountable.

So, I went back to Congress and basically asked the Democrat Members, “what the hell?” I was told, “Cindy, we need MORE Democrats.” That’s when I left the party.

May I remind you all that in 2008, Democrats took majority in BOTH Houses of Congress and the Presidency and the wars rage on and Obama has added a few more, while the war economy is sucking the very life out of our communities and families. Obama just recently introduced a jobs’ bill that he could have proposed for the first two years of his presidency, but with a virtual tyranny of Democrats, how would he have explained it when he failed? Kind of hard to blame a small minority for the actions of a vast majority—but he would have blamed the Republicans, and some Democrat toadies would have gladly lapped it up.

Today, the House Minority Leader, one of the wealthiest women in Congress, our gal, Pelosi, expressed her support of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, saying people are “angry.”

Hell yes, we are angry, lady. Can you even hear us from behind the walls of your mansion in Pac Heights? As someone who has always been in the 99% while you exploit the labor of others and play politics with people’s very lives, I know why we are angry and we are not only angry at the Republicans. I know, and I hope every person reading this or hearing the sound of her lying voice knows, that the only reason Pelosi “supports” this movement is because she wants to be Speaker of the House again.

Nancy Pelosi has supported war by paying for it; torture because she was briefed on the inhumane practice in 2002; The Bush Crime Family because she has more in common with it than she has with us; and bailouts for Wall Street while Main Street is shriveling under the deepening Great Recession. Pelosi has used her influence to make family members wealthier (and she, herself) while we are growing poorer and Nancy has absolutely no clue what we down here living in the streets or in humble homes actually go through.

I am heading to the Occupy Wall Street protest on the 15th of this month and, besides observing and supporting, my message will be for the movement to not allow itself to be co-opted by the hypocritical Democrats and their toadies just for electoral purposes.

The Democrats are just one-half of the Capitalist War Party and they WILL demobilize the movement and betray it and we will be left holding our signs and trying to make a difference while the political process here in this nation works diligently against us and the partisan hacks have Moved On.

It’s obvious to me that along with the Republicans, Democrats are not friends of peace or of the worker. The rhetoric of the Democrats may be supportive, but Nancy and her ilk will be waiting to plunge their knives into the guts of the movement and rip it apart as soon as they get their way. It’s an evil game and I am speaking from experience.

Not this time, I hope.

The people must stand firm against partisan politicking.