Arrested Development

I've never been arrested. Maybe I should try it. Cindy Sheehan makes it look like so much fun!

She should be careful. I think getting arrested can be quite addictive for some people.

For example, the delusional President Martin Sheen has been arrested over sixty times!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cindy Sheehan, the California mother who became a leader of the anti- war movement after her son died in Iraq, was arrested Monday along with hundreds of others protesting outside the White House.

Sheehan, carrying a photo of her son in his Army uniform, rallied with other protesters in a park across the street from the White House and then marched to the gate of the executive mansion to request a meeting with President Bush.

The protesters later sat down on the pedestrian walkway in front of the White House _ knowing they would be arrested _ and began singing and chanting "Stop the war now!"

The protesters have had days of different events. Was it really necessary to manufacture an activity that would assure their arrests?

I guess something drastic needed to be done for Sheehan to continue to hold the media's attention.

Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests. One man climbed over the White House fence and was quickly subdued by Secret Service agents.

Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She smiled as she was carried to the curb, then stood up and walked to a police vehicle as protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching."

As the photo shows, Sheehan was very pleased with herself, all smiles. Apparently, this grieving mother takes solace in breaking the law.

Perhaps she enjoyed the crowd chanting, "The whole world is watching."

They're right. The world is watching, including terrorists, our enemies that want to carry out attacks that will outdo the carnage and destruction of 9/11.

This is exactly what they want to see.

Protesting, while certainly a right of all Americans, isn't always the right thing to do.

Cindy Sheehan may be the face of the anti-war movement; but she has also become the face of the anti-American movement.

Al Jazeera loves her!

Some samplings of how Sheehan's activities are being reported in the Arab world:

Thursday 22 September 2005 -- Sheehan was joined by about 30 supporters in her march down Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday to deliver a letter to Bush urging him to pull the troops out of Iraq.

"We want to hold this administration accountable. Nobody's asking them the hard questions but you know what, we're willing to come here," said Sheehan, the California mother whose son Casey was killed in combat in Iraq.

"We're willing to spend weeks out of our lives and ask them the hard questions," she added after handing a poster-sized petition through the iron gates of the White House to a staff member who promised to deliver it.

..."There's still a war on," Sheehan said on Capitol Hill. "Nine Americans were killed yesterday in Iraq. We will end this war. We will bring the troops home."

Sunday 25 September 2005 -- Opponents of the war in Iraq have rallied by the tens of thousands to demand the return of US troops, staging a day of protest, song and remembrance of the dead in marches through Washington and other cities in the US and Europe.

A mile-long procession of demonstrators marched through downtown San Francisco on Saturday to demand President George Bush be ousted from office and US soldiers brought home from Iraq.

..."We have to get involved," said Erika McCroskey, 27, who came from Des Moines, Iowa, with her younger sister and mother for her first demonstration, travelling in one of the buses that poured into the capital from far-flung places.

"Bush lied, thousands died," said one sign. "End the occupation," said another.

..."We believe we are at a tipping point whereby the anti-war sentiment has now become the majority sentiment," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for Answer, one of the main anti-war organisers.

Monday 26 September 2005 -- Cindy Sheehan, the American woman whose son was killed in Iraq and who has spurred the anti-war movement in the US, has been arrested while protesting outside the White House.

...Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She was led to a police vehicle while protesters chanted: "The whole world is watching."

I think what makes Sheehan particularly attractive to Al Jazeera and other anti-American propaganda outlets is her strong opinions against Israel.

The Muslim American Society, a group that played an important role in the weekend's protests, was especially pleased with the anti-Israeli rhetoric that permeated the events.

From its website:

Protestors, many of whom were first-timers, came from all over the country, representing a wide spectrum of age, ethnicity, political views and faith traditions. What fused this sea of humanity descending upon our nation’s capital was a unity surrounding the opposition to the war in Iraq, and the current domestic and foreign policy of President George W. Bush’s administration.

...The September 24 March on Washington was initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, which included a broad coalition called the September 24 National Coalition for the March on Washington.

The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation served as the Muslim community representative on the Coalition’s Executive Committee, and played a significant role in organizing the event. However, MAS Freedom played a more pivotal role in insisting and negotiating that the cause of the Palestinian struggle not to be relegated to a side- or non-issue in the demonstration.

Additionally, MAS Freedom Executive Director Mahdi Bray spoke and emceed a significant portion of the rally, which was broadcast live on C-SPAN. MAS President. Dr. Esam Omeish, also spoke to the rally and national C-SPAN audience, followed by an evening appearance on Al Jazeera from live at the rally site.

Yes, the world is watching.

That's what makes the grandstanding Sheehan and her cohorts so dangerous to our safety.

They are helping America's enemies.