Cindy Sheehan: The Red Menace

Yesterday Bush had a little chat with the press and mentioned Mrs. Sheehan's name. He pronounced it incorrectly, but reminded the public that part of his job is to "listen to those who've lost loved ones" in Iraq. That was about it.

Meanwhile, every right-wing pundit in the country is going bananas trying to paint her as an extremist kook. Some of the invective:

"Crackpot."
"Communist." (Still the ultimate right-wing insult!)
"Extreme." (Not in the snowboardy way, of course.)
"Anti-American."
"Pro-terrorist."
"Media whore."
"Supports the insurgency."

And she's "allied with groups like Move On and Michael Moore?" What does that even mean? They all tend to vote Democrat? I can understand why people have a long-standing animosity toward Jane Fonda for her embarrassing antics in Vietnam, but we've actually gotten to the point where a woman whose son died in combat is being called a traitorous scoundrel, and a threat to our nation.

Here's my prediction: as with Schiavo, the right-wing is going to start looking like foam-mouthed fanatics. Again. Maybe this time it'll stick until the next election cycle.

It just so happens that I swapped e-mails with Cindy Sheehan in July, when she was openly criticizing the war on venues like Hardball. She responded promptly, was very polite, and pleased to hear that there are people out there who are trying to make a difference in whatever small way they can. She was a real sweetheart. But now that I think about it-- that's just how you'd expect a sneaky Commie to win your confidence....