Dave Mott

Cindy Sheehan Exclusive Interview

            “I’m not motivated by power; I don’t want to be famous…if I was doing it for attention I would have stopped a long time ago…But I’m not; I’m doing it to stop the killing.  And you know what? The killing is still going on.  They want to intensify the killing.  So I’ll go away when the killing stops, I’ll go away when there’s peace on earth.  And so I think that I’m never going to go away.”

            These words were delivered to a captive audience at Tuesday’s convocation by renowned peace activist Cindy Sheehan.  Minnesota Senator Becky Lourey was on hand to introduce Sheehan, who has been nominated to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

Before Sheehan lost her son Casey to an ambush in Iraq, her opposition to the war wasn’t put into any kind of action.

“I disagreed with the war, I disagreed with George Bush, but I never did anything.”

Everything changed in the wake of Casey’s death on April 4, 2004.  He had only joined the army to help pay for college.  Six weeks into mourning him, her daughter Carly came to her mother with a poem.  Somehow the words of her daughter gave Sheehan new hope.  She knew now that she had a reason to live.  Sheehan in that moment found her vocation, to fight for world peace.

Her efforts gained national media attention on August 6, 2005, when she set up a makeshift camp on the side of the road in Crawford, Texas near President Bush’s home.  Thousands of supporters showed up to protest with her, and dubbed the gathering ‘Camp Casey.’

Her critics have gone to lengths to paint her as fanatical for various statements she has made publicly.  On Sept. 24, 2005 she wrote on a public blog that she was frustrated with the excessive news coverage of Hurricane Rita saying that though it was a regrettable situation, people needed to know about other things going on in the world.

In an exclusive interview with The Echo, Sheehan expanded on what she sees as a deeply flawed national media.

“We need as much information as we can get.  We need a media that reports information….that doesn’t tell us how to think about it,” Sheehan recalled a time when news reports relayed purely fact, and not opinion.

“They’ll report something and then they’ll tell us how to think about it.  During Vietnam they just reported the news; they didn’t go on and tell us what we need to think about it.”

            In the interview, Sheehan responded to critics who have accused her drive for peace as being soft on terrorism.

She feels that the attacks of 9/11 were criminal acts rather than acts of war; thus making our response of waging a war on another country an inappropriate response.

“We need to punish people who commit crimes against American citizens.  We need to defend our country, that’s the appropriate use of the military.”

Far from being soft on terrorism, Sheehan believes her efforts to end American occupation in Iraq to be directly fighting terrorism.

“The army’s definition of terrorism is trying to spread an ideology - religious or political - by violence.  What are we doing in Iraq? We’re trying to spread ideology by violence.”

When asked her thoughts on our current diplomatic crisis with Iran, Sheehan responded that nothing short of “heroic diplomatic efforts” would be necessary to prevent bloodshed.

            Sheehan has become a lightning rod for the peace effort in America.  Proponents of immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq herald her as the heart of the movement.  She has also drawn criticism from Republicans, accusing her of being a political tool for the Democrats.

Lamenting the charge, Sheehan adamantly declared that her push for peace rarely found support she deemed adequate on either side of the political spectrum.  She added with a grin, “The Democrats often have their pockets lined by the same people who line the pockets of the Republicans”.

            When asked if she was proposing a particular strategy for moving forward in Iraq, Sheehan responded that she didn’t believe it was her job to come up with a plan.  She sought only for peace.  Also she pointed out that several political figures including Dennis Kucinich and the Iraq study group already have plans for Iraq.  Sheehan supports Kucinich’s candidacy for President but has not yet made a formal endorsement. 

Throughout the day Sheehan’s mood was light.  She made quips during convocation that got the audience engaged and laughing.  Her comments were cut short of the usual one hour so that students would have a chance to ask questions.  At one point she even borrowed a copy of her book, Peace Mom, from a listener in the audience so she could read her daughters poem aloud, mentioned earlier in this article.

Throughout her interview Sheehan seemed collected and enthusiastic, eager to be understood.  If she is at times fanatical as some would claim, it certainly was not evident on this day.

By: David Mott

Minnesota’s fifth district, which includes Augsburg campus, is on the verge of making history.  The Democratic candidate, Keith Ellison, is likely to become the first Muslim member of congress as well as Minnesota’s first black representative.  The fifth district is historically one of the safest democratic house seats in the nation.

Ellison, who grew up in Detroit, came to Minneapolis to earn his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.  He has lived in North Minneapolis with his wife Kim, they have four children aged 9-17.  Ellison has served two terms as a member of the Minnesota State Legislature.  He has fought for the rights of convicted criminals, and the homeless.

            Ellison faces weak competition from republican candidate Alan Fine, and independence candidate Tammy Lee.  According to the New York Times, Ellison has spent over $500,000 on his campaign thus far, while Fine has spent lest than $200,000.

Virginia Biorn, Chair of the Augsburg College Republicans, offered an explanation for the low spending by the Republican Party, “I don’t know if it’s worth the time, money, and effort on a district you know is never going to vote Republican,” She added, “The fifth district is so historically democratic that there isn’t much of a race to follow.”  Biorn has already cast her vote with an absentee ballot.

Like the rest of Minnesota’s fifth, Augsburg College is inhabited largely by Democratic supporters.  Whatever role Augsburg students play in the fifth district voting on November 7^th, its outcome appears to be almost a foregone conclusion.  Polling data was not available at time of press because no party has been willing to spend the money to poll the district.  This is a major indication that no one is giving even a breath of hope to the Republican and Independence challengers.

Alex Gustafson, a sophomore and a Democrat, says he plans on voting on November 7^th, although he has not yet registered.  Luckily Minnesota is one of the few states in the country where citizens can register and vote on the same day. 

Gustafson is excited because his first chance to vote will be this midterm election, but is being careful to make an informed decision.  “I’m not a party aligned guy, I wouldn’t vote for someone just because they were a democrat.  I want to know where a candidate stands on the issues.”  He added that he tends to agree with the points of view of Democratic candidates, and is likely to vote for one.

Eliza McManus is an Augsburg Democrat who won’t be voting in the fifth district at least in part because its outcome is so secure.  “I’m pretty sure that the fifth district is going to go Democratic, my vote is more likely to have an impact if I vote in the district my home is in.”

Many students are faced with the dilemma of whether they should vote in the district where their parents live, or in the fifth where Augsburg is situated.  Students are free to choose either district, but of course may cast only one vote.