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When the admirable Tiberius
upon becoming emperor, received a message from the Senate in
which the conscript fathers assured him that whatever legislation
he wanted would be automatically passed by them, he sent back
word that this was outrageous. "Suppose the emperor is ill
or mad or incompetent?" He returned their message. They
sent it again. His response: "How eager you are to be slaves."
-- Edward Gibbon, History of
the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Joshua Frank: Cindy, we
are in the armpit of another election season and it seems that
the mainstream antiwar movement is rallying behind the Democrats
once again, hoping if the Dems can just recapture the House that
the Republicans will finally be held accountable for all their
horrible faults. Impeachment will follow and the war will end.
What do you think? Where do you stand on all of this?
Cindy Sheehan: I hold very
little hope that, due to the utter corruption of our electoral
system, and the Republican reign of terror and fear against the
American public, the Democrats will even take back one or more
Houses of Congress.
Even if the Democrats take back the lower House, the potential
Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) has already said that impeachment
would not be "in the cards." Rep. John Conyers (D-Mi)
has also backed off of impeachment rhetoric. Since Bush has said
over and over again that the troops aren't coming home while
he is president, it is up to us to make sure that his presidency
is cut short.
We all know that the Vietnam War ended when Congress cut its
funding. There is a bill that has been sponsored by Rep. Jim
McGovern, (D-Ma) HR4232 that cuts funding to leave our troops
in Iraq, but he has very little support and even a smaller chance
of getting it to the floor for a vote. I believe that most representatives
don't support the bill because they will be accused of "not
supporting the troops." I believe that it is not supporting
the troops to leave them in that nightmare.
Although I admire the Democrats on many issues, when it comes
to war and peace, most get their pockets lined by the same corporate
interests.
No matter which party has control of Congress come November,
we the people have to keep the pressure up to stop the current
course our country is taking.
Frank: You are currently
serving on the Board of Directors for the
Progressive Democrats of America, a pro-Democrat organization
that calls for reform of the Democratic Party from within. The
PDA consistently ignores progressive antiwar alternatives to
the Democrats. Do you think that such a position could actually
hurt the antiwar movement? Should we instead be supporting antiwar
candidates who want to hold both parties accountable?
Sheehan: I think that the PDA
endorses candidates based on their entire platforms. Of course,
I only care about candidate's record on the war and what they
say about peace. I prefer to call our movement a "peace"
movement, because "antiwar" is too narrow.
I think it would be great if we didn't need a PDA, if all Democrats
were progressive peace candidates, but we know they are not.
I would vote for a Republican if they were calling for the withdrawal
of troops and for impeachment, and I definitely think a viable
third party could rein in the "two" parties we have
now.
We will never have a viable third party, though, as long as we
vote out of fear and not out of integrity. Instead of voting
for the "lesser of two evils" we should be voting for
a candidate that reflects our "beatitudes" and not
the war machine's.
Frank: The PDA may endorse
candidates based on their entire platform, but they still won't
support antiwar candidates that are not Democrats -- and they've
received a fair amount of criticism for that position. Do you
think that such a policy may be a problem for those who want
to build an independent antiwar movement that seeks to challenge
both parties?
Sheehan: Yes, well the group
is called Progressive Democrats of America. They have had no
problem with me endorsing third party candidates. I completely
support a viable third party. I don't know if PDA's position
is holding up an independent antiwar party as much as the mainstream
Republican and Democrats are.
I think reform of the Democratic
Party could only reinforce antiwar efforts and all progressive
causes in general.
I don't think the PDA is hurting the antiwar movement because
I don't think they have enough consolidated power to affect it
one-way or the other.
Frank: It seems to me that
working to reform the Democratic Party, like the PDA, sidelines
other issues, most importantly right now, the war effort. I guess
you don't agree?
Sheehan: I think it will take
all of us working for all kinds of issues; the PDA can focus
on their piece. I will continue to focus on mine just like you
will continue to focus on yours.
Frank: Who are the peace
candidates you are supporting this year?
Sheehan: So far I have supported
three who ended up losing in the primaries: Marcy Winograd, Jonathan
Tasisni and Christine Cegelis -- all of whom are Democrats, first
two up against pro-war incumbents. I have also supported Jeanne
Cricenzo, a Democrat, Malachy McCourt for Governor of New York
who is a Green and Michael Berg and Todd Chretien, both of whom
are Greens. Kevin Zeese of Maryland who is an independent candidate.
And most recently I told Howie Hawkins, who is running against
Hillary Clinton in New York as a Green, that I would support
his antiwar campaign.
Frank: I've heard a rumor
that you may be looking to start your own third party. Is that
true?
Sheehan: Yes, it is true. I
think that to save our democracy our country needs a viable and
credible third party. This nation was founded on rule by a few
rich white males, and for all intents and purposes, we are still
ruled by a corporate elite.
We need a third party that will represent all the people, not
just the wealthy.
Joshua Frank, author of Left Out! How Liberals
Helped Reelect George W. Bush, edits http://www.BrickBurner.org
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