Cindy Sheehan’s diary entry today really points up the difference between her personal vigil and her personal approach and the desires of the groups who have latched onto her one-woman campaign like remoras who can’t fend for themselves but are happy to suck up the scraps from someone else’s success.

I’ve felt all along that groups like Moveon and others who have flocked to Cindy’s side are doing so less to support her than to try to burnish themselves by associating with her. It is their way to try to get the media attention they cannot otherwise get and in doing so they are hurting not only Cindy but what she stands for far more than they are helping.

Back in the days of protest during Vietnam large national groups served a purpose because it was that much more difficult for individuals across the country to connect with each other and having a centralized group that coordinated such connection was about the only way to garner national attention. But now, with the advent of the 24 hour news channels and especially the internet, such groups are seen more as hindrances than as a help in a campaign such as Cindy is waging.

She says:

“I got an email the other day and it said, `Cindy if you didn’t use so much profanity …. there’s people on the fence that get offended.’

“And you know what I said? `You know what? You know what, god damn it? How in the world is anybody still sitting on that fence?’

“If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out.”

Cindy does not need Moveon to speak out for her, she is doing fine all by herself. But it is becoming more and more obvious that Moveon needs Cindy because they have homogenized themselves into near-irrelevance by trying to be more like the DLC in structure and by leaping on any and all the bandwagons they can find, hitching rides on other people’s outrage and saying “yeah, us too!”.

Cindy makes it clear in her diary entry that she is willing to take all the heat the Limbaugh’s, O’Reilly’s and Faux News’s of the world can throw at her but groups like Moveon don’t do her any favors by trying to ride her coattails. If Moveon were really more interested in the outcome than in sucking up some credit for it they’d back off completely and let Cindy speak for herself and act for herself. By removing themselves from the equation they will actually improve the effectiveness of her message by removing a handy target for the rightie whiners who are doing their best to savage her and the memory of her son.

Contrary to what the main stream media thinks, I did not just fall off a pumpkin truck in Crawford, Tx. on that scorchingly hot day two weeks ago. I have been writing, speaking, testifying in front of Congressional committees, lobbying Congress, and doing interviews for over a year now. I have been pretty well known in the progressive, peace community and I had many, many supporters before I even left California. The people who supported me did so because they know that I uncompromisingly tell the truth about this war. I have stood up and said: “My son died for NOTHING, and George Bush and his evil cabal and their reckless policies killed him. My son was sent to fight in a war that had no basis in reality and was killed for it.” I have never said “pretty please” or “thank you.” I have never said anything wishy-washy like he uses “Patriotic Rhetoric.” I say my son died for LIES. George Bush LIED to us and he knew he was LYING. The Downing Street Memos dated 23 July, 2002 prove that he knew that Saddam didn’t have WMD’s or any ties to Al Qaeda. I believe that George lied and he knew he was lying. He didn’t use patriotic rhetoric. He lied and made us afraid of ghosts that weren’t there. Now he is using patriotic rhetoric to keep the U.S. military presence in Iraq: Patriotic rhetoric that is based on greed and nothing else.

I’d say she speaks pretty damn will for herself.

What organizations like Moveon fail to realize is that it is the very lack of huge, centrally organized protest movement that makes what people like Cindy do, or the campaign by Paul Hackett for an open Congressional seat in Ohio, so very effective. It means there is no national boogey man for the righties to blame and they have to stand, naked in the righteous wind of anger emanating from Cindy and the Gold Star mothers standing beside her, and attack her directly. And such attacks, based as they are on lies and sheer meannness, will fail every time because they have no substance.

Without a target as big as Moveon, or Michael Moore for that matter, the right comes off as the shrill, abusive and immoral bunch they really are and they cannot claim to be the poor picked on victims they’ve been portraying themselves as since the Reagan era when their opponents are people like Cindy or Paul. Their cries of “liberal media” or “liberal conspiracy” fall flat because when the public looks to see what they are talking about all they see is a mother standing up for her dead son.

Cindy Sheehan has done more to undermine and expose the lies and machinations of the right wing smear machine and the bush war machine than all of Moveon’s actions since 2000. They would do us all a favor if they would recognize that and back away. They can say all they want in support but to run to Cindy’s side because she is more effective than they are is a tactical mistake.

Cindy says she can handle the attacks from the smear machine but she shouldn’t have to and anything that can be done to minimize the effectiveness of those attacks ought to be a priority.