Pained Parenthood

Dangnabit, but getting mature (or something) is a real bummer; we've been so busy preparing for the new arrival that we haven't had time to catch any shows or drop by our usual hangouts recently, which makes for a pretty boring blog. What that means is that we've gotta get political again. I've made my obligatory Israeli post, so I'll move on to local stuff (there are one or two people who do a much better job on the Israeli political sphere anyway).

There's been a recent ongoing anti-Iraq war protest spearheaded by Cindy Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was an Army specialist killed in Iraq in April. Immediately, she's become the darling of much of the leftist camp, and a nemesis of the right-wing. You'll find tons of analysis of her, her motivations, and her poltical allies online, and I'm not going to add to that pile. I am surprised, though, that, as far as I know, nobody's compared her with another recent politically-charged parent, Mary Shindler, the mother of Terri Schiavo.

It's probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that my politics tend to skew somewhat left-of-center. I would have thought, though, that sympathizing with parents who lost their children would be a universal thing. Not so. The bile spewing from several right wing sites about Sheehan's motives and lack of patriotism is coming from the same sources that wrapped the Shindlers in the mantle of wounded parenthood. Similarly, many of the people who are now praising Cindy Sheehan ranted about the Shindlers' joining forces with political "sharks" to advance their cause.

Folks, we are dealing with parents who lost or were losing children. Now, I'm not a parent just yet, but there's almost nothing I wouldn't do for my baby right now, when he/she is simply a large lump, occasionally making odd movements and keeping mommy awake at night. I can't imagine what kind of pain it must be for someone who has raised a child to lose him, and pray with every fiber of my being that I never find out. Shame on all those without the decency to sympathize with a mourning mother.