I was surprised to read in the Express that Cindy Sheehan is calling it quits in regard to her anti-war activism. As I understand it, it’s not that she’s changed her stance politically, but she’s ramping it down significantly.
As you may know, I met Cindy Sheehan twice – once on November 7, 2006, and once on January 4, 2007, both times in Washington DC. I think she’s a magnificent public speaker when you put her in front of a crowd. However, my experience was that she was not that good with making small talk. Me, I’m the exact opposite. I’m terrible with public speaking (I require a full script to get up and speak!), but I can make small talk all day and all night long.
I can also understand why Sheehan no longer wants to be the public face of the anti-war movement. She’s been an activist basically full time since the summer of 2005. Now it’s the late spring of 2007, so that means she’s been at it for almost two years. That’s a long time. I can imagine that the constant traveling and speaking engagements and demonstrations takes its toll eventually.
I have to say, though, I will miss Cindy Sheehan. She really was the public face of the mainstream anti-war movement for some time. Now we’ll have to see if the movement gets a new “face”. But I will always remember the time that I met her.