"Happy" Father's Day

Cindy Sheehan

First of all, I would like to send my condolences to the family of Tim Russert who unexpectedly died this past week. No matter what anyone thinks of him as a journalist, I am sure his family is devastated, especially his son on this Father's Day.

The news on CNN this morning was filled with tributes to Tim and how he was such a great father and son. What a great tragedy on Father's Day that Tim is no longer with us! Well, in this piece I would like to pay tribute to other fathers that have been devastated by BushCo and their toadies the corporate media.

I would like to say, not "Happy" Father's day, but that I am in solidarity with my brothers who have lost children in BushCo's wars for corporate empire. This month has been particularly grueling as Phase II of the Senate report on the "faulty" intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq. We discovered in black and white that BushCo not only used this faulty intelligence, but they KNEW it was faulty. We also discovered (surprise) that the toadies in the corporate media did NOT ask the right questions and parroted the BushCo lines of WMD and connections between Saddam and Osama through Scotty's book. We knew all these things but they have now been confirmed and no one is stopping the madness so more fathers won't experience the tragedy of father's day.

I would like to say, "Stay strong" to the father of Sean Bell and fathers of other young (mostly black or brown) men who have been targeted by law enforcement around this country with impunity. My heart goes out to these fathers because they know a secret that is hidden from the rest of us by the corporate media toadies: there is a war on the streets of this country against people of color and oftentimes people like Sean are killed because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time and they are black. There are many fathers in prison today that are only there because the judicial system is NOT colorblind and justice can often be found only at the right price.

I would like to say, "Hang in there" to all the fathers who have seen their homes taken away from them by the bursting housing bubble and the system that is bailing out the avaricious mortgage companies and shoving families onto the streets. Also "hang tough" to the fathers who have had their jobs outsourced or vaporized because of the war on labor and the greedy corporations that exploit workers in our country and workers in foreign countries to increase their bottom lines while ours are tanking. While the fat cats hop in their limos and shop at pricey organic food markets, many fathers are having to choose between food and gas, and are having to miss work, because feeding ones family comes first and they are not able to buy gas to get to their jobs.

I want to tell the war orphans of fathers who have been killed in the US empire's wars that my heart is with you as you grieve your father and will every day for the rest of your lives, but days like today are especially tough. It is in no way fair that you lost your father while his commander in chief went AWOL from war in his past and today is having "tea" with the Queen of England and probably received calls from his children. I hope that you grow up to oppose war and violence and never allow what happened to your dad to happen to you or your children.

There are fathers and children in Iraq and Afghanistan whose countries haven't been invaded by Hallmark (yet) and do not even know that today is Father's Day in the US, but who have suffered tremendously at the hands of BushCo. I would like to give them hope that there are people here in the US who have also been hurt that are working hard to hold BushCo accountable and end the horrible monstrosity in the Middle East. I would like to tell them that, but our leaders are weak, corrupted, and criminal and the majority of our neighbors are for the most part whiney, but apathetically inactive, or misplacing "hope" in either one of the corporate candidates.

There are children and fathers from the decades long US quest for corporate empire that are mourning their losses and have only more grief to look to in the future. There are entire lost generations of children and happiness that can never be replaced.

I will call the father of my children today because, although I know he is surrounded by our surviving children and now, our new grandson, his heart is breaking with pain because our oldest, dear sweet, Casey, won't be there with a card and a smile---or cannot even call. Casey wasn't given the chance to marry or be a dad because his country abused him and unrepentant and unpunished liars murdered him.

WE must finally wake up and not only wake up but arise from of our metaphorical beds of apathy and say: "Enough." or "Basta!" Everything from the environment, to the economy, to ending violence as a foreign/domestic policy tool can be cured if we break our dependence on and our "leader's" obsequiousness to the war machine.

www.eons.com/groups/topic/904519-Happy-Fathers-Day-From-me-and-Cindy