What Happened to the Antiwar Movement? The Sequel

This morning I linked to Byron York’s column on the demise of the antiwar movement, now that George Bush is no longer President. This really is a phenomenon that deserves more attention. It is widely believed that Republicans were defeated in 2008 because George Bush was unpopular, and that Bush was unpopular because of the Iraq war. So how does it happen that Barack Obama continues our involvement in Iraq at the same level that had been planned by the Bush administration and increases our forces in Afghanistan, with hardly a peep from the formerly-antiwar left?
Byron mentioned Cindy Sheehan as a perhaps demented but undeniably consistent antiwar activist, who is now taking her act to Martha’s Vineyard to protest against Barack Obama’s war policies. After his column appeared, he got this message from Mrs. Sheehan:

I read your column about the “anti-war” movement and I can’t believe I am saying this, but I mostly agree with you.
The “anti-war” “left” was used by the Democratic Party. I like to call it the “anti-Republican War” movement.
While I agree with you about the hypocrisy of such sites as the DailyKos, I have known for a long time that the Democrats are equally responsible with the Republicans. That’s why I left the party in May 2007 and that’s why I ran for Congress against Nancy Pelosi in 2008.
I have my own radio show, “Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox,” and I was out on a four-month book tour promoting the fact that it’s not about Democrats or Republicans, but it’s about the system.
Even if I am surrounded by a thousand, or no one, I am still working for peace.
Sincerely,
Cindy Sheehan

Byron had a follow-up phone conversation with Sheehan:

I asked Sheehan about the fact that the press seems to have lost interest in her and her cause. “It’s strange to me that you mention it,” she said. “I haven’t stopped working. I’ve been protesting every time I can, and it’s not covered. But the one time I did get a lot of coverage was when I protested in front of George Bush’s house in Dallas in June. I don’t know what to make of it.”

I’m pretty sure I know what to make of it. Cindy Sheehan is, I think, a nut, but the undeniable fact is that she and others like her were used–used by Democratic Party hacks at sites like the Daily Kos, by far-left organizations like MoveOn and International A.N.S.W.E.R., and most of all by Barack Obama. What’s more interesting, as Sheehan herself acknowledges, is how she was used by the liberal media.
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What do you think the chances are that the liberal media will send cameras to Martha’s Vineyard to document Mrs. Sheehan’s current campaign?

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