Mourning mom in vigil

Maggie says:
While our esteemed president continues his self-indulgent five-week vacation in dusty Crawford, Texas (otherwise known as an attempt to avoid the messiness of his day job), Cindy Sheehan is demanding that he wake up and pay attention.

How's she doing it? The California woman, whose son Casey was killed in Baghdad in April, is waiting in vigil outside the Crawford ranch until she is allowed to speak with Bush.

Some perspective: 1,829 American troops, including 31 just this month, who have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. And while Bush routinely talks about these deaths as being "made in a noble cause," he's not very noble when dealing with familes who are angry and full of questions, as opposed to families who are just quiet and sad.

"I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?" Sheehan told reporters. "He said my son died in a noble cause, and I want to ask him what that noble cause is."

Fair question. Sheehan is a founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, a group committed to bringing American troops home. Their website asks: "Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation?"

Even some Republicans are favoring Sheehan and her vigil, saying that the decent thing for Bush to do would be to meet with her. But then, we already know that Bush is not a very decent man.

Sheehan will continue her vigil outside the ranch through August. With temperatures in the three-digit range and politicians noting echoes of Vietnam in Sheehan's quest for accountability, we can only wish her all the best.

And as for what's "noble?" Cindy Sheehan is noble. Sadly, this war is not.