An anonymous reader took the time to write a detailed response to my post last week about Cindy Sheehan and her efforts to meet with President Bush. Here it is:

Why would you meet with a woman who said the following at a S.F. rally in A[p]ril 05:

“We are not waging a war on terror in this country. We’re waging a war of terror. The biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush!”

So declared Cindy Sheehan earlier this year during a rally at San Francisco State University.

Sheehan, who is demanding a second meeting with Bush, stated: “We are waging a nuclear war in Iraq right now. That country is contaminated. It will be contaminated for practically eternity now.”

Sheehan unleashed a foul-mouth tirade on April 27, 2005:

“They’re a bunch of fucking hypocrites! And we need to, we just need to rise up…” Sheehan said of the Bush administration.

“If George Bush believes his rhetoric and his bullshit, that this is a war for freedom and democracy, that he is spreading freedom and democracy, does he think every person he kills makes Iraq more free?”

“The whole world is damaged. Our humanity is damaged. If he thinks that it’s so important for Iraq to have a U.S.-imposed sense of freedom and democracy, then he needs to sign up his two little party-animal girls. They need to go to this war.”

“We want our country back and, if we have to impeach everybody from George Bush down to the person who picks up dog shit in Washington, we will impeach all those people.”

—But I wouldn’t expect someone who can only look at one side of an issue to see why the President wouldn’t want to meet with her. Common sense people. Stop thinking with your lust to hate Bush and use common sense.

It’s certainly true that Cindy Sheehan is not the most subtle or diplomatic public speaker. Personally, I wouldn’t phrase some of those comments the way she did. But then again, I didn’t lose a child in Iraq. If anyone has the right to be angry, it would be Sheehan. Most of us Americans have the luxury of living our lives as if the United States was not in a state of war. Sheehan no longer has that privilege. If she’s not the most moderate voice in the chorus, there may be a reason.

The reader justifiably complains about the hateful rhetoric that afflicts this country. The first step we can take to stop the hatred is to start a dialogue. If Bush would meet with Sheehan, he could begin such a dialogue. Meeting with her doesn’t necessarily mean that Bush would have to compromise his views, or Sheehan hers. But it’s a necessary step to begin some healing. It’s the only way that both supporters and opponents of the president will ever learn to look beyond their side of the issue and consider seriously what the people across the aisle have to say.

Instead of constructively engaging his critics, the president seems to believe he can wish them away. Thankfully, however, there are Republican leaders who want to see a dialogue take place. Some have had the courage to speak out publicly, comparing Iraq to Vietnam and asking tough questions about when the troops will come home. A few have even come out in support of Sheehan’s request to speak with her elected representative. Senator George Allen, Republican from Virginia, said that it would be good for Bush to invite Sheehan in “just as a matter of courtesy and decency.” Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican from Nebraska, said that “the wise course of action … would have been to immediately invite her into the ranch.” The fact that Bush is not doing the “courteous and decent” thing is inflaming hostilities and showing the world that Bush would rather stick his head in the ground than face the reality knocking on his doorstep.

Cindy Sheehan is one woman with a tragic story. Fervent supporters of the president have spent a good deal of time dragging her name into the mud. What’s more important than what this suburban mother said or didn’t say, though, is what she represents: a conversation waiting to happen. A conversation on this war and on its future end. A conversation that this country needs and the president needs to begin.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen