Help out KPFT!

I'm sure anyone who reads my blog is well aware of the existance of 90.1FM KPFT. The station is located right in the heart of the Montrose and is a wealth of information from a progressive point of view. The best part is that it is commercial-free and listener sponsored.

Of course, the problem is that they need their listeners to help out now and then by becoming a paid member. I went ahead and pledged $35 to become a listener-sponsor, mostly because I've started listening to more shows through the new online archives. There are lots of shows I couldn't catch before because of time conflicts, but now they're all pretty much available anytime I want to listen to them (kind of like radio TiVo).

Anyway, if you have the means to do so, I highly recommend supporting a very valuable community resource.

Cindy Sheehan: Political Tool or Pissed Off Mom?

A casual scan of the blogosphere will reveal a dramatic range of opinions regarding Cindy Sheehan's protest camp along the road leading to Bush's Crawford ranch.

A good local example of the right-wing view on Sheehan is the series of posts on Lone Star Times from Owen Courrèges. The basic take from conservatives can be summed up as "listen to her message - it's ignorant and anti-Semitic".

Of course, much of the talk has centered on what many have perceived as anti-Semitic rhetoric. Let's review those "anti-Semitic statements":

"Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know full well that my son, my family, this nation and this world were betrayed by George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agendas after 9/11. We were told that we were attacked on 9/11 because the terrorists hate our freedoms and democracy … not for the real reason, because the Arab Muslims who attacked us hate our middle-eastern foreign policy. That hasn't changed since America invaded and occupied Iraq … in fact it has gotten worse."

Owen's reaction:

"She also voiced vaguely anti-Semitic rhetoric when she alleged that the Iraq War was all about protecting Israel, i.e. a Jewish conspiracy (a similar opinion is frequently expressed by David Duke and his ilk)."

I'm sorry, but since when does criticism of United States foreign policy in regards to the State of Israel come even remotely close to being anti-Semitic? If Owen were to criticize Saudi Arabia or Iran, does that mean that he's anti-Muslim? Afterall, just as Israel is a Jewish state, Saudi Arabia and Iran are Islamic states.

The problem here is that conservatives have long attempted to stem criticisms of Israel by equating such criticisms to anti-Semitism. The problem is that most of these criticisms of Israel have nothing to do with Jews as a whole - the criticisms have more to do with the government of Israel itself and its policies. Moreso, in this case, Sheehan is not even criticizing Israel - she's attacking U.S. policy toward Israel.

Even more disgusting is Owen's comparison of Sheehan's statement to the rhetoric of former KKK grand dragon David Duke. While Owen says Sheehan doesn't get a free pass for losing her son to the Iraqi war, he does seem to want the State of Israel to get a free pass against any criticism on the sole basis that Israel is a self-proclaimed "Jewish state" (despite the growing Muslim Arab population that threatens to out-number Jews within Israel's borders).