The White Rose and the Rose Parade

The White Rose and the Rose Parade

By Cindy Sheehan

Created Jan 2 2008 - 8:13am

"Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been

murdered in this country in the most bestial way ... The German people

slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals

.... Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one

continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he

cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!"

- From the second leaflet of the White Rose.

My first encounter with the White Rose Society (a small group of Munich

University Students who were executed for their opposition to Hitler and the

Third Reich) came on my way from Dallas to Crawford, Tx on August 6th, 2005.

I rode from the Veteran's for Peace Convention in Dallas on the "White

Rose," a bus that had a huge 'IMPEACH' written on the side of it. On the bus

was a picture of Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans and some of the quotes

of the series of 5 leaflets that the Society spread denouncing Hitler from

June 1942 to February 1943, when they were caught and executed. They were an

obviously brave and moral group of wide awake Germans who sacrificed their

lives to try and change the horrible direction that their nation was going

in.

Gold Star Families for Peace and the Camp Casey Peace Institute has joined a

group called the "White Rose Coalition" that will be carrying a large copy

of the Constitution at the end of the parade and the Backbone Campaign's

Chain Gang will be following the parade. Many activists will tag along with

our "Impeachment" banners, signs and other means of protest to call national

attention to the accountability issue.

Being involved in this particular action has engendered the most hate mail

for me since I left the Democratic Party! I am "ruining the parade." I am

the "representation of everything that is evil in the world today." One

woman named Carrie, was "sorry" that my son is dead, but he volunteered to

"honor" this country with his service and even though Carrie is no "fan" of

Bush (yeah sure), I have really "crossed the line" this time.

First of all, we are not protesting the parade at all, except that it is a

symbol of corporate excess and it is my opinion it is not really moral to

spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on parade floats when people are

still being killed in Iraq and suicide rates for our Veterans are

skyrocketing because the VA system in under-funded and apparently not a

priority for BushCo and Congress Inc

I can't remember a time in my life where anyone protesting at a parade would

have upset me at all, but since Casey was killed in Iraq and since I have

faced and witnessed so much violence, oppression and hardship in the world,

it is absolutely stunning to me that this protest would create so much

vileness and venom. There are so many more important things in the world

besides parades and football games. I have also tried to imagine an Iraqi

happening to catch a glimpse of the Rose Parade on TV somehow and marveling

how everything is so happy and beautiful in America when our nation has

utterly devastated and destroyed theirs.

Since the "conquest" of Iraq, over one million Iraqis have been slaughtered

or have died from the tragic, but unavoidable consequences of invasion and

occupation. BushCo have desecrated our Constitution and the almost complete

fascist take-over of our media and the blatant stealing of our freedoms here

at home have bypassed many Americans while they are slumbering in our dull,

stupid sleep.

As long as people like Carrie have their "circuses" to divert them, then

they don't have to bother their "beautiful minds" with the crimes of

BushCo--but ignorance is not an excuse for being awash in the blood of

nearly 4000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

I spend every second of every day mourning my son and longing for his

future. I am sorry if someone wearing an "Impeach Bush and Cheney" t-shirt

will ruin a parade for somebody, but we are trying to prevent many more

people from having their entire lives ruined.

We cannot allow this criminal regime to continue as in the words of the

first leaflet from the White Rose Society:

"It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government.

Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall

us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the

most horrible of crimes ... reach the light of day."

_______

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson