Editorial:Cindy Sheehan remains in Crawford (continuing her vigil) as does the Bully Boy

Cindy Sheehan has the nation talking, finally, about Iraq in something other than bumper sticker slogans. At last, a debate on the topic seems possible. In the past, attacks and slurs have been enough to stop a discussion. But Cindy Sheehan's spoken moving from the heart and shown the determination that others seldom have in recent years.

To be sure, she hasn't had a great deal of support. Oh bloggers have rallied behind her, Laura Flanders, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy and the entire Air America Radio staff have been there getting the word out. Amy Goodman's noted Sheehan's vigil regularly on Democracy Now! as well as interviewed her this week on Democracy Now!

But where, oh where, have our elected officials been? Should we phone them with directions to Crawford, Texas? Donald Rumsfeld and Condi Rice didn't seem to have any trouble getting there this Thursday so we're guessing that all flights have not been grounded.

Now not everyone's been silent, as Democracy Now! noted:

Cindy Sheehan Vigil Gains Support From Congress
Meanwhile, in Crawford, Texas Cindy Sheehan is continuing her vigil outside the ranch where President Bush is once again vacationing. And her campaign is gaining momentum and support. Sheehan, of course, grabbed headlines in recent days since she began camping near President Bush's ranch. She is the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. As more military families arrived from several states to join Sheehan, 38 members of Congress signed a letter asking Bush to meet with her. On Saturday, National Security Advisor Steven Hadley and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin met with Sheehan briefly, but she called the exchange "pointless" and has said she will stay in Crawford until the president meets with her.

But where, for instance, is Hillary Clinton? It takes a village . . . for somethings apparently and demonstrating her support for Cindy Sheehan, a mother who lost her son, isn't one of them. Where is no-two-Americas, John Edwards? Former presidential candidate John Kerry? Joe Biden? (Maybe he's waiting for another senator to compose their answer and then he'll borrow it?) Joe Lieberman? Where are the Democrats who have made the Sunday Chat & Chew rounds in the last few years? You know, the ones who never seemed at a loss for words on those programs but have grown strangely silent on the topic of Cindy Sheehan.

Gone fishing? On vacation? From around the nation, people have managed to get Crawford, Texas to show their support. Among the many have included Bill Mitchell, whose son Mike died in Iraq the same day as Casey Sheehan, and the actor Viggo Mortenson.

We're waiting for one of our "nationally recognized" senators to show. But we're not holding our breath on that.

So Cindy Sheehan remains down in Crawford attempting to persuade the Bully Boy to take time from his vacation (over 320 days since first taking the oval office).

And strangely enough, Bully Boy remains in Crawford as well. The memo The Sunday Times of London has posted on their website, is that warning not genuine? Is that why the Bully Boy remains in Crawford despite a memo that states attacks may have been planned for sometime between now and September 19th here as well as in London?

Are we back to August 2001 when the Bully Boy couldn't stop his vacation despite the August 6th PDB that began "bin Laden determined to strike . . ."?

As he occupies the oval office for not yet five full years, he's in the midst of yet another vacation, a vacation that, when added with the rest of his vacations, amounts to almost a year exactly. Five years of occupying the oval office. One year of vacation. Nice work if you can get it?

After 9/11 and the talk of "never again" why exactly is Bully Boy being allowed to remain in Crawford? Why aren't Americans demaning that the ever vacationing Bully Boy get off his butt and return to D.C. to address the reported threat?

Is the threat real? Does the Bully Boy know that it's not?

Bully Boy and his cronies fought like hell in the courts to grab the oval office in 2000 but it really seems as though the title was all he wanted. Between his early to bed and mid-day naps, his vacations, his refusal to meet with Sheehan and others, it's really hard to make the case that Bully Boy's very vested in representing the people as he does his job.

We hope the warning is alarmist and not to be taken seriously. But if it's on the up and up, can someone please explain why Bully Boy, faced with reports of another impending attack, remains in Crawford, as he did before, instead of getting his butt back to D.C. to deal with the reported threat?