It was a sad day when we lost on November 4th, but even that disappointment was ameliorated by the many successes of our first-time, independent campaign against the Speaker of the House. Today was very sad, though. We have tried to raise enough money to keep our campaign going until 2010, but with the economy in dire straits and so many more people allowing the specter of “hope” to be in denial about historical trends, we had to lay off our employees and scrape together enough money to meet our final payroll.
I was heartbroken to have to let Jackson, Kelly, Somer and Padri go. They are wonderful young political activists who worked so hard in the belief that their activism would make the deep difference that they so desired. It is never good to layoff anyone right before Christmas, but when there’s no money, there’s no money. While Nancy Pelosi uses her federal staff to help her hawk her book about using power, these four, who are so devoted to humanity, will have to go out to a very hostile economic environment. And, I am pretty sure that it is against federal regulations to use ones staff for personal gain.
We are going to try to get the radio show (Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox) off the ground, but despite some generous donations from three supporters, and a few sustaining donations, this project is in serious doubt, also.
Some people who write me wrongly assume that just because I have no “hope” in Obama, that I must not have any “hope” at all. I can’t have hope in an individual who has already sold out to the Wall Street banksters and the Military Industrial Complex and if one is paying any attention, the situation certainly does seem dismal, but I still do have hope.
I am certain that things are going to get much worse before they get any better and the people who don’t seem to be disturbed by Obama’s appointments so far surely will be disturbed and disappointed by his elitist actions soon. I wish I had the 30,000 dollars he spent on a ring for his wife so I could keep my staff working for a little while longer! When the inevitable disappointment sets in, I do have hope that the people of America will come together to force political and social change.
My core staff of my sister, Dede Miller, and long time colleague (since Summer, 05): Tiffany Burns, will try to stay engaged and stay involved so we can be there to join any action against the Obama wars and to be of service to the movement, but we also committed our resources and energy to the campaign hoping to affect true and positive change. Hopefully, our campaign debt can be completely retired by selling my RV (pictured here in full campaign regalia) that has carried us through more than one historic campaign.
If we as a nation are to get through the coming hard times, we are only going to get through them together. We cannot count on our government to help us. We just can’t. We are supposed to hope that a government that gives trillions of dollars to pay for war, torture, and to bailout the Robber class, will bail us out?
Please never forget that however badly we have it here, there are millions of Iraqis and Afghans who would feel fortunate to be in our shoes (no pun intended). Almost one billion (963,000,000) people in the world go food insecure every day and over 30,000 children under the age of five die each day due to malnutrition and other diseases. WE have created these dreadful stats by US imperialism and corporate globalization that are supported by “free” trade agreements and the US military. Also, never forget that the US has hundreds of thousands of troops being held hostage on foreign bases or embroiled in violence in foreign lands to reinforce The Empire. My heart and love go out to them and their families this season.
Thank you a million times for your amazing support over the last year. You, too, believed in change we really can believe in and, I can speak for everyone at CFC: your support was deeply appreciated and many times we were humbled and awed by the outpouring of blessings that came from our national base and our local campaigners.
I want to wish for you that friends and family surround you during the holidays and that the difficult times won’t fall too hard on you or your loved ones.
With much love and undying respect,
Cindy Sheehan
Hasta la victoria, siempre!
