Cindy Sheehan's victimhood lay in the death of her son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, killed in 2004 at age 24 in the Iraq war.
His mother, Cindy, was in that part of the U.S. electorate that opposed our occupation of Iraq, especially after weapons of mass destruction failed to materialize. Like many of the rest of us, Mrs. Sheehan did not like the way our nation invaded another, going not after the people who had actually attacked us on 9/11, but who merely looked sort of like them.
Cindy campaigned to end the occupation and in 2005, went with others to President Geroge W. Bush's ranch near Crawford, TX. The group camped as near the ranch gates as allowed, demanding to meet with Bush in person and accusing the administration of going to war for oil interests and for the benefit of Israel.
Many Americans agreed with her and admired her spunk and tenacity; the right, most of whom have worn a uniform only to costume parties, portrayed her as a leftist looney.
After being urged by some in his own party to meet with Mrs. Sheehan, President Bush finally did so. One of the questions she asked him was that if the Iraq war was so vital to the security of our nation, why were the Bush daughters not serving in it?
Cindy moved to San Francisco and challenged incumbent Dianne Feinstein in the 2008 Senate race. The Sheehan platform included anti-free trade provisions, repeal of the Patriot Act, the legalization of marijuana, scrapping No Child Left Behind and recognizing same-sex marriage. She lost to Feinstein but at that, came in second among seven candidates.
About this Blog
"In the future everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes." So said the bleached-out, late lamented artist Andy Warhol. Having lived and worked in New York City, Warhol came to fully grasp the hold celebrity has on us. In this very famous sentence, he meant to point out that in a culture fixated on fame, many people will suddenly flash brightly onto the public screen, then--poof--will just as quickly disappear from public view--like shooting stars. Other individuals derive their celebrity from one stellar accomplishment (one hit song, one iconic role, etc.) that they never again match.
This blog is devoted to the one part of our celebrity culture that no one has written much about: temporary/one-shot celebrities.
The pace of modern life has quickened, and now we hear people speaking of someone's 15 seconds of fame. These "celebrities with a lower-case c" who will appear in this blog sometimes come to us from the world of entertainment, sometimes from the world of news. All are fascinating.
The need of our communications media for a continual stream of new material assures that we will have no end of colorful people who go quickly, where celebrity is concerned, from zero to hero (or villain) and back to zero. Now you see 'em, now you don't. What a crazy world, eh?
Temporary celebrities coming from the world of entertainment include one-hit recording artists; TV and movie icons who, although they might have had a great many accomplishments in their career, are remembered for one big role; standouts of reality TV; sports figures remembered for one remarkable accomplishment; and people whose celebrity came from one big role in a commercial or print ad.
News-based temporary celebrities come in many forms: mass/serial killers, other murderers of special note, sex-crime offenders, disgraced figures of government/military/business/media/religion, spies/traitors, hoaxers, femmes/hommes fatale, heroes, whistle blowers, inventors/innovators, and victims.
Celebrity Blogsburg will consider each category in turn.
This blog is devoted to the one part of our celebrity culture that no one has written much about: temporary/one-shot celebrities.
The pace of modern life has quickened, and now we hear people speaking of someone's 15 seconds of fame. These "celebrities with a lower-case c" who will appear in this blog sometimes come to us from the world of entertainment, sometimes from the world of news. All are fascinating.
The need of our communications media for a continual stream of new material assures that we will have no end of colorful people who go quickly, where celebrity is concerned, from zero to hero (or villain) and back to zero. Now you see 'em, now you don't. What a crazy world, eh?
Temporary celebrities coming from the world of entertainment include one-hit recording artists; TV and movie icons who, although they might have had a great many accomplishments in their career, are remembered for one big role; standouts of reality TV; sports figures remembered for one remarkable accomplishment; and people whose celebrity came from one big role in a commercial or print ad.
News-based temporary celebrities come in many forms: mass/serial killers, other murderers of special note, sex-crime offenders, disgraced figures of government/military/business/media/religion, spies/traitors, hoaxers, femmes/hommes fatale, heroes, whistle blowers, inventors/innovators, and victims.
Celebrity Blogsburg will consider each category in turn.
Monday, May 4, 2009
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