Defining

Recently, while in one of my "try to see the other side" modes, I was listening to "talk" radio - I use italics because I don't believe it to be "talk" radio but hate radio - and listened as the host referred to Cindy Sheehan as a "media whore". Media whore. Well, that's delightful. It's nice to see that the hosts of such upstanding, conservative, Christian leaning stations are maintaining such high standards. Media whore. I thought about this for a while and frankly it has stayed with me. It is one of the ugliest terms I have heard in a long time, I guess primarily because this label is being applied to a mother who lost her son in a war that she believes is illegal and wrong and the person labeling her is a man who supports the war but has not been directly affected by it. He also said that with Mrs. Sheehan's involvement in the candlelight vigils for the 2000 troops killed in this war, that she, in essence, is dancing on her dead son's grave. It amazes me that people can say things so incredibly cruel and filthy and still be allowed to get on a mike.

I thought about the different people who have positioned themselves in the spotlight and in front of the proverbial target - Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Stephen Biko (my hero), the women of the women's rights movement, Caesar Chavez etc. - and I do honestly believe that they too would be deemed media whores. Why? Because they do not have a talk show or an instant avenue to speak their truth and facilitate change. So, they show up at rallies, they organize marches and protests, they write demands and they sacrifice themselves for the cause. So, Cindy, keep on whorin', girlfriend, I'm right behind ya.