I agree that "If you can't see the difference between a mourning mother and some random citizen protesting about the fate of children in Africa, you are too blindered to suggest any reasonable viewpoint in this discussion. The differences are important."

I also believe that people can and should be concerned about causes that don't directly affect them.

I'm sure that many people posting here are concerned about starvation in Africa and the war in Iraq. After all, we can multi-task, and one concern does not cancel out the other.

Yet, this request for a meeting with Bush [which, in my opinion, is more a vigil than a protest] is different because it comes at a time when this war is so obviously failing. The mission has not been accomplished as Bush had announced many months ago, and people don't know anymore why the heck we are there.

Furthermore, this request for a meeting with Bush is different because the person requesting it is a mother who paid the ultimate sacrifice of price losing her son in this war-a sacrifice to loving mothers that can be much worse than their own death.

And the reason why this meeting with Bush is different because it occurs during his annual five week long summer vacation. Five weeks!!!!! How many other people have five weeks vacation with pay????? Have any other presidents taking that long of a vacation-and during war? And who is in charge of the government while Bush is on vacation? [Maybe it's the same group of people who are in charge when Bush is in Washington, D.C.]

I can't believe that President Bush or his 'advisors' don't see that continuing to refuse to talk to Cindy Sheehan is a public relations fiasco. For that reason if not any other, I suspect that Bush might give Cindy Sheehan a short audience with him soon.