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Cindy Sheehan: Not So Progressive

By Josh Eidelson - Jul 19th, 2007 at 2:22 am EDT

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Tags: anti-war, blogs, Constitution, Pelosi

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More surprising than Cindy Sheehan's return from her ostensible break from activism is her willingness to embrace conservative cant against the income tax:

The Federal Reserve, permanent federal (and unconstitutional) income taxes, Japanese Concentration Camps and, not one, but two atom bombs dropped on the innocent citizens of Japan were brought to us via the Democrats.

The 16th amendment empowers the majority to legislate against subjugation and plutocracy. It institutes a critical tool to confront on the badges of slavery abjured in the 13th amendment and realize the equal protection promised in the 14th.

Cindy Sheehan's inane legal argument and her outrageous ethical argument against the income tax are disappointing. What's more discouraging is skimming through the comments and realizing that taking on Nancy Pelosi arouses more outrage from DailyKos commenters than taking on the income tax.

Reader Comments

So you never

By Chris Jul 19th 2007 at 2:49 am EDT

This has to be written by someone who never had a good paying job in their life.

Seriously, conflating the income tax to be related to equal protection is wrongheaded. Last I checked I was funding a bridge in Alaska, and paying farmers to grow crops that are unprofitable. Yeah, really great realization of equality and all.

Shit reading stupid stuff like this makes more think I'm a conservative.

Re: So you never

By JR Jul 19th 2007 at 2:39 pm EDT

You'd be paying for that stuff with any tax. That's a problem of misappropriation, not of taxation.

So what?

By jsingal Jul 19th 2007 at 10:07 am EDT

Is it Cindy Sheehan's job to toe the progressive line on everything? I mean, I happen to think her view on this is misguided, but the post makes it seem like she's somehow betraying the cause. She's allowed to be a vocal anti-war protester without universally taking liberal positions.

It's not just a conservative issue

By Ben Regenspan Jul 19th 2007 at 11:46 am EDT

See Thoreau (Link ). I know a lot of war tax resisters at home (that'd be Ithaca, NY, of course). I don't happen to agree with them, but I do want to point out that it's possible to make a principled anti-tax argument from a left-wing perspective, too. I also don't think it's necessary, in most cases, for more centrist people like myself to feel threatened by these more radical people or seek to marginalize them to a greater extent than they already are. We could vet anti-war marches to keep out radical messages, but there will always be some nut out there that the media and right-wing machine will focus on and use as a strawman for the left in general.

Re: It's not just a conservative issue

By Matt Bors Jul 19th 2007 at 3:44 pm EDT

Sheehan is not a "war tax resister." She is saying that income tax itself is wrong. Not just war tax or spending on war. This is an asinine anti-government position of libertarians and Anarchists.

Unless she just hasn't thought this through, she is therefore against everything funded with taxes; post offices, schools, police, fire dept, medicare.

Re: It's not just a conservative issue

By Chris Jul 19th 2007 at 7:59 pm EDT

Actually just about everything you mentioned is funded primarily by states (fire, schools, police, and a large part of Medicare) The post office is mostly self sufficient.

Re: It's not just a conservative issue

By Matt Bors Jul 20th 2007 at 12:01 pm EDT

oops, I guess your right. Well, let's get rid of the income tax then!

Re: It's not just a conservative issue

By Chris Jul 20th 2007 at 3:44 pm EDT

finally people are realizing why Libertarians are right.

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