Moral Authority

Remember, back in 2005, Maureen Dowd claimed that Cindy Sheehan had "absolute moral authority" because her son was killed in Iraq? Well, does this "absolute moral authority" extend to Debra Burlingame, wife of the pilot of American Airlines flight 77 which was hijacked by the 9/11 terrorists and crashed into the Pentagon? Ms. Burlingame has an op-ed piece in the WSJ today describing how President Obama shamelessly manipulated the 9/11 and USS Cole victims' families. Obama is portrayed as the smooth talking salesman he is, spouting platitudes with a compliant media within earshot, and then reneging on his pledge to pursue justice for the victims. If liberals believe that President Bush had an obligation to heed Ms. Sheehan because of her moral authority shouldn't they be equally convinced of President Obama's obligation to Ms. Burlingame? Shouldn't they be outraged by Obama's duplicity? (Which includes, by the way, his intention to shut down Gitmo).
Of course Debra Burlingame has a much stronger claim of moral authority than does Cindy Sheehan, who has none. As I pointed out in an earlier post, Casey Sheehan was a responsible adult who knew the risks involved when he volunteered to fight in Iraq. He died a hero, not a victim. His mother doesn't speak for him, his life and his actions do. Charles Burlingame was a true victim, an innocent casualty of terrorism. It is fitting that his widow has assumed the voice addressing the injustice he suffered. That she labels Obama a fraud should resonate among all people of conscience, including his supporters.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124174154190098941.html#mod=todays_us_opinion