Like many, we have been following the confrontation between Mrs. Sheehan and il Ducetto with some interest. The political theater here resonates quite a bit - Henry II and Thomas Beckett, for example. (Anyone interested in what academics will do with this little moment in American history a few generations from now will enjoy reading Victor Turner's Forest of Symbols and Dramas, Fields and Metaphors. Turner writes beautifully and accessibly and his analyses of Hildago and Becket are captivating.)
Mrs. Sheehan's drama recalled earlier and later political dramas for us. Sir Francis Bacon, for example, famously recalled the story of Demetrius of Macedon, who had to be reminded of his royal duties by a humble citizen:
162. Demetrius, King of Macedon, had a petition offered him divers times by an old woman, and still answered, “he had no leisure.” Whereupon the woman said aloud, “Why then give over to be king.”It seems to us that if il Ducetto doesn't have the leisure to meet with Mrs. Sheehan, while on vacation, he'll never have it. In which case, we all may conclude that the boy king's notion of his duty is so limited that he, perhaps, should give over his office. What amazes us most, is that Karen and Karl haven't played the Laura card. It is probably too late now to play that card, but had la Ducetta walked down the road to Mrs. Sheehan's camp, telling reporters something to the effect of, "any mother fears her grief, of course I'll go and sit with her and offer what comfort I can," Mrs. Sheehan would have been effectively trumped in this confrontation. She could not have continued to call out Georgie without seeming ungracious to Laura. And the capacity that is being tested here is graciousness - the ability to give freely of one's emotional resources to comfort another's emotional needs. One hopes one's leaders have some measure of graciousness. One doubts their worthiness to lead if they lack it.
Had il Ducetto and his minions sent la Ducetta to meet with Mrs. Sheehan, he would have followed in the footsteps of Franklin Roosevelt - a slightly later example of a leader confronted by the challenge of a humble citizen. When some veterans of WWI camped outside Washington, D.C. during the Great Depression to protest for bonuses they had been promised, the Republican President, Herbert Hoover, sent the army to drive out the vets and burn down their camps. After Roosevelt's election, WWI vets again assembled in D.C. to demand their bonuses. The Democratic President sent Mrs. Roosevelt. The vets dispersed peacefully, one ruefully remarking, Hoover sent the army, Roosevelt sent his wife. Roosevelt opposed the payments the vets sought, but offered the vets slots in a variety of New Deal programs that met the economic needs that had prompted the protests in the first place.
Rather than follow in the footsteps of a truely great leader, however, il Ducetto sent Bill O'Reilly and Michelle Malkin (and here) - to trash the grieving mother.
