Burlesque Show?

I've been thinking about a comment Chris Matthews made on yesterday's 'Hardball' all day. Matthews and his panel of guests were discussing the Sheehan arrest. Matthews wondered if people like Ms. Sheehan weren't hurting the legitimate anti-war movement. He stated that people like Sheehan or Michael Moore who get all the media attention come off to many people as a "burlesque show" of anti-war sentiment and this makes it seem trivial. He noted that the majority of Americans do not support the war and want the troops home (on this he is certainly correct, as polls show), yet they also do not identify with Ms. Sheehan. His conclusion was that the attention paid to Ms. Sheehan distracts from the legitimate debate occuring amongst the many Americans who have lost patience with the President and no longer support the war.

It's a fair point. I don't disagree.

But isn't this a) the way it's always been, and b) as much a product of the right-wing as the left? Regarding the first point, this was the same during Vietnam. As much as the "hippies" came to symbolize the anti-war movement, there was certainly a more representative discontent in the heartland that we never saw. The people who get in the spotlight are... the ones who are spotlighted.

Regarding the second point, I think the right-wing likes to keep these people in the spotlight (I am reminded of Drudge's big 'Cunning Stunt'- get it?- headline when Ms. Sheehan was arrested outside the White House this past Fall). It allows them to marginalize the legitimate anti-war movement by making them all out to be radical, cartoon-ish villians... just like in the late 60s/early 70s when all the protestors were blown off as a bunch of pot-smoking hippies. The right-wing refuses to acknowledge the anti-war sentiment and the poll numbers, ignoring it all together on their news programs, and calling anyone who does speak out a "moonbat".

And while Ms. Sheehan is very famous, but not representative of the general anti-war sentiment, the same can be said of conservative icons like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly. These people (and their ilk) spew radical nonsense and propaganda on a daily basis. And unlike Ms. Sheehan, they have been given media outlets to do so. And they certainly seem quite popular! Shall I assume (and therefore blow off) every conservative living in America because of the popularity of this Republican "burlesque show"?

I do not, because I know many conservatives personally and know them to be smart people with a legitimate point of view... just as I know many Americans (including myself, natch) who don't support this war or the President and know this point of view is also legitimate- despite how it is often portrayed.

So there is a lot of political theater in this country, let's not pretend either side has a monopoly on it.