Political Affairs Magazine - Troops Home Fast: Day 6 - Cindy Sheehan

What do you call a hunger strike when nobody goes hungry?

Embarrassing.

First, we found out that nearly all of the participants were engaging in "rolling fasts," which last only 24 hours before the mildly cranky participants "pass" the fast to someone else.

But "at least 4" of the strikers, including Cindy Sheehan, had vowed to strike indefinitely, Sheehan pledging to hold out till September 21st. That's a long, life-threatening time to go hungry. Pretty impressive.

Except for one thing: she's eating. If you puree food and drink it, that's still eating. The only health problem Sheehan seems to be risking is a bad case of the squirts. She's not starving; she's on a diet.

From Sheehan's July 10th post--"Day 6:"

I find traveling out of the country very challenging being on a fast. When I was on a layover in Madrid on my way to Venice, Italy yesterday, the closest thing I could find to a smoothie to get a little protein was a coffee with vanilla ice cream in it.

[...]

However, there is not a Jamba Juice on every corner, so blended juice drinks with protein powder are impossible to find.

From JambaJuice.com:

Made with all fruit and nothing but fruit, each of these cool creations is filled with five servings* of refreshing fruit goodness. That's important because fruit fuels your body with the fiber and complex carbs it needs for natural, sustainable energy.

From a Code Pink press release:

The organizers call on a long history of fasts for political purposes, claiming their place among the Suffragettes, Mahatmas Gandhi and Cesar Chavez. In honor of this rich history, the fasters will gather at the Gandhi memorial statue a Massachusetts and 21st NW on July 3 at 3pm, then march to Pennsylvania Avenue for the meal and press conference at 5pm. In other parts of the country, people will engage in rolling fasts, passing the fast from person to person every 24 hours.

This shit is just sad and embarrassing. Gandhi drank water on his hunger strikes, with a little lime juice to stave off scurvy.

Going on a hunger strike and drinking protein smoothies and ice cream lattes is like self-immolating while wearing one of those fireproof suits stuntmen use. What's the goddamn point?