Was Martin Luther King, Jr. an attention whore? How about Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Jones, or Nelson Mandela? Should they have been locked up and the key thrown away? Well, for Mandela those that thought so almost got their way.
Not that I would put Cindy Sheehan on the same level as the real leaders of those protests, but the premise is the same. You're protesting something the government is doing and you need attention for your cause so that more people will take notice in the hope that they will put pressure on the government to bring about change. Civil disobedience and being arrested brought attention to all of those others and the strategy here is to do the same. People who lean toward your cause will see it as an example of the government trying to use its power to silence those who disagree with them and deny the will of the people; those who disagree with your cause will see it as grandstanding and a lack of respect for the law and the government that needs to quelled by those in authority to maintain law and order.
Of course it's all about getting attention. And it works. We're all talking about the subject again after a long break from it. I don't see it as a big deal. It won't change many people's minds one way or the other, but it is an age old strategy for bringing your cause to the attention of others and raising the debate about it. It's the American way...and the South African... and the Indian... and the...
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