Raw Story is talking about the article from 2004 which Matt Drudge is employing, with a Right attack-dog-wind beneath his wings [he got the report archive from Freepers]. The mission to attack is on - the objective is to discredit the mother of a fallen Iraqi soldier.
A mother of a dead child pays close attention to the cause for which her boy dies. She looks, with open eyes, for the higher cause - something she can hold in her heart as a solid reason for never seeing her loving son on the face of this earth again.
Cindy Sheehan is horrified by what she is seeing. And she has been told that she will be arrested if she remains in Crawford, begging to see the President and have him look her in the eye, once again - only this time she has the courage that conviction has brought to her. She isn't in shock any longer. She cannot remain silent. Her conscience will not allow her to do so.
Her mourning has turned to questions. It was good of the President to have consoled her in mourning. It is wrong of the President to ignore her very public concerns and her very simple request.
Sheehan says that, during the Republican National Convention, she saw President Bush exploiting the meeting he'd had with her family to "justify what he was doing." She continued, "It's now clear to me that what I had feared is true: Bush lied us into war, and Casey, more than 1,800 other Americans and thousands and thousands of Iraqis are dead because of what he did."
Michelle Malkin says this might be politically-motivated, and to that I would say 'No kidding'. Sheehan said herself, in the quote I just used above, that her perception of the President's political misuse of her son's brave death and the family meeting that followed for re-election purposes - and all that has happened in Iraq since Casey's death - has caused her initial fears to come true. I am especially bothered by Ms. Malkin insinuating that Cindy Sheehan "has lost sight of the fact that her 24-year-old son, Casey, proudly and willingly served." Cindy Sheehan has never led anyone to believe that. I am disappointed to see Michelle being little more than an echo chamber for Matt Drudge. As a highly visible Conservative blogger, I expect more intellectual and emotional honesty from her. Michelle also imagines she has a telepathic connection to the fallen soldier when she speaks for him:
I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for a bunch of strangers glomming onto his mother's crusade and using him to undermine the war effort as they shouted "W killed her son" in front of countless TV cameras.How can anyone purport to know what Casey would have thought? How he would have reacted? Casey is dead. He's not coming back to confirm or deny this little chestnut.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Nancy
Ain't gonna happen. Smirk is a coward who can't & won't defend his lies; but he WILL hide behind the muscle of others who will harrass & smear this woman, even using her own dead son against her - & the conservatives, knee-jerk republicans, & GOP will join in like a pack of baying hounds chaing Eliza over the ice. Smirk has no decency. Anyone who expects to shame or pressure him into it is living in la-la land. He has no shame, and he hides behind his wealth & his office (& the secret service) to avoid ever having to say he's sorry or he's wrong or he's responsible.
2 - Jude
If President Bush would have the moral courage to face this American mom, I think it would be a remarkable breakthrough for all mothers who watch and wait. Obviously, you and I do not expect that he will. I honestly hope he surprises all of us.
3 - Dallas
After meeting with President Bush, Cindy Sheehan initially praised him, something she now tries to play off as being in shock. There's no question that losing a young loved one is painful. My wife's younger brother died tragically at the age of 18, just five days before he was to begin college.
It's not easy to see a kid with such promise die so young. But, life doesn't guarantee you a perpetual rose garden. You have to deal with the good and the bad, the joy and the tragedy.
Sheehan needs professional help. Running around the country and leading rallies where she cusses, questions, and accuses President Bush may make her feel good in the short term. She may even believe that she's doing some good. In the long run, though, she needs to be an adult and learn to accept her son's death, and to realize that no one on the planet is obligated to agree with, or even hear, her political views - President Bush included.
The fact is, we've heard her point of view. MoveOn.org, Michael Moore, and the Kerry/Edwards campaign spewed it for months. All of the hateful, blaming rhetoric failed then, and it is as abrasive now. It's way too over-the-top.
The strangest thing to me is that if her child were such a good guy, as she states, that he always thought of others first, believed in Christ, participated fully in church, she should be comforted by the fact the he is in Heaven with his Savior now.
Somewhere along the line, Sheehan has snapped. She claims to be a strong Catholic. She needs to go back to the words of Christ that say "forgive and forget" instead of cussing up a blue storm and blaming President Bush for her son's death.
Her words and actions are neither healthy nor productive. At best, they makes people realize the pain of losing a loved one, something most of us in adulthood already realized long ago; at worst, though, it smacks of using her son's name - which he isn't here to defend - for purely political reasons. If you don't believe me, just google her name and look at all of the things she has written and said over the past year. Seriously, the poor taste of it all is not going to do her cause any good.
4 - Nancy
It's appalling when a woman is slandered & libeled for 'daring' to question Fearless Leader for his lies that have lead to so many totally pointless deaths of American troops. You consider HIS actions, evasions, & gross exploitation of dead troops - troops who wouldn't BE dead if it weren't for Bush & his lying ambitions - to be tasteful, let alone ethical? He's scum. He's a user & a manipulator & he's maggot scum. It's about time someone stood up & called him out for what he is.
5 - billy
how can one "forgive and forget" as christ sdays, when the wrongdoes is going around with a smirk pretending hew didnt lie this country into a war killing 1800 troops?
you cant forgive an evil unrepentant thug, so she is doing the right thing protesting.
this woman who ranted against her must really hate the troops and their families to carry bush's water like that.
6 - Dave
Cindy ought to be proud of her son, he died like a man. More than I can say for so many of these nutty liberals out there. As for being a Christian, she is a Catholic, and an Irish one at that. She probably is related to that Cathy O'Brien woman who took W to court accusing him of child abuse, or the firefighters in NYC who are claiming that the buidings fell due to explosives. We don't need a fifth columnm. You're either with us or against us.
7 - billy
"You're either with us or against us."
obviously you and bush are both against us
as shown in polls showing the VAST majority disapprove of his Iraq actions.
you might as well join the terrorists.
8 - Nancy
Oh, but he did: it's called the GOP.
9 - billy
they should change their name from GOP to GOT "gay old terrorists"
10 - JohnnieAngel
This president has been on vacation for 6 weeks now. He takes an average of 10 vacations a year.
I ran a small company that allowed me on the average of 3 days off out of 31.
I do not think he is running this country. The powers that put him in work through Cheney to do their deeds.
Bush is a heartless man who has no concern who dies for the cause that make these staggering profits for the businesses behind him.
11 - Karen
Article Last Updated: 8/09/2005 07:24 AM
Vacaville Reporter
Anti-war position not new
By Diane Barney
TheReporter.Com
Reporter readers have followed the evolution this past year of Vacaville resident Cindy Sheehan from grieving mother to outspoken anti-war protester who today is camped out near the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, demanding his resignation.
It is not the same Sheehan family we met in April, still stunned after learning that 24-year-old Army Spc. Casey Sheehan had died in an ambush.
The Sheehans - with 16 other families - met President Bush at Fort Lewis, Wash., where he extended condolences and appreciation for their sacrifice.
At the time, the Sheehans debated whether to be brutally honest with the president. They had serious concerns about the war. But in the end, they told our reporter, they decided to be respectful. President Bush even kissed Cindy Sheehan on the cheek.
Cindy Sheehan said of her first encounter with the president, "I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."
But that article, published June 24, 2004, was called into question on Monday following a story in the Drudge Report.
Under the headline, "Protesting soldier mom changed story on Bush," only portions of our story were printed. Left out were the Sheehans' reservations about the war.
The online report claimed Cindy Sheehan "dramatically changed her account about what happened when she met the commander in chief last summer!"
We don't think there has been a dramatic turnaround. Clearly, Cindy Sheehan's outrage was festering even then.
In a press release Monday by the Institute for Public Accuracy, Sheehan explained she was "still in shock" at the time she met with the president.
"We had decided not to criticize the president then because during that meeting he assured us 'this is not political.' And I believed him," Sheehan wrote. "Then, during the Republican National Convention, he exploited those meetings to justify what he was doing."
In ensuing months, she has grown more focused, more determined, more aggressive. She co-founded Gold Star Families For Peace in December 2004, a group which has written numerous letters, articles and posted online reports. She has participated in protests around the country. She and her daughter, Carly, have appeared in anti-war TV messages. And now she's camping out near the president's ranch.
We invite readers to revisit the story - in context - on our Web site and decide for themselves. Stay tuned as it continues to evolve.
The author is editor of The Reporter.
###
12 - ss
dave:
'Cindy ought to be proud of her son, he died like a man. More than I can say for so many of these nutty liberals out there.'
The dignity, restraint, and respect you show for Mrs. Sheehan's profound loss is a true example of the best the right is able to muster.
Although no one, and I do mean NO ONE, in the current administration served in Vietnam; using legal manuevers and a courageous 'this'll all blow over' approach to avoid this service; I am nonetheless sure they are moved by the bravery it took to smear the family member of someone who has. Absolutely sure. As in positive. Based on their own actions.
Finally, Dave, the heart felt sympathy you display indicates to me that you have not only mastered many of the hidden levels on Grand Theft Auto, but that even more importantly you have a large porn collection and the small penis and repressed homosexual curiosity that that go along with it.
In short, sir, I SALUTE YOU!
You Dave!
And hope that you will yourself be going to Iraq soon.
13 - ss
As for you Dallas, I'm going to assume you are prank post. No one could possibly be stupid enough to think that Christ's immortal words
'forgive and forget'
'r somethin like that
could console a woman who lost her son and then was used as a pawn by the President who sent him off to die. Based on a pack of lies. In order to appease a misinformed nation
14 - todd
The really troubling thing is the guy in the White House, at the top, doesn't seem to understand how bad this looks.
This just looks really really bad, from a PR standpoint.
He's friggin' at his ranch, on vacation, ok, and this women, deranged by grief, a tool of the Dems, whatever, is that most potent symbol of all time, the bereaved mother, and he is letting her sit on the side of the road, out in the sun and dust, WITH THE EYE OF THE MEDIA ON HER, and he won't let her come in for a few minutes and take her abuse, or hear her spiel?
Just to get her out of the spotlight, OK, he should just let her come in and vent or rave or talk calmly. If he really believes in this "war on terror", he can defend himself, or just be silent and take her abuse.
THis won't kill him, no matter how many cuss words she uses.
This is a PR nitemare and its scary that no one around this guy knows how to deal with it.
15 - billy
bush will never talk to her, or fire rove, or admit we need to change course in iraq, . . .
it isnt in his nature. to hell with america, he believes, as long as he looks "strong".
16 - G. Oren
Fisrt of all: I have no liking for the war in Iraq and opposed it from the begininning as an unecessary sideshow that would make stopping the terrorists harder not easier. Shrub and the neocons used our outrage over 9/11 to build a ludicrous case for taking down Saddam and now we see the unintended consequences of rash ill-conceived actions. But: The President of the U.S. should not be expected to perform grief counseling to this poor woman, nor should he feel politically required to dance with this bear to diminish any percieved p/r damage. All the damage there has already been done, if he mixes with her now it will make the damage worse.
The Shrubbies might learn a lesson from this. All their going around the country to military posts and wrapping themselves in the flag is beginning to wear thin. Thin enough that families are no longer content to silently provide photo ops for crass politics.
As to the tragedy of the death of our men. We should be proud of them and their sacrifice and realize that they chose to wear the uniform. It is up to us, as the polis, to decide whether the judgement of their leaders (and ours) was or is faulty in the application and continuance of this war.
17 - Jon Sobel
to hell with america, he believes
billy, you've hit it on the nose. No Democratic politician with any stature can be brave enough to stand up and speak this truth, but Bush and his administration don't care about America. Not even a little tiny bit. They care about themselves, and the corporate interests that put them in power. That's it.
18 - JohnnieAngel
Remember this one point alone....it says volumes about Bush;
It won't cost him one cent or more than 15 minutes from his 6 week vacation to speak with this woman...and he would benifit greatly from this single act of kindness. Yet she sits on his curb waiting.
That is how much he cares about her and how much he cares about the rest of America.
19 - copper
This woman does nothing but disgrace the memory of her son and all others lost during this war. How shameful that the mother of a fallen soldier, would act this way. By the way, who is supporting her during this time? Isn't that like selling her sons soul so she can be the puppet for the liberals? How proud she must feel. Wanna bet she tries and runs for some sort of office?
20 - Natalie Davis
Cindy Sheehan is seeking an answer many grieving, questioning parents seek. Good for her, God bless her, and damn Dubya for ignoring her pleas. What would it hurt for him to talk to her for a few minutes?
21 - John Bambenek
Sorry, Cindy might be grieving, but she's using her son as a platform to be a fraud.
It isn't us defecating on her son's grave, it's his own mother.
Not much more reprehensible then that.
22 - Natalie Davis
How is she being fraudulent? Perhaps she truly does not support the invasion. Maybe she did at one point and re-thought her position or maybe she has always been anti-war. Perhaps she is incensed genuinely that her son is dead. Perhaps she believes Shrubbie is responsible for it. Seems to me like she is being a great mom standing up for her fallen son. Strikes me as being heroic in a sense. How does it dishonor her son for her to speak her mind and to demand answers to her questions about her son's tragic death? Isn't that the reason you war fans say the troops are fighting and dying -- so that the masses can have the freedom to express ourselves? And how do you know that her son, before his demise, didn't have the same questions about the invasion and its justness? In her shoes, given the ability, I would do the same thing. And again, your Bushie would score points by giving her a few minutes of his time. He is supposed to be compassionate, right?
23 - gonzo marx
sloop John B sez...
*It isn't us defecating on her son's grave, it's his own mother.*
isn't he just overflowing with the very milk of human kindness?
how very kind of you to judge a mother's grief over the loss of her child
how very predictable for a "blogburst" type such as yourself to go on about your propagandist , dittohead ways..
have you gotten your Herr Rove secret decoder ring yet?
or just 3 free hours with Jeff Gannon/Guckert as your reward?
Enquiring minds wanna know...
Excelsior!
24 - MCH
Has Michelle Malkin ever explained why she hasn't enlisted and volunteered for combat in Iraq?
25 - Dave Nalle
I doubt it, MCH, because sensible people ignore ignorant and bigoted questions like that.
Dave