because then you would have to explain it to me. :) I'll take whatever you give and thanks for participating in the call.

Wouldn't it be great and fitting if mothers of these killed soldiers trailed George Bush everywhere he went?

Maybe the mothers of our troops can chase this murdering, thieving bastard and his evil henchmen right out of power.

John Amato(sp?) from the Crooks and Liars blog spoke up next.  John lead his segment opining how the right was sliming Cindy and rolled into Bill O'Reilly's and MMalkin coverage.  According to John, O'Reilly claimed Sheehan would be on his cable show.  

John: "Is that true?"

Cindy:  "Well, um, I'm not going to go on his show because, you know, I don't like it when people lie about me and attack me for exercising my freedom of speech. It's one thing for Bill O'Reilly to disagree with my politics and my view on the war, but it's absolutely another thing that he attacked me personally about it.  He actually asked me again to go on the show today, and I said...at first, my first reaction was alright I'll go on it if you publically apologize for lying about me. But then my second reaction was no, no, I'm not, I'm not going on it. I'm not going to dignify his show by my presence because I believe his...his show is an obscenity.  It's an obscenity to the truth, and it's an obscenity to, um, humanity."

John agreed with her, offered a word of caution that the right wing shows are no friend of hers,  and that they will do "anything they can" to make her "look bad for attacking their Fearless Leader."

Not missing a beat Sheehan continued.

Cindy: "And I'm not going to let people distract me from the true mission.  The true mission is, um, bringing attention to this occupation of Iraq and ending the war, bringing our troops home, and what they want to do is just blow smokescreens and I, I don't think, I don't think they have the support of the majority of America, I think we do."

C&L, as you might expect, has been following this pretty closely and also features a decidedly large dose of Billy O, with vids.

more to come...

what a gift.  thanks for doing all this.

as soon as i get a block of time, i am going to digest it all.

Cindy is so very right, it's up to

We the People.

the pundits, politcos, and semi-comatose following public are not doing it.  it's up to those of us who are paying attention. period.

"Wake up public, and join the party! It's more fun than you think!"

Yay!

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashcs.htm

Big suprise

Military Families to Join Cindy Sheehan in Crawford

Crawford, TX | August 9

Common Dreams - More members of Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) are traveling to Texas to join the protest outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is vacationing for the month of August.

x-link to post from laurilink

The one thing that jumped out at me as an indication of the sickiness endemic in the "ruling elite" is the mention of threats from the Secret Service.

That itself needs to be followed up on. I would suggest that a fund should be created to empower a group of investigators with no government ties to rip this one open.

Abuse of the powers of office MUST be punished and punished severely if the "free and open" society is to survive.

Once those in power get to create cabals of loyalists and jack boot thugs, the game gets real ugly.

It is obvious, to me at least, that the BA has created a climate where corruption is promoted, loyalty is held more important than National Security and ineptitude is a prerequisite for a job posting. What kind of Democracy tolerates this is their Government?

here.

"Cindy Sheehan was on Ed Schultz today and said this letter was sent by her sister-in-law. She asid her husband's family were all very much Bush supporters, and that since Casey's death they had not been in contact with that side of the family at all. Sheehan did not sound surprised at all by this letter from her husband's sister, nor did she seem bothered by it."

In comment section found here.

It's about this:

Does Cherie Quartarolo speak for Casey Sheehan?

The right-wing slime machine won't quit. This afternoon, Matt Drudge -- who already caused one uproar this week by twisting Cindy Sheehan words about her meeting with George W. Bush in 2004 -- was at it again. Now, he is trumpeting a statement, received via email, supposedly on behalf of Sheehan's family. The only signer is a woman named "Cherie" who says that she's is the aunt and godmother of Casey Sheehan, Cindy's 24-year-old son killed in Iraq.

Under a huge banner that reads: FAMILY OF FALLEN SOLDIER PLEADS: PLEASE STOP, CINDY:

Our family has been so distressed by the recent activities of Cindy we are breaking our silence and we have collectively written a statement for release. Feel free to distribute it as you wish. Thanks Ð Cherie

In response to questions regarding the Cindy Sheehan/Crawford Texas issue: Sheehan Family Statement:

The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.

Sincerely,

Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins.

more...

August 11

BBC - President George Bush has said he "sympathised" with the mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq but refused to heed her call to pull out the troops.

Speaking from his Texas ranch where Cindy Sheehan has been holding a roadside protest, Mr Bush said withdrawing would be a "mistake".

Ms Sheehan is vowing to remain until she gets to speak to the president about his justification for the war.

Dozens of well-wishers have turned out to join her demonstration.

'Anti-war symbol'

"Listen, I sympathize with Mrs Sheehan," Mr Bush said. "She feels strongly about her position.

"And she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America."

You don't use our country's precious sons and daughters unless it's absolutely necessary to defend America

Cindy Sheehan

He said he had thought "long and hard about her position" calling for US troops to be sent home.

But he had decided against it, he said.

"It would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so," he said.

Mr Bush's remarks came after meeting with security advisors, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

more...

assumed that SS had its standard meaning rather than Secret Service, particularly in the context of jackboots, lack of democracy and earlier comparisons to Nazis.

just like the wife of the lets roll guy attending bush's speech only spun leftie this time...

the news media and politicians once again exploit misery...

joke...

President using helicopter to enter, leave Texas ranch to avoid confrontation

By ALAN FREEMAN

Friday, August 12, 2005

Washington -- As the Iraq war continues to produce growing U.S. casualties and shrinking public support, President George W. Bush was forced yesterday to confront the protest of a grieving mother of a soldier killed in the war. But he still won't meet her.

As Cindy Sheehan camped out on a road leading to Mr. Bush's ranch near Crawford, Tex., for the sixth consecutive day, insisting she wants to speak to the President personally, Mr. Bush said he sympathizes with her plight, but rejected her call to pull the troops out of Iraq.

Ms. Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in an ambush in Sadr City, Baghdad's sprawling Shia neighbourhood, last year, just five days after he arrived in Iraq.

"I begged him not to go," says Ms. Sheehan, 48, who travelled from her home in California to try to speak with Mr. Bush as he spends his summer vacation at his Prairie Chapel Ranch. "I said, 'I'll take you to Canada,' but he said,

'Mom, I have to go. It's my duty. My buddies are going.'

"I don't believe his phony excuses for the war," Ms. Sheehan has said of the President. She said she believes the war is really about oil and making Mr. Bush's friends richer. "I want him to tell me why my son died."

Anti-war activists are converging on Crawford, eager to seize on Ms. Sheehan's newfound notoriety and telegenic appeal to get their message across.

On Saturday, Mr. Bush dispatched deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin to meet with her to try to defuse the situation, but it just gave Ms. Sheehan more attention.

Mr. Hadley said that Mr. Bush is very sensitive to the losses being sustained by military families, pointing out that he has already met privately with the families of more than 200 of the fallen.

"He believes that they are engaged in a noble cause and it's terribly important for the safety and security of our country. And he respects her views, but respectfully disagrees."

Yesterday, Mr. Bush felt obliged to respond himself. "She feels strongly about her position and she has every right in the world to say what she believes," Mr. Bush told a news conference. "And I thought long and hard about her position. I've heard her position from others, which is: Get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so."

Mr. Bush said he grieves for every death in Iraq. "It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of

a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place."

Yet there was no sign Mr. Bush intends to meet Ms. Sheehan. In fact, there were reports he is travelling solely by helicopter when he leaves the ranch in an effort to avoid racing past the protester in a limousine.

"The President says he feels compassion for me," Ms. Sheehan said, "but the best way to show that compassion is by meeting with me and the other mothers and families who are here.

"All we're asking is that he sacrifice an hour out of his five-week vacation to talk to us before the next mother loses her son in Iraq."

more

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050812.wxbush0812/BNStory/International/

*

What a coward he is...travelling by helicopter to avoid meeting with her!

I can't believe he did this, so incredibly stupid. I love it. Rove must have other things on his mind.

Bush gets first look at anti-war protest near ranch

12 Aug 2005 17:14:14 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Patricia Wilson

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush got his first look at an anti-war vigil near his ranch on Friday as his motorcade took him by the protest site lined with small white crosses representing fallen American soldiers in Iraq.

When Bush's black sport utility vehicle carried him past the site to a Republican fund-raiser, the protest leader, Cindy Sheehan, whose son was one of the nearly 1,850 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, held up a sign that said: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"

Other signs said: "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam" and "Bring Them Home Now." Some protesters held up white crosses as well.

The protest vigil began last Saturday and is being led by Sheehan, who has been demanding a meeting with Bush to discuss her opposition to the Iraq war.

Two rows of police officers faced the estimated 50 roadside protesters as Bush's 15-vehicle motorcade cruised by without slowing down.

He was headed to Stan and Kathy Hickey's Broken Spoke Ranch for a barbecue and ribs lunch to raise more than $2 million for the Republican National Committee. The 230 people attending were among the party's biggest donors.

Hundreds of small white crosses had been erected along the side of Prairie Chapel Road, each hand-painted with the name of a fallen soldier.

more

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12645179.htm

We had the first birthday party last night at our little event. Alicia from Austin turned 17 and they came to Crawford to celebrate with a cake. Alicia said that she wanted to be out here for her birthday. So many great people from so many parts of the country and our world are here.

Yesterday was kind of a blur to me. From running around from interview to interview, to getting a visit from Viggo Mortensen, it was a whirlwind of activity. I have discovered that the White House press corps is always looking for something to do and someone to cover. We have been happy to oblige them. We had a press conference today with Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out members. It was very effective when people who actually have skin in the game ask the president to be held accountable for the words he has actually said.

Still putting out the O'Reilly fires of me being a traitor and using Casey's name dishonorably, my in-laws sent out a press statement disagreeing with me in strong terms; which is totally okay with me, because they barely knew Casey. We have always been on separate sides of the fence politically and I have not spoken to them since the election when they supported the man who is responsible for Casey's death. The thing that matters to me is that our family -- Casey's dad and my other 3 kids are on the same side of the fence that I am.

hattip Atrios

From Digby:

[...]

Atrios posted a question from a reader around that time about the same subject in which he or she asked:

    ...Can't someone come up with a pithy sound bite that captures this and makes it accessible to a non-political, non-foreign policy public? I love your indignation and your explanations, but I have a hard time seeing this go anywhere without a talking point that even a Democratic senator can remember.

That's what Cindy Sheehan has finally been able to do. And it's why she's driving the Republicans crazy.

I said I want the president to explain what was the noble cause that my son died in, because that's what he said the other day when those 14 marines were killed. He said their families can rest assured that their sons and daughters died for a noble cause. And I said, "What is that noble cause?"

It is not an academic exercise for her. She lost her son --- and she'd like to know why. Nobody can explain to her -- or to any of us --- why we invaded Iraq and why people are dying. They said it was to protect us -- but it wasn't a threat. Then they said it was to liberate the Iraqi people, but Saddam and his government are a memory and yet the Iraqi people are still fighting us and each other. Our invasion of iraq has inspired more terrorism, not less. Oil prices are higher than they've ever been. The country is swimming in debt. People are being killed and maimed with the regularity of the tides.

And everybody knows this. Deep inside they know that something has gone terribly wrong. We were either lied to or our leaders are verging on the insanely incompetent. That's why when Cindy Sheehan says that she wants to ask the president why her son died --- in those simple terms --- it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It's not just rhetorical.

She literally doesn't know why her son had to die in Iraq. And neither do we.

Democracy Now - We turn now to the story of Cindy Sheehan. A year and a half ago Sheehan's oldest son, Casey, was killed in Iraq. He was 24 years old. Sheehan is now in Crawford Texas - taking part in a vigil near President Bush's vacation ranch.

Sheehan has asked to meet with President Bush. But so far the White House has said no. Now she is threatening to stay in Crawford until the President grants her a meeting.

    * Cindy Sheehan, speaking last week in Crawford, Texas

    * President Bush, speaking Thursday

Sheehan's protest has generated headlines around the world. Military families from around the country are heading to Crawford to join her vigil. Meanwhile Sheehan has come under attack by right-wing websites and commentators. Earlier this week Bill O'Reilly of Fox News suggested that Sheehan was committing treason.

    * Cindy Sheehan, Her son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004. She is the co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace.

RUSH TRANSCRIPT

This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.

Donate - $25, $50, $100, more...

JUAN GONZALEZ: A year and a half ago, Sheehan's oldest son, Casey, was killed in Iraq. He was 24 years old. Sheehan is now in Crawford, Texas, taking part in a vigil near President Bush's vacation ranch. She has asked for a meeting with the President, but so far the White House has said no. Now she is threatening to stay in Crawford until the President grants her a meeting.

      CINDY SHEEHAN: And if I have to stay out here all month in this heat, it's not anything compared to what our soldiers are going through and what the people of Iraq are going through.

JUAN GONZALEZ: On Thursday, President Bush was asked about Cindy Sheehan.

      PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: You know, listen. I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan. She feels strongly about her - about her position, and I -- she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has the right to her position. And I thought long and hard about her position. I have heard her position from others, which is, get out of Iraq now. And it would be a - it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so.

AMY GOODMAN: Cindy Sheehan's protest has generated headlines around the world. Military families from around the country are heading to Crawford to join her vigil. Meanwhile, she has come under attack by right wing websites and commentators. Earlier this week, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News suggested that Cindy Sheehan has committed treason.

      BILL O'REILLY: I think Mrs. Sheehan bears some responsibility for this and also for the responsibility of other American families who have lost sons and daughters in Iraq who feel that this kind of behavior borders on treasonous.

AMY GOODMAN: Bill O'Reilly. Well, we're joined now on the phone from Crawford, Texas, by Cindy Sheehan. Welcome to Democracy Now!

CINDY SHEEHAN: Hi, Amy, thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: It's good to have you with us. We're also here with Juan Gonzalez. Can you talk about President Bush's statement yesterday and what your demands are?

CINDY SHEEHAN: Well, I want to know what the noble cause is that Casey -- you know, the supposed noble cause that Casey died for. You know, I don't believe that a war of aggression against a country that was no threat to the United States of America, dying for that is a noble cause. I don't believe sending our children to die for something like that is a noble cause. I would like him to tell me if he thinks it's such a noble cause, does he encourage his own daughters to enlist and go over there and take the place of some soldiers who might want to come home. And then another thing, he always says that we have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission. Well, you know what? I don't want him to use Casey's death to justify his killing anymore. And his press conference yesterday, he said, I have his sympathy. I don't want his sympathy. I want answers.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And your response to the fact that now more people are joining you there outside of the ranch in Crawford?

CINDY SHEEHAN: We had over 700 people come through our camp yesterday, and we are expecting thousands this weekend. It is just so incredibly amazing to me. I think people in America just needed a way to stand up and have their voices count. And for some reason, this is a way for them to do it.

AMY GOODMAN: Cindy Sheehan, the Drudge Report has been leading a campaign against you, along with Bill O'Reilly. And one of the points they make is that when you first met with President Bush, you came out with a very different impression, satisfied with the meeting, they say. And then you changed your tune. And they also talk about dissent within your family about what you're doing.

CINDY SHEEHAN: Well, for one thing, June of 2004 and August of 2005 are two different months. They're 14 months apart. And in June of 2004, we had buried Casey nine weeks before when we met with the President. I was still in a deep state of shock and a deep state of grief. And I'm still in a deep state of grief, and I will be for the rest of my life, thanks to George Bush, but I'm not in shock anymore, and I have informed myself. And I have known that four different reports have come out proving that this war was based on deceptions and lies, and it's for greed. And not one person should be dead. My son shouldn't be dead. And the killing shouldn't continue. Every day, people are dying, and we need to get our troops out of there right now. And dissent within my family -- the members of my family that wrote that letter are my in-laws. We have never been politically on the same page. But you know what? These people, I think, are using Casey's death, because they didn't know Casey, they didn't have a relationship with Casey, they didn't go out of their way to get to know him. They never spent time with him. And they can't speak for Casey. I can speak for Casey. My children and Casey's father, the five of us are all on the same page, united in our message of this war was a mistake, and we need to bring the troops home.

AMY GOODMAN: Will you continue the protest, if you don't -- if President Bush doesn't meet with you in Crawford, will you go to the White House and continue?

CINDY SHEEHAN: We're planning on going to the White House and setting up a 24-hour vigil until the troops are brought home.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Has anyone else from the White House, other than Stephen Hadley when he came out to talk with you, have they attempted to communicate with you, or in one way or another dissuade you from your protest?

CINDY SHEEHAN: No, not me. They haven't talked to me.

AMY GOODMAN: What does it feel like to be discovered by the media right now? I mean you have been extremely outspoken for quite some time now. What do you think happened? What is different right now?

CINDY SHEEHAN: You know, I don't know. That's what I keep telling everybody. You know, I keep telling them I didn't just crawl out of the woodwork on Saturday. You know, because they say, `oh, you're so articulate,' you know, `how can you do this? You're very well spoken. You handle the media. You act like you're an old pro.' I say, `I am an old pro. I've been doing this for months.' You know, everybody in the progressive media and the progressive circles, I'm a very well-known figure. And I've been on your show many times, Amy. You know, I've been doing this a long time. And I don't know why. I think it was just a good idea and a good time, and I never thought of this when I started, but the press is always with the President, and they're here in Crawford, Texas, and, you know, they always look for something to cover, something to do. And you know what? This is the right thing at the right time.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And the fact that the President spends so much time every year at Crawford, Texas, and at the ranch there, any response from you on that?

CINDY SHEEHAN: I think it's an obscenity. You know, I think, he takes five weeks off, the longest vacation a President has ever had, and he has troops suffering in Iraq right now. And you know what? Because of him, I'm never going to fully enjoy another vacation. There's always going to be a hole in my life, a hole in my heart. And it's caused by him, and I hope this is putting a little crimp in his vacation.

AMY GOODMAN: Cindy Sheehan, are you calling for people to come to Crawford to protest? Are you calling for a massive protest?

CINDY SHEEHAN: Well, that's what we have been calling for. It's starting to scare me a little bit, because that's what's happening. There's people coming from all over the country and all over the world to stand in solidarity with us, and I think it's what needs to happen, though, because, you know, 52% of America think this war is a mistake and want our troops to come home, and the media and the government need to see the numbers, need to see that we mean business. And I just think that this is just totally spontaneous, and people have told me they have dropped everything to get in their car and get down here, and to me, it's just amazing. People are tired of what's going on in this country, and they're standing up and saying, `Enough is enough! I want my country back, and we want our troops home.'

AMY GOODMAN: Has President Bush's girls come to visit him? Have his two daughters, at the ranch?

CINDY SHEEHAN: Come down to visit us?

AMY GOODMAN: Yes.

CINDY SHEEHAN: No.

AMY GOODMAN: Or him.

CINDY SHEEHAN: With him, I don't know. They don't go by us. They fly in in helicopters. You know, who keeps us well abreast of what's going on up there so whatever we need to know is the media.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Cindy Sheehan, we thank you very much for being with us. We will continue to visit you on your lounge chair in Crawford, Texas, just outside the ranch. Thank you.

To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here for our new online ordering or call 1 (888) 999-3877.

and if it weren't for the marvellous people I've met here at Agonist, I would have described America as being depraved!  

My father was killed in WWII at the invasion of Sicily.  I got no comfort from the medal that was sent.  However, my brother did and that I could never understand.  What the hell is it with men that they glorify the symbol and forget the pain the medal also represents?  

When someone is killed in a war, it means the family is deprived of a husband, a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a cousin ...  I felt my father's absence, there were no male arms to hold me, no deep voice to tell me I was loved.  I actually grew up with no males in the house with the exception of my brother.  There were no relationships with a male 'til I was in grade 5.  My first male teacher, scared the Bejesus out of me with his deep voice, his height and his physical presence.  It took years of self discovery to recognize my fear of dogs was a displacement of the fear of that teacher.

The loss is deeply felt and reverberates into the adulthood of children that are deprived of a father that is killed in war.

So for pundits to revile this brave woman who has lost her son is striking a chord I had thought was buried.  But it's not!  And I don't give a rat's ass if it's that cretin Limbaugh and others like him that are doing it.  How did he and others like him get to have such a strong voice in America, the land of the free?  

I have only come to know how that came about by posting at Agonist and listening to voices like mine.  Thank you fellow Agonist, I really am at home here.  Please continue to support this woman, she needs all of us, just as America does.  But forgive me if I lose patience at times, it just seems to be taking soooo long for the rest of America to join us.

I'm sorry if my post is too personal, but this story is just too close to home.      

I feel much the same way as you about Agonist, and mostly for the same reasons. Mostly....

Mellisa said it well too above.

Carib

That's Malissa, and I'm talking about you thoughts on the US and the people here.

Carib

Antiwar Vigil Held At Same Location

POSTED: 10:38 pm CDT August 12, 2005

CRAWFORD, Texas -- A peaceful showdown occurred Friday near President George W. Bush's ranch.

AP - About 100 of his supporters held a rally Friday night across from an antiwar vigil led by a California woman who lost a son in Iraq. Authorities kept the two groups separated.

Earlier, the president's motorcade passed the protesters' camp without incident.

As Bush passed on his way to and from a political fundraiser, law enforcement officers blocked two intersecting roads where the demonstrators have camped out all week. The motorcade didn't stop.

The mother -- Cindy Sheehan -- held a sign that read: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?" She wants a meeting with Bush.

It was unclear whether Bush, riding in a black Suburban with tinted windows, saw the demonstrators.

Cindy Sheehan

SATIRE

Bush Blames Cindy Sheehan for Low Ratings

By Biff Scuzzy

Aug 13, 2005, 08:58  

President Bush makes light of war protest.

CRAWFORD, Texas - President George W. Bush used the bully pulpit of his weekly radio address to assure his listeners that public support for the war in Iraq "will grow like fungus on a coonhound as soon as that fool woman at the end of my driveway goes home."

The "fool woman" to whom Bush referred is Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, California. Sheehan's son Casey was killed last year while spreading democracy to the grateful people of Iraq. He was twenty-four. Sheehan has vowed that she will camp out at the end of the driveway leading to Bush's ranch until the president meets with her and explains "the real reasons" for which her son died.

With public support for the conduct of the war in Iraq sinking faster than the latest Russell Crowe movie, President Bush declared, "People like 'Mom' Sheehan who will use any excuse to get their names in the paper can sway public opinion polls and make me look bad, but that's a temporary effect. Real Americans who love this country and support our troops will return to their senses as soon as 'Mom' Sheehan returns to wherever it is she came from."

Despite Bush's contention that Sheehan "is going to look pretty stupid eventually standing along the side of the road all by herself," hundreds of peace activists have arrived in Crawford to lend their support to Sheehan's cause. On Thursday Viggo Mortensen, the star of The Lord of the Rings, paid a surprise visit to Camp Casey, the makeshift settlement that has sprung up where Sheehan has been keeping her vigil since August 6.

more

http://www.pugbus.net/artman/publish/08132005_sheehan.shtml

Saturday, August 13, 2005

by Owen Courrèges | 08/13/2005 9:56 am

Lone Star Times.com - I've been thinking more and more about the left's "defenses" of Cindy Sheehan, which seems to amount to "Her son died, you heartless monster! She could go on a murderous rampage, killing people indiscriminately, and it would still be justified by the fact that her son died!" It's as if Sheehan is no longer bound by the rules of civil society, and so even though she's been lying and spreading vile, hateful ideas, she's supposed to get a total pass.

This is - as I often say - a festering load of horse dung.

It reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live sketch starring Horacio Sanz. Essentially, Sanz arrive at a party and started wrecking the place while screaming "MY PARENTS WERE EATEN BY A BEAR." The host is told that Sanz's parents were killed by a bear while he was out camping with him, and he's been traumatized ever since. When he asks people to stop Sanz from destroying his apartment, he's chastized for his lack of empathy - "His parents were EATEN by a BEAR." Later, the party-goers help Sanz throw a couch out the window into the street, despite the host's pleadings for them to stop.

This whole episode with Cindy Sheehan is kind of like that. She's guilty of insane rhetoric - calling Bush "Fuhrer" and saying that he wants to make American a fascist state. She also voiced vaguely anti-Semitic rhetoric when she alleged that the Iraq War was all about protecting Israel, i.e. a Jewish conspiracy (a similar opinion is frenquently expressed by David Duke and his ilk). In other words, she can't even seem to get her story straight about her ideas on the war. And that's not even getting into her lies about her meeting with Bush (it was all wine and roses after it happened, and now Bush was evil and insensitive).

The death of Casey Sheehan didn't give his mother a blank check to behave in this matter. His death was not so meaningless that all it amounts to is moral capital for his left-wing mother. Those who defend Cindy Sheehan do a disservice to the sacrifice her son made.

He "often" says. How 'bout them roadapples!

Mom to Continue Protest Against War

By ANGELA K. BROWN

The Associated Press

Monday, August 15, 2005; 8:57 AM

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Undaunted by counter rallies and even a neighbor's gunshot blasts into the air, a woman whose son died in Iraq said she will continue her anti-war demonstration near President Bush's ranch for three more weeks.

"We can't give up, no matter hard it gets," Cindy Sheehan said Sunday, more than a week after she started the protest in memory of her 24-year-old son Casey.

Sheehan's makeshift campsite along the road leading to the ranch has grown to more than 100, and hundreds more have stopped by to show their support.

On Sunday, as about 60 in Sheehan's group held a religious service, neighbor Larry Mattlage fired his shotgun twice into the air. Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents rushed to his house but did not arrest him.

"I ain't threatening nobody, and I ain't pointing a gun at nobody," Mattlage said. "This is Texas."

Mattlage said he was initially sympathetic toward the demonstrators, but that they have blocked roads in the area and caused traffic problems.

He said he fired his gun in preparation for the dove-hunting season, but when asked if he had another motive, he said, "Figure it out for yourself."

more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/15/AR2005081500146_pf.html

I laughed often and loud enough that my dog went crazy with worry about his master. Yeager is our choco-lab mix live-in.  aka: Psyco Dog

Fitting, in these dog days...

Cindy Sheehan says stress of son's death led to separation

Updated: 7:52 a.m. ET Aug. 16, 2005

FAIRFIELD, Calif. - The husband of Cindy Sheehan, the mother camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch to protest the death of a son in the Iraq war, has filed for divorce, according to court documents.

Patrick Sheehan filed the divorce petition Friday in Solano County court, northeast of San Francisco. His lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

(What an A**hole)

Also.

Late Monday, a pickup truck tore through rows of white crosses that stretched about two-tenths of a mile along the side of the road at the Crawford camp. The crosses bore the names of fallen U.S. soldiers. No one was hurt.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8966183/

Call SBC and have them make the closest fibre box to me hot, or just drive by and shoot me.  Your pick.

Bill O'Rielly is a truly reprehensible creature, as are all his co-horts on Fox and their fellow conspirators in the right wing medea.  These people use sleazy rhetorical tricks to brow-beat and humiliate their "guests" and all who oppose them, so there is no reason to play into their scam.

Normal people should boycott the O'Rielly show, because that isolates him and eventually would make him just another yapping rightwing dog.  It is sad to see otherwise-savvy, but unwise politicians and comedians go to his lair, attempting to correct his incessant lies or throw tricks back in his face.  

It never works, because Fox can (and does) simply edit around the parts that look bad for their boy.  And later O'Rielly simply spews another rant, re-writing any difficult exchanges to his own advantage.  Ask Al Franken, who has skewered O'Reilly whenever they've tangled.  It didn't matter.

Ultimately, interacting with Bill O'Rielly is a waste of time that would be better spent doing useful things.  Cindy Sheehan knows it; I wish more people could see it, too.  The right wing just loves it when our side runs angrily to their tar baby and wrestles with him, while the real perps do their crimes unheeded, like in Crawford, Texas.

Like Cindy Sheehan, we need to quit screwing around with their tar-baby pundits and start taking on the real perps.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/11/141419/794

The same Democracy that covered this up:  

http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/2970/1/355

I can imagine the outrage if this happened at a Dem townhall.

along with the jack-booted thugs that work for the government.

very often it works.

we are long past an example of a real democracy.

that's why Cindy Sheehan is dead along with every other person who protests. That's why all of us are in concentration camps or sitting very quiet at home after a short stay at the local Gestapo hq demonstrating to us just how unpleasant criticizing the Fuehrer can be.  Or maybe some of us are agents provacateurs - after all how else could we be saying what we say.

Democrats - long since dissolved, along with the unions. We can expect Sens. McCain, Hagel, and Graham to wake up to a hail of machine gun bullets anytime now in our soon to be very own Night of the Long Knives.

Why post a sarcastic response that seeks to belittle very serious concern?

 While debate is valuable and offering contrary evidence is supremely helpful in charting the actual situation, that kind of snarky response does nothing more than cause friction.

Is it that I am not finding the humour?

Please consider civility, even though this is the Internet and we do not frequent the same grocery store.

As to the point you make, hidden in an "all or nothing" scenario, you are correct. The USA is not pre-nazi Germany, nor post coup Chile. It is post 9/11 America. A trend towards a police state is fact, not speculation. The only specualtion is how far it will go. None of us know that.

Cindy Sheehan allegedly had her life threatened by the SS. If that is true, a remedy is required. One must put the brakes on abuse of power or face tyranny through apathy.

...somewhat apropos. Folks may not like the tactics of the protective detail, but I know enough about the job to know it's a bitch.

Lessee, we'll protect the number one target on the planet from the assorted "highly goal oriented" wingnuts out there, try and balance that out against folks' first amendment rights, while still allowing the principal to appear human and approachable. All in a threat environment that's escalated dramatically [hint: the notion of taking a bullet for POTUS is so 90's; the current stakes are a boatload higher].

There's a very large number of folks working in various aspects of government that ill-deserve such a broad smear. As it happens, through my grandfather's work I met a good cross-section of folks working at the local level in that alphabet soup of T/FLA [three/four-letter acronym :) ] agencies. Didn't see much thuggery [and what I did see of that was much bark, no bite], and didn't see any jackboots. Could be that I was lucky, but I doubt it.

not sure, but to ease the sting, i did use the same letters on purpose, the meaning of which were Secret Service, and meant to convey the comparison to the old SS, but not troll or evoke a reaction.

Marek, many of the people I met in Europe, and I know you go there a lot, live there even, and i can only speak from my month long experience, admittedly small and maybe insignificant, but that said, when calling Bush and his cabinet criminals and Fascist, reacted in agreement...surprised tho they were that i would say that...they have their prejudices too...and in all of them, i only met one guy in Amsterdam who chided me for the use of that word.

And, in fact, i met the Ambassador from a Western European country [one invaded by the Nazis] to a Middle Eastern country right in the thick of things in the ME, who shall remain nameless, you have to take my word... [he is the real deal,i have his card, it's in English and Arabic :O] and he used the word Fascist FIRST....saying, "Believe me, we KNOW about these things"

Sadly, without me asking, he said that on the "Arab street", Osama is a hero. It was very hard to hear that, but not surprising.

I said it at the very beginning, right after the four civilian protesters were killed in Fallugha in 2003, that it is a fight to the death. After Abu Grhaib, it was a certainty.

We are going to have to declare victory and leave, just like Viet Nam.

If the Americans want to stay, they will have to kill every last Arab and Muslim man, woman and child to have peace.  Perhaps they will...but i think the empire will collapse before that.

serious.

 

each time Flambee open the mouth it is propaganda. When my dogs bark too. And when the wind get stuck in a harp .... an compose a symphony... it's propaganda too . Get over it. I konw you joke but well...

I get the impression that she is not doing that for you or anyone else, flambee, she does that  for herself, and has a pretty grounded perception of what is going on .

She is a mother, and god knows I wouldn't want to have to confront an angry mother .

I was shocked when I read what smear is spread about her, people saying she is dishonoring her son and all... That is a such an heartless and disgusting thing to say. As much as I could disagree about something with my mother, I would let no one attack her this way .

This is not about agreeing or not with her. You people should just not let people smear her like that. Enough is enough. Is there any outrage left in this country ? Republican or Democrats, it's time to ask yourself what people fear so much about a single mother, alone, doing her thing her way ??

I also think it is a major strategic mistake.

A 15 minute photo op with Bush looking concerned and at least pretending to listen may take a little wind out of the Sheehan movement. Or not.

But perhaps his advisors suggest that the war and his personal poll #'s (that he claims to ignore) are not yet at the bottom.

Perhaps the idea is to wait until the Summer is over before doing damage control in order to maximize bounce.

The essence of the right-wing smear machine's "outing" of Cindy Sheehan is her supposed flip-flop from supporting President Bush in 2004 to disapproving of him in 2005. As details of this have become clearer, it's obvious the flip-flop is nothing more than a canard. But setting aside the Sheehan story for a moment, have any of the shameless smearsters seen the public opinion polls recently? Here's some breaking news for them: a whole lot of Americans who supported Bush a year ago---including an increasingly large part of his "base"---have turned against him. And that includes many millions of people who haven't lost a parent, child, or sibling in Iraq.

There are so many side issues of shamelessness and crass opportunism in this story it makes my head spin. Think about the gall of a political and media machine "accusing" a private citizen of changing her mind (imagine that!) about an elected and supposedly accountable public official. When did a private citizen supposedly changing her opinion about something rise to the same level as a flip-flop about firing anyone involved in the leaking a CIA agent's name? At what point did the ability to change one's mind about a politician become something to be ridiculed and accused of instead of cherished as a basic right? And it's not as if in the past year we haven't learned anything about the pre-war manipulation of intelligence, as well as the incompetent planning, that resulted in the death of Cindy Sheehan's son and thousands of others like him.

Something else about this story that infuriates me is the vision of feckless, smarmy smearsters and cowards hiding behind keyboards in cities like Washington and New York (and yes, Miami), punching out electronic missives in a pathetic and desperate attempt to impugn the integrity of a woman sitting in the dust and August heat of Texas---a woman who, along with her dead son, embodies everything that's right about this country. The growing division between the professional class of spinning punditry and the vast expanse of Middle America that actually does the working, the fighting and the dying so the pundits can spend their time chattering has never been more clear than with this story.

http://cunningrealist.blogspot.com/2005/08/decency-is-not-in-them.html

hat tip Dkos

is not with the mom, whom i sympathize with to no end, but the politicians on both sides and the news media who exploit her to their design...

is what Cindy saidwhen asked about this. As well she might, the media in another leg of our democracy...as is action by "We the People"

Cindy is the real deal, no question, she knows what she's doing and is not going to be made to quit. She is fearless, she will give her life for this, make no mistake...not on purpose, of course, but if it happens, she will be known to have really died for a nobel cause...even in the face of having other children, for she is acting with complete integrity. As is true of many of the soldiers in Iraq...a cause that they themselves decided.  If they say it, as is true of Dante Zappala's brother, it's true.

But for to Bush to say it? How the hell does he know?  He doesn't. The so called nobel cause Bush is speaking of is a lie ,and she knows it. She's got the goods, she's called him on his sh** and it's authentic. ergo the media circus.

i understand that Cindy was a Catholic youth minster for 12 years.  She is displaying the highest and best ideals of Catholic social justice teaching, which, contrary to what many people do not know, abounds in Catholic teaching...especially in youth ministry, especially at the University level, especially at Jesuit Universities.

Cindy makes me so proud to have  been raised Catholic.

So you see, Nymole, for me, it is a religious experience. serious.

Anyone raised Catholic at the same time i was, will know exactly what i am talking about.

and be snarked at, we've been around the Agonist along time. Sarcasm still allowed when metaphors start to be taken literally, as is happening in this thread. This site has always valued a defensible variety of thought.

 I am a supporter of the media circus that this event has become, because it's letting a lot of people on both sides who've been silent have a chance to at least think about what's going on, but I'm  afraid of the "reality" totally disappearing, as it did on the Terry Schiavo case.

I am not this treating as a religious experience however, Bernadene:-).  C'mon, it's a discussion, not a revival meeting.

Now that was snarky of me- I admit- couldn't figure out a good way to say it. So shoot me (metaphor) !

A Chevron service station on Van Ness Avenue displays gas prices above $3 a gallon in San Francisco, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005. For the West, the average price of unleaded hit $2.62 a gallon, at least 20 cents higher than any other region in the country. Maintenance problems at U.S. and foreign refineries and the repeated threat of hurricanes along the oil-producing Gulf Coast helped push prices higher. Crude oil reached a record high price of $65 a barrel Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) (Eric Risberg - AP)

Poll: Many Fear Financial Hit of Gas Prices~~ WaPo

As I read the comments, I feel myself reliving the horrific emotions I felt when the war began.   Anger beyond belief, the sense of betrayal by the leadership of the United States, and a terrible grief for all of the senseless death to come.  

And now here we are, tens of thousands dead, tens of thousands wounded, the Iraqi people living in turmoil and a constant dread for their lives ... and here at home?   A country diminished by our deadly folly.  And for what?  

Your empathy for Sheehan is about as tight as it gets.  No need to ever apologize for sincerely relating such authentic personal experiences. It's the real deal. And man, do we need more of that.

Thanks for the kind words.

what are they protesting for/against again? I didn't catch that.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050815/cindy_sheehans_fellowship_of_grief.php

Dante was a guest on my show this past Spring.

He refused to say his brother died in vain, because his brother wanted to go, it was what his brother agreed to do, and he went.

However, his brother enlisted in the National Guard to help citizens in distress in America.  

He got to know some NG when they helped out in a flood near their home. He wanted to do the same kind of thing.

He was sent to Iraq, and died just a short time after he got there.

How is this OK with people?  Well, it's NOT with his mother and brother.

said he was drunk as a skunk [at 10:00 in the morning.]

good going W!  

these are your supporters.  

and many of us think you are on drugs, too.  or insane. or both.

that would explain all of your behavior.

I think W should give a jar of pee pee to someone to check.