Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Anyway, Where Was I?
Oh, yeah… before the whole slipped disc thing, I was one of those right-wing nutcase bloggers, right? Lemme get back on the horse, here…
Look, if anything happens over the next few weeks or months to indicate that I'm wrong, I'll issue the mother of all mea culpas right here on this blog… but as of now, I'm convinced that this woman is using her son's death to catapult her own career as a left-wing pseudo-celebrity and political gadfly.
She has the right to grieve as publicly as she wants, I'll grant her that. She has the right to say anything she wants about the war, the President, Iraq, neo-cons, whatever. But let's be honest, here… this woman is couching a political protest in the "no-touch" zone of a mother's grief. The position of many of her supporters is pretty cut and dry: If you agree with Cindy, feel free to chime in… but if you disagree with her… well, pal, you better just keep your mouth shut, lest you come off as a guy who mocks a woman who is mourning her dead son.
Our local paper sure seems to see it that way. In one of their famously bad editorials, the Roanoke Times had this to say:
"The wall of grief that surrounds this one mother, whose vigil outside President Bush's Crawford ranch has galvanized opponents of the Iraq war, may have made her impervious to criticism."
Disagreeing with Ms. Sheehan, it seems, it unforgivably insensitive… However, the Roanoke Times sees nothing wrong with setting up a message board and inviting it's readers to craft hypothetical letters to the President over the imaginary deaths of their own theoretical soldier sons. Nothing insensitive about that, I suppose. I mean, it's not like the Roanoke Times is trivializing the death of Casey Sheehan in the name of politics, right? RIGHT?
(Smell that? That's sarcasm.)
Of course, our local paper isn't the only left-wing propaganda machine using Ms. Sheehan as a mascot. Have you seen Michael Moore's website lately? Here's a quick grab of what it looks like as of this writing. Cindy Sheehan is Moore's latest willing puppet, and I guarantee you that he'll keep feigning support for her as long as she's a marketable media touchstone. Once she drops off the news, though, watch for Moore's attentions to wander elsewhere.
Cox and Forkum, as usual, are precise and succinct:
Click that cartoon and go to the Cox and Forkum site for a great bunch of links where you can find out more about Cindy Sheehan's vigil… for instance:
What PR plans do the left-wing protest-choreographers have for milking the most out of Sheehan's stay in Crawford?
We should call her "Mother Sheehan". We should never call her Cindy; I don’t know her. "Mother Sheehan" is her title, and expresses her ceremonial status as a bereaved mother, calling forth over the dead body of her son. ...
We should use the word “sacrifice”. She has sacrificed the most precious thing a mother has, the life and promise of her child. ...
We should not use the name of her son. Her son is a symbol of all sons who have been sacrificed for this useless and criminal war. ...
If there are any persons who are theatre professionals at the Sheenan vigil, they should arrange things much more theatrically.
The emphasis above was mine.
Click the Cox and Forkum cartoon for more on Cindy Sheehan's opinions on Israel and terrorism:
"You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism."
Of course, anti-Semitism of the "Get Israel out of Palestine" variety sounds vaguely Islamo-fascist... so it's no wonder that Cindy Sheehan is backing off of that quote, albeit a bit indelicately. Her televised conversation with Anderson Cooper went this way:
COOPER: You were also quoted as saying, "My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." How responsible do you believe Israel is for the amount of terrorism in the world?
SHEEHAN: I didn't say that.
COOPER: You didn't say that? OK.
SHEEHAN: I didn't -- I didn't say -- I didn't say that my son died for Israel. I've never said that. I saw somebody wrote that and it wasn't my words. Those aren't even words that I would say.
I do believe that the Palestinian issue is a hot issue that needs to be solved and it needs to be more fair and equitable but I never said my son died for Israel.
The always timely Michelle Malkin has more on that.
As Cindy Sheehan's one woman publicity crusade continues, the destructive effect it has on her family is undeniable. Members of her family sent a letter to Matt Drudge condemning Cindy's actions. Her living son has asked her to come home to her family, and her own husband seems to see her as a lost cause:
…yesterday, Reuters news service reported that her husband, Patrick Sheehan, filed to dissolve his marriage on Friday in Solano County Superior Court, according to records on the Web site of the local court in Northern California. Neither could be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Cindy Sheehan presses on, filming television commercials and basking in the cable news media spotlights.
All of this is ostensibly because she'd like to have one more meeting with the President to discuss the death of her son. She's met with him before, of course. She met with Dubya a year ago and they exchanged kisses and made nice. Of course, that's not the kind of meeting Cindy Sheehan has in mind this time.
So, should Dubya meet with Ms. Sheehan again? Cal Thomas thinks so, and I agree:
Other relatives of dead and wounded soldiers and some of the soldiers, themselves, should be included. He might also invite a few Iraqis who support the effort to free a people long held in bondage by Saddam Hussein and who face new bondage under the totalitarian dictatorship of Islamic facism if this effort fails.
The president should hold the meeting in a public place. Let the criticism flow, but let Iraqi women tell their stories about rape and torture at the hands of Mr. Hussein's now-dead sons. Allow Iraqi men to tell about life under Mr. Hussein and how grateful they are that he is gone. Wounded soldiers and families of the dead would speak in support of the war effort. Members of Ms. Sheehan's own family could come.
Of course, when all is said and done, Cindy Sheehan will ultimately have moved the American left a little further from the mainstream… and made liberals a little less likely to regain the White House. James Lileks sums it all up to my satisfaction:
The hard left in America needs to realize a bald, cruel fact: Anyone who sees no moral distinction between Israel and the mullahs of Iran, or sees the U.S. attempt to set up a constitutional republic in Iraq as equivalent to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, suffers from incurable moral cretinism. The more the fervent anti-war base embraces these ideas, the more they ensure that no one will trust the left with national security. Ever.
If you want a legit reason to get good and ticked off at Dubya, try this one... how about a bald-faced lie about the Israeli pull-out from the Gaza strip:
"The disengagement is I think a part of making Israel more secure and peaceful," (President Bush) said in a rare interview with Israeli media, excerpts of which were broadcast on Israel Radio Friday.
Yeah, right. Appeasement always works with Islamist extremists. Right. And I'm the Queen of Spain.
Dubya isn't that stupid. He knows better. He's lying with a straight face.
It really bugs me that the President expects anyone to swallow that line of garbage. He's bound to know that Israel's cave-in on the Gaza Strip will only move the front line of the Palestinian war against all Jews closer to Jerusalem. That is, after all, exactly what the Palestinians have in mind:
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia Wednesday said Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would eventually lead to its surrender of the Jews' ancient capital – Jerusalem.
“We are telling the entire world, today Gaza and tomorrow Jerusalem. Today Gaza and tomorrow and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Qureia said while reviewing PA security forces in Gaza.
How can Dubya even pretend that this massive betrayal of Israelis by their own government is good for Israel?
You want to get outraged about something? Get outraged about this:
Those are Jews being forced by their own army to abandon their homes on the Gaza strip.
And if that doesn't do it for you, get outraged about this, courtesy of Little Green Footballs:
The United Nations bankrolled the production of thousands of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan "Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem," which have been widely distributed to Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip, according to a U.N. official.
The U.N. support of the Palestinian Authority's propaganda operation in the midst of the Israeli evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip has provoked outrage from Israeli and Jewish leaders, who are blaming Turtle Bay for propagating an inflammatory message that they say encourages Palestinian Arab violence.
Of course, if this is the first time you've found reason to get outraged about U.N. corruption, you just haven't been paying attention.
MuD&PHuD gave me one little item to laugh about, thankfully:
Yep, you can click that banner to visit the home page of actor Christopher Walken's campaign for President in 2008.
Well, not really:
…the actor has "no intention of running," his rep says, and the Web site, registered in Los Angeles under the name Christopher Walken for President, is "100 percent false."
Permalink -- Posted by Darrell at 18:59 
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"Mother Sheehan", eh? Quinn at Warroom.com's calls her "The bitch in the ditch".
I have no problem with her protesting. That is one of the great things about America. Although it is a shame she is dishonoring her son's memory and sacrifice.
But, God bless her, as she is quickly becoming a media puppet.
I have no problem with her protesting. That is one of the great things about America. Although it is a shame she is dishonoring her son's memory and sacrifice.
But, God bless her, as she is quickly becoming a media puppet.
Just like John McCain and John Kerry before her, she will use her SON's service as a shield against criticism.
After a day or two of intense media spotlight you'd that Mrs. Sheehan was the one who had gone overseas to fight in Iraq.
Her son made the sacrifice, not her. Now she does have to deal with his passing, but she's one step removed and can't use her son like that.
I suspect there will be one major fight once Mrs. Sheehan goes to the great beyond. Poor Casey Sheehan...
Her mom is a pawn in the rotating media-whore game. Before her was the Karl Rove/Valerie Plame "scandal", then it was Judge nominee Roberts, then much earlier it was GWB and the Texas Air National Guard docs, then even earlier was the Trent Lott statements during Strom Thurmond's birthday party.
I'm still wondering if/when the media will grab on to the Able Danger scandal, Jamie Gorelick's FBI-CIA-Military wall, John Kerry's DD140 papers, John McCain/Feingold's First Amendment Restriction Act (Campaign Finance Reform), etc.
I can bet at least another 10 left wing "scandals" will appear instead of any real news stories.
Thankfully we have the internet, blogs, Fox news and talk radio.
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After a day or two of intense media spotlight you'd that Mrs. Sheehan was the one who had gone overseas to fight in Iraq.
Her son made the sacrifice, not her. Now she does have to deal with his passing, but she's one step removed and can't use her son like that.
I suspect there will be one major fight once Mrs. Sheehan goes to the great beyond. Poor Casey Sheehan...
Her mom is a pawn in the rotating media-whore game. Before her was the Karl Rove/Valerie Plame "scandal", then it was Judge nominee Roberts, then much earlier it was GWB and the Texas Air National Guard docs, then even earlier was the Trent Lott statements during Strom Thurmond's birthday party.
I'm still wondering if/when the media will grab on to the Able Danger scandal, Jamie Gorelick's FBI-CIA-Military wall, John Kerry's DD140 papers, John McCain/Feingold's First Amendment Restriction Act (Campaign Finance Reform), etc.
I can bet at least another 10 left wing "scandals" will appear instead of any real news stories.
Thankfully we have the internet, blogs, Fox news and talk radio.
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