The trashing of Cindy Sheehan is in full force on the Free Republic and elsewhere. The posts are normally dotted with cardboard compassion ("w're just so genuinely sorry for her loss") followed by full throated venom. She's with the enemy, she's anti-American, she's anti-semitic, she's an "anti-war pig"... What's this the right says about the left being vitriolic?
The trashing of this military mom is a disgrace, especially coming from a cadre of chicken hawks who would never walk in her shoes, because neither they nor their sons and daughters have any intention of enlisting for service in Iraq. The right even attempts to prove Sheehan is a liar, citing a June 2004 article in her hometown paper about her meeting with the president which they say contradicts her later statements about Bush's impersonal, cold tone. But while that vaunted article portrays other members of her family as favorably disposed toward Bush, it says this about Sheehan:
Surreal soon seemed like an understatement, as the Sheehans - one of 17 families who met Thursday with Bush - were whisked in a matter of days to the Army post and given the VIP treatment from the military. But as their meeting with the president approached, the family was faced with a dilemma as to what to say when faced with Casey's commander-in-chief. "We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled," Cindy said. "The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached."
The 10 minutes of face time with the president could have given the family a chance to vent their frustrations or ask Bush some of the difficult questions they have been asking themselves, such as whether Casey's sacrifice would make the world a safer place. But in the end, the family decided against such talk, deferring to how they believed Casey would have wanted them to act. In addition, Pat noted that Bush wasn't stumping for votes or trying to gain a political edge for the upcoming election. "We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said. [Editorial note: Pat is not protesting in Crawford, Cindy is...]
Sincerity was something Cindy had hoped to find in the meeting. Shortly after Casey died, Bush sent the family a form letter expressing his condolences, and Cindy said she felt it was an impersonal gesture.
Sorry, but I don't see the contradiction... Sheehan was disillusioned with Mr. Bush then as now. Only a year later, she has watched other mothers join her grim club, and watched the war spiral out of control, while George W. Bush pretends that everything is just fine -- so fine, he's giving himself a five-week vacation.
Cindy Sheehan has every reason to be disillusioned with this war and this preseident. Hell, at this point, the only people who aren't feeling that way (including being pretty sour on neocons) are the hard-core Bush robots on the blogs and the sycophants on right wing radio and Fox News...
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%>
Tell a friend
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dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
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sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
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%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
