Cindy Sheehan - Agree or Disagree

[Rob]

How do you feel about the way she is handling this? Do you feel she is taking a correct stand? Do you think she is handling things the wrong way?

Your thoughts?

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?b377869601&r=MSNnews

[drjohncarpenter]

She's acting well within her rights as a US citizen, and as a mother who wants to know why her son was killed in a war based on lies.

The fact that the right wing media and pundits are getting all hot and bothered shows she's having a real impact -- and all she has done is articulate the growing feeling of millions in the US that the Iraq war is another Vietnam.

DJC

[genesim]

She is a commercial of the week. A nobody. I feel bad for her loss, but at the same time her quest for fame while standing on her son's grave is shameful.

Had her son lived I suspect he would be horrified. No one believes in the war more then a soldier. Unlike most of us who sit back and watch t.v. they are actually fighting for our freedom.

Freedom is not free. Shame that so many in the U.S. forget that. LOSERS

[Tom in North Carolina]

She's acting well within her rights as a US citizen, and as a mother who wants to know why her son was killed in a war based on lies.
The fact that the right wing media and pundits are getting all hot and bothered shows she's having a real impact -- and all she has done is articulate the growing feeling of millions in the US that the Iraq war is another Vietnam.DJC

I agree 100%!!!

My favorite line came a couple of weeks ago when Ms. Sheehan and her comrades were moved 100 yards back because Bush had to drive by them and "the sight of them would have upset the president." This brilliant quote came from Trent Duffy. Well, we wouldn't want to upset the president during his month long vacation. What a complete and utter MORON!!!

Tom

[genesim]

Her son had joined..and rejoined. The president met her twice. And you call him the moron???

Incidently, I wonder why her husband filed for divorce? I can only guess, but it probably has something to do with her sh*tting all over her son's memory.

This lady should be arrested for stalking. I mourn for the loss of her son, but I mourn more for him losing a mom. Her acts are purely self motivated and she is trying to be a ventriloquist for the dead.

It is obvious that the media are brainswashing most of america about her importance, but yet giving the supporters none of the press, this person doesn't deserve the attention. What a bunch of aging hippies.

Another Vietnam...yeah right. Doc needs to go study up. This is FAR from it. The war is going to be over soon, and I wonder how long this stooge is going to be eating crow for it. Iraq will be a major player like Germany because they have resources. There are liberals that want nothing more then to see a republican fail...even for the cost of America. Coming down to making fun of a way a person looks. It is so childish to HOPE that gas prices stay high so a Democrat will make it into office.

[Pete Dube]

I sympathize with her for her loss. And I support the right of any citizen to both express a dissenting opinion of the war and criticize the administration - providing the dissent is civil and the expressed opinion is an informed one.
But I can't say her opinion is an informed one, given her statements describing the insurgents as 'freedom fighters' and that we should not have gone to war in Afghanistan. One can legitimately question the timing of the Iraq war, and arguably even the necessity. But to describe the insurgents as 'freedom fighters' is grossly inaccurate. And virtually everybody (with the exception of Michael Moore) was in favor of the invasion of Afghanistan, so her statements on that matter are perplexing, and call into question her judgment.
Sadly, Cindy Sheehan is being used by the left as an anti-war (or more specifically an anti-Bush) poster child. But when the media hoopla dies down and her purpose (or rather the left's) has been served she will be abandoned by the left, a grieving mother left alone with her grief with no one to comfort her.

[genesim]

That is the point exactly. Her statements have been nutty at best. What cracks me up are the people that eat this up with a fork and spoon.

Most people don't get to meet the president at all. She has no ground. He took the time to hear her, and enough is enough. At the very least she should have stayed by her husband. Though I don't pretend to know their situation, the death of a son should be met with honor, not bullsh*t camera parading. Her protest is no doubt a branch from her grieving hysteria and like Pete says, after it is all over, the left will abandon her...along with the so called supporters that have been looking at their commercial of the week.

[Graceland Gardener]

She has the right to protest, to stand there in Crawford
to question the war her son fought and died in
but she should beware that she's becoming a convenient tool for the Left and they pretend they care about her but really they don't - they opportunistically latch onto her as a poster icon for anti-war movement.

Sheehan t-shirts.... $16.

Same with Pat Tillman who became a tool by the Right for a pro-war campaign.

Tillman t-shirts... $16

[EagleUSA]

Mrs. Sheehan is a grieving tool for the left. I feel badly for her loss, but a lot of families have had similar losses. I can understand her wanting an answer as to why he's gone. It's human nature. I support her right to speak her mind, but she's going about it all wrong and allowing herself to be swept up by people who don't really give a damn about her personally.

What is she hoping to accomplish by continually pressing the President? Does she believe he's going to do a 180? Of course not. If she's looking for answers as to why her son was in Iraq, I would hope she first tried speaking to him before his death to get them. Even if she doesn't believe that his purpose there was justified, I'd bet he did.

[KHoots]

Well said, Eagle...

I feel very badly for her. God forbid I ever find myself in her position, but if I were, I probably would demand to know some things, too. Perhaps after some time has passed, she will look at things a little differently and see her son as the hero he is, and leave it at that.

[RKSNASHVILLE]

Genesim wrote:

There are liberals that want nothing more then to see a republican fail...even for the cost of America.

The liberal left would like nothing more than to see America fail - at the cost of a republican president.

The majority of those families who lost loved ones in Iraq do not feel as Cindy Sheehan does. She is not in the majority.

Even those wounded in Iraq can't wait to get back over there to re-join there units.


It's very sad that she has been duped in this way.


RKS

[likethebike]

"The war will be over soon" I thought it ended in 2003. That's what President Bush told us on that aircraft carrier.

The problem is that the United States has already failed. We have F***ed up things so badly that it looks like there is no way out.

The majority of Americans do not support the war and do not support the president. His latest approvals hover 36-40 percent.

This right wing persecution complex really needs to put bed. After 9/11 Bush had record approval ratings and all but the hardest core lefties were on his side. There were virtually no protests for Afghanistan. He squandered that goodwill not only here but abroad.

Cindy Sheehan's problem is that she is just doing the things the wrong way. She should get organized. Pour that passion into a protest group, recruit more people to the cause and to lobby for more sensible or at least responsible by the US government.

[genesim]

Approval ratings don't mean crap. The problem is that there are many that buy what the left media prints hook line and sinker.

The United States have failed? How do you figure?? We don't win a war when you see fit?? We shouldn't fight a war because it is not easy to win?? Funny how even the Democrats that you fight for to the end believe in the war effort. Oh sure, they will complain about how it is done because they are still crying about not winning the election, but the facts are that they either voted or mouthed thier opinion at the beginning.

Whatever happened to supporting our country in its time of need? What do you think pulling out now is going to do?? Too many hippies need a reality check.

[Big Boss Man]

Anyone for cricket?

[likethebike]

The United States has failed in that we got in an unnecessary war and we can't get out. If we leave now or in the immediate future we run the risk of leaving an unfriendly theocracy, a potential haven for terrorists or a country caught in a civil war that could be replaced with yet another dictatorship. If we stay we will lose countless thousands of American and Iraqi lives due to invading a country that did not need to be invaded. Not to mention potentially bankrupting the country, squandering our manpower resources and damaging our credibility and goodwill worldwide.

One of the big tricks of the Bush machine is to treat any question and or criticism as unreasonable and unpatriotic. Another is to shoot the messenger.

It's about time to retire the left wing media horse manure as well. All those hours of watching Fox News have clodged your brain. The media are supposed to question the president's policies that's their job. And they are supposed everything and that's your problem. The media didn't make up WMD in Iraq (even though the supposedly biased liberal media didn't really question it) and they didn't run over there and steal them all so we wouldn't find any. They didn't reveal the fact that there was no connection between Hussein and 9/11 the 9/11 commission did that.

The media is supposed to ask the hard questions. They're not to sweep things under the rug and kiss the administration's backside.

[chris]

In his inaugural address in 1961, President Kennedy proclaimed that the United States should use it’s military forces “to support any friend and oppose any foe to assure the success of liberty”.
Our goal as Americans should be never to use force unnecessarily. But sometimes employing force early against an aggressor’s challenges will serve us better in the long run. Maintaining the capability and demonstrating the will to use force even as a first resort when our interests are threatened reduces the possibility of having to use force as a last resort when the risk of casualties would be far greater.
Even World War II was in a sense an “unnecessary war”, for it could have been prevented by timely action against Hitler when Germany attacked it’s smaller neighbors.
I think that much of the protesting trivializes every American life that’s lost in this war and the morality of our involvement has become the central issue in the public debate. I feel bad for Mrs. Sheehan and for the loved ones of every American who’s lost their life in this war…a lot of critics feel that the people of Iraq are simply not worth defending….
And I guess I'm lost on the comparison to the war in Vietnam...

[Graceland Gardener]

And I guess I'm lost on the comparison to the war in Vietnam...

all the old hippies and the young wanna-be hippies make the comparison constantly.

Funny they weren't outraged about the 1998 bombing of Iraq done by Pres. Clinton.

hmm.

PS my ooohh apologies for insulting the enemy.

(re: filthy sinister sandrats, I presume)

but is it far from the truth?

Gen. Patton said arabs dig up dead soldiers just to take their clothes.
Ian Fleming found Beruit to be a filthy place to be a tourist in.

I forgot: in this ultra-sensitive liberal world,
it's wrong and improper to insult the enemy

or even defeat the enemy, or prosecute the enemy

y'see, 911 was caused by Saudi-Americans.

and Pearl Harbor was bombed by Asian-Americans.

let's use politically correct terms lest anyone be offended and/or labeled a racist.

I certainly wouldn't want LTB or DJC to log on (in between their liberal lifestyle activities (god knows whatever that may be) and read blunt conservative pro-American views here.

[genesim]

There is nothing wrong with questioning your leader, but at the same time there is such a thing as support and respect. Likethebike you clearly have neither, and that is sad.

The 9/11 commision was a farce and it was a flawed investigation at best. There is still no proof that there was no connection...quite the contrary. Considering the obvious presence of AlQauda operatives G.W. Bush is looking more and more right as time goes by.

Incidently, I do not watch Fox news, so keep your prejudice statements to yourself. Base your answers on what you read, not just what you THINK my ideas came from.

Just because we haven't located WMD doesn't mean there were never there to begin with. Use your head. It is a huge country and the truth may never surface.

The funny thing is that I don't even care. Saddam Hussein being taken out of power is a good thing...not bad.

[Scatter]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


AHHHHHH yessssss........let's hear it some more about how the Lefties around Sheehan support the troops and LOOOOOOOOOOVE America......just not the war



Antiwar activist
Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace


Antiwar extremist Cindy Sheehan has captured headlines by camping out in front of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. There, the 48-year-old founder of Gold Star Families for Peace claims she is hounding the president to end the Iraq War in the name of her beloved son, Casey, who died in Iraq, and in the name of grieving families everywhere. The image of a grief-stricken mother traveling by caravan from California to Texas, then living in a tent, merely so she can have a brief meeting with the president has deep propaganda value for the antiwar Left. Thus, the New York Times noted longingly in its headline Thursday, "One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President." However, none of the mainstream media accounts of this beatified mourner recognize her long history of extremist rhetoric, her close association with far-Left and anti-Semitic figures, or the way she has seemingly rewritten her own history when it suited her purposes.

Sheehan says if granted a (second) consultation with President George W. Bush, she wants to ask him, "Why did you kill my son?" Both the question and the blame are misplaced. Sheehan and the media have emphasized that Iraqis killed 24-year-old Casey Sheehan in Sadr City last April, just five days after his arrival in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan's tale of motherly grief is gripping. She told the leftist blog Buzzflash:

Casey told me, "Mom, this is what we trained for. I'm ready. It's my job. Because the sooner I get there, the sooner I'll come home." And he came home three weeks later in a flag-draped coffin.

However, the media have ignored two important facts. First, Casey initially signed up in May 2000 and voluntarily re-enlisted in the service in August 2003, knowing he would likely be called into active duty in Iraq. Secondly, as a mechanic in the 1st battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, Casey did not have to go into the battle that claimed his life. When some of his fellow soldiers encountered resistance, he and others in his unit chose to go into combat to save his friends. Cindy Sheehan herself recounted it this way:

"[T]he sergeant said, "Sheehan, you don't have to go," because my son was a mechanic. And Casey said, "Where my chief goes, I go."

Where this young man went, tragically, was to an early grave. But his death was an act of patriotism and human compassion, one which should tinge her understandable maternal grief with deep pride.

Instead, Cindy Sheehan threw herself into shrill, anti-Bush and anti-American activism. Shortly after his death, she founded Gold Star Families for Peace, an "antiwar" group whose first stated purpose is "To bring an end to the occupation of Iraq." (Emphasis added.) She presently has a blogspot on MichaelMoore.com and spouts extremist rhetoric alongside many of the Hate America Left's most potent bomb-throwers.

A Legacy of Leftist Anger

One might speculate that her son's death freed Cindy Sheehan to take a more prominent role in stating the convictions she long held. Her hatred of President George W. Bush apparently harkens back to well before her son ever set foot in Iraq. In "An Open Letter to President George Bush," published in the Not In Our Name newsletter shortly after the 2004 presidential elections, she wrote:

"George, in 2000 when you stole that election and the Democrats gave up, I gave up, too. I had the most ironic thought of my life then: "Oh well, how much damage can he do in four years?"

According to San Francisco-based talk show host (and acquaintance of the Sheehan family) Melanie Morgan, Cindy Sheehan's antiwar animus dates to well before her son's death.[1] The Sheehans always opposed U.S. involvement in Iraq. Asked about the views she and her husband, Pat, had toward the Iraq War before their son's deployment, she answered: "We didn't understand why the United States was there. We never thought that Iraq was an imminent threat to the United States."

She has taken advantage of her status as an aggrieved mother to spread her poisonous brand of far-Left politics. Her natural target was the Iraq War. Sheehan testified at John Conyers' "impeachment hearings" on June 16, regarding the Downing Street Memo. She said, "The so-called Downing Street Memo dated 23 July, 2003, only confirms what I already suspected: the leadership of this country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry picked intelligence. It appears that my boy Casey was given a death sentence even before he joined the Army in May of 2000." To be sure no one missed the point, she added, "I believed before our leaders invaded Iraq in March, 2003, and I am even more convinced now, that this aggression on Iraq was based on a lie of historic proportions and was blatantly unnecessary."

However, she has branched out into denouncing the military and the United States itself. According to FPM contributor Lee Kaplan, Sheehan likened convicted terrorist lawyer Lynne Stewart to literary hero Atticus Finch at a rally at San Francisco State University. Stewart passed on messages from convicted 1993 World Trade Center bomber Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman to his terror cell in Egypt and often pledged her belief in the morality of anti-capitalist violence. According to Kaplan's account, Sheehan's rhetoric that evening could as easily have been written by the "Blind Sheikh" himself; she, too, regarded America as the "Great Satan": "America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for."

She furthered this belief with a pronouncement on her official website, in which she describes her vision of a utopian future in America: "I will rejoice to hear the sounds of the collective Mea Culpa and the beating of breasts."

To deprive this evil empire of a sufficient military, Cindy endorsed the San Francisco citywide measure known as "College Not Combat," which would encourage the city's high schools to deny military recruiters access to their student directories, from which they seek military enlistments. The fact that the cause she championed in the name of "the children" would be a violation of section 9528 of the "No Child Left Behind" Act, an infraction punishable by the revocation of federal education funds, did not cause her or her ideological comrades to bat an eye. The "College Not Combat" coalition includes a host of socialist and anti-American organizations, including International ANSWER, Code Pink, the National Lawyers Guild, the International Socialist Organization, Socialist Organizer, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (which hails convicted cop-killers as "political prisoners"), and others. Such left-wing organizers often speak of the need to reduce the number of young people joining the armed forces, in order to frustrate "imperialist" U.S. foreign policy.


One such radical leftist is Medea Benjamin, the founder of Code Pink, Global Exchange, and the mastermind behind the violent anti-World Trade Center riots in Seattle. Benjamin enjoys a close working relationship with Cindy Sheehan as part of the professional antiwar fringe. Medea, a longtime admirer of Fidel Castro, with the help of fellow Castroite Leslie Cagan, founded the International Occupation Watch. Established in the city of Baghdad during the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Benjamin said its stated goal was to get as many U.S. troops as possible to declare themselves conscientious objectors and be sent home. Through Code Pink, she even managed to take $600,000 of cash, medicine, and supplies to "the other side" in the Iraqi terrorist capital of Fallujah (possibly the whereabouts of Casey Sheehan's killers). In an essay in Nation magazine, Benjamin spelled out a long-term strategy to deflate the U.S. military presence in Iraq and around the world.

Benjamin's anti-American foreign policy views are seemingly shared by Kathy Kelly, with whom Cindy shared the stage during antiwar protests. Kelly is the Director of Voices in the Wilderness, which violated UN sanctions against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1990s. Kelly visits "political prisoners" held captive by the United States…in Iraq. She has spoken at numerous campuses, often with radical Islamists, and has supported the Nicaraguan Sandanistas. In late 2003, Kelly received a three-month sentence for trespassing at Ft. Benning, Georgia, during a massive protest against the anti-Communist "School of the Americas."

David Fenton has been laying the propaganda groundwork the Left needs to justify its anti-American policies for nearly a generation. A one-time photographer for the Weathermen, a left-wing terrorist organization, as well as a partisan calling for the "liberation" of South Vietnam, Fenton went on to angle the U.S. media on behalf of the Nicaraguan Sandanistas and the Marxist regime of Grenada. Fenton Communications was soon enlisted to popularize the George Soros-funded MoveOn.org and the Win Without War Coalition. In 2004, Cindy Sheehan appeared in an anti-Bush TV commercial, paid for by a 527 group known as "Real Voices," which were distributed by…Fenton Communications. Coincidentally, David Fenton also promotes the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, another organization of left-wingers making political capital from the death of their loved ones.

Fenton is not Sheehan's only public relations conduit. Her statements are also distributed by the Institute for Public Accuracy, the organization that sponsored Sean Penn's trip to Baghdad on the eve of war. The day after September 11th, this taxpayer-funded entity offered "expert" testimony on terrorism to credulous media outlets. One IPA-sanctioned spokesman said Osama bin Laden's handiwork "holds up a mirror to U.S. policy of causing massive civilian suffering in Iraq…[W]e hope that along with the grief, we can…form deeper compassion and understanding." The IPA is a member organization of United for Peace and Justice, the "mainstream" face of the antiwar movement, which held many of the major antiwar demonstrations in 2003 and was founded by…Communist Party member Leslie Cagan.

It appears Sheehan embraces the anti-American views of the far-Left, possibly even advocating that soldiers disobey their officers. An online interview reveals that after defining "supporting war and killing" as "anti-Gospel, anti-religion, and anti-Christ," she told American troops they were being "misused," and finally exhorted them: "Refuse to kill innocent people." Yet no U.S. officer can legitimately order someone to kill "innocent people"; it seems she has joined Medea Benjamin and Leslie Cagan's crusade to mint ranks of conscientious objectors who will study (anti-terror) war no more.

Blame the "Murderous Thugs" (Jews)

Sheehan does not just lay the blame for her son's death on evil America, though. She recently wrote: "my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel." Such rhetoric echoes the line being taken by David Duke and his ilk at their most recent recruiting website, NoWarForIsrael.com: neo-cons run foreign policy; neo-cons are Jews; therefore, the war on Iraq was cooked up by a "cabal" of rapacious Jews to benefit the nation of Israel.

Sheehan also applies dehumanizing rhetoric to "neo-con" officials in the Bush administration. In an antiwar speech this April, Sheehan said of a well-known Jewish conservative, "As soft-spoken and sincere-sounding as Paul Wolfowitz is, is there yet any sane adult in this country whose skin does not crawl when this murderous liar opens his mouth and speaks?" She fumed, "Our country has been overtaken by murderous thugs....gangsters who lust after fortunes and power." It is possible her target is "merely" capitalism. But her vicious rhetoric leaves open the possibility that she makes room at her altar of hatred for Jews, as well.

Take the Left's Bus to Crawford

This extremism has not kept Cindy Sheehan from becoming an overnight star, endowed with all the righteous mysteries of suffering motherhood. Nor has her rhetoric and continued association with fringe figures barred her from enjoying the fellowship of the larger Left. After she began her multi-week camp out near the president's ranch, legendary leftist agitator Ralph Nader dispatched a letter declaiming, "This rogue regime, led by two draft-dodgers and officially counseled by similar pro-war evaders during the Vietnam War, is not 'our country.'"

Former Howard Dean presidential campaign strategist Joe Trippi made an appearance in the flesh. Trippi joined with Jodie Evans and the website Democrats.com to produce a web broadcast hailing Sheehan.

In this podcast, Sheehan's venomous vacuity is on display in its every facet. She intimated the Secret Service might have murdered her had she not placed a notice with the blogosphere, saying the Secret Service told her she would get run over by a car if she stayed there. "Thank God for the internet, or…we would already be a fascist state," she foreswore. "The mainstream media is a propaganda tool for the government." Sheehan likewise derided "the elections, um, you know the 'elections' quote/unquote, that happened in November."

Then came the callers. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, who described herself as a member of the "Out-of-Iraq Coalition," called in for the broadcast. Rep. Schakowsky, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, gushed, "I'm just so proud of you…My heart is with you." (Schakowsky, like Medea Benjamin, gushes over Fidel Castro, as well; Schakowsky has consistently tried to ease travel restrictions to the island gulag. For these and other "progressive" efforts, Schakowsky received an award from the Democratic Socialists of America.)

Sheehan also received a question from "journalist" Greg Szymanski, who has covers Sheehan for the ArcticBeacon.com and the American Free Press. According to its website, ArcticBeacon.com is dedicated, in part, to covering the "Alien Presence on Earth and UFO Phenomena." American Free Press is the newest incarnation of THE SPOTLIGHT newspaper, which the Anti-Defamation League classifies as "the most widely read publication on the fringe Right." Both were published by Willis Carto's Liberty Lobby, an organization with ties to neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism that is "presently the most influential right-wing extremist propaganda organization in the United States." Szymanski has written numerous articles for the publication, including one hinting President Bush was complicit in 9/11.

Perhaps this constellation of anti-American extremists explains her blog entry for Day 5: "We had a little bit of trouble with locals today. We are beginning to feel a little unwelcome here."


The Second Time Around

As noted, Cindy Sheehan already met with Bush last June, two months after Casey's death, along with a delegation of grieving military families. After that meeting, Sheehan initially said President Bush was caring, and the two spoke of their deep religious convictions. "I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy declared. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith." She says she and her husband thought about broaching their discontent with the war but held back out of respect for what they thought their late son would have wanted. She instead enjoyed the commiseration of the also-bereaved. She concluded by saying, "That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together."

Sheehan has begun telling another tale in recent days. During her podcast this week, Sheehan told Greg Szymanski, "Your account, that you wrote, is a true one." In one of Szymanski's two identical accounts, Cindy Sheehan claimed during their visit President Bush was "acting cocky and it was probably one of the worst experiences in my entire life." He bounced around the room in a jovial manner. Szymanski quotes Sheehan as saying her 25-year-old daughter, Carley, "told me that after he made [a] remark, he gave her one of the filthiest looks she had ever had gotten in her life." And, she says, Cindy was not alone; every other family felt this, as well. Cindy sums up: "Looking back, all I can say is that the meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences in my life." (She also referred to President Bush as the "Führer" and called the War on Terrorism "blatant genocide.")

When asked to rectify these varying statements - which, for the most part, she isn't - Sheehan said she was "still in shock" when she met President Bush in 2004 and could not recount her horrible ordeal properly for nearly a year after the fact.



Disavowal

The fact that Cindy Sheehan has used her son's coffin as a political soapbox has not set well with many members of Sheehan's extended family. In a backlash, patriotic members of Casey's father's family have distanced themselves and their late, heroic relative from Cindy's anti-American ways. KSFO-AM radio talk show host and Move America Forward leader Melanie Morgan received the following e-mail from Cherie Quarterolo, the late Casey Sheehan's aunt and godmother, and is sent on behalf of Casey Sheehan's family:

Hello again Melanie,

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 - 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 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.

Thank goodness someone in the Sheehan family puts family, country, and dignity above political motivation. At last we see where Casey got the heroic sense of duty and patriotism that led him to lay down his life for his friends. R.I.P.

[drjohncarpenter]

Nice "cut and paste" job there, Scatter.


And on TWO different threads!


Admit it, you hate it when I'm correct, as above.


DJC

[likethebike]

Quicker action against Hitler would have only possibly sped the end of the war. Hitler had a massive army by the time he invaded annexed Austria. The technical capabilities of the German army were the envy of the world. There'd have been a war it just would have been sooner. This was absolutely positively not even close to that case. Hussein was not an immediate threat to anyone.

It's like Viet Nam because there is no clear exit strategy and we don't have the support of the Iraqi people as occupiers. They didn't want Saddam Hussein but they also don't want us there. The main comparison though is based the difficulty that we will have and we are having extracting ourselves.

This idea of a war protestors somehow disrespecting the efforts of the soldiers has got to be put to bed. According to this theorizing you can never question a military action. Once it's done you're in and that's that. A soldier's job is to follow orders right or wrong. It doesn't matter what the people back home think. As a matter of course, you should be thankful for what the soldiers are doing by following orders right or wrong because they are doing it for their country and because are they doing a job that needs to be done on behalf of people who don't do it. The very job commands respect. There is absolutely no problem with the cause being up for dispute. In fact, if you feel the cause is wrong you have an absolute duty to speak your mind. The lives of those soldiers, the reputation of the country, the day to day impact on your own lives are important and need to be protected from abuse.

[genesim]

This was absolutely positively not even close to that case. Hussein was not an immediate threat to anyone.

Except for the fact that he was killing a whole lotta people. Hmmm I guess we should go ahead and wait till there are Jewish fatalities. Hundreds of thousands aren't enough.

It's like Viet Nam because there is no clear exit strategy and we don't have the support of the Iraqi people as occupiers.

More left wing propaganda at its finest. This war is nothing like Vietnam. We have lost a couple of thousand and we have invaded a whole country. We do not have interference from Russia or the French. We are not fearing nuclear war. Comparing the two conflicts is borderline retarded.

The problem with the rest of your statement is that most people that speak out are not respectful. Cindy Sheehan is far from it. Comparing our president to Hitler as you have Likethebike is low in all regards. I myself have stated that Clinton is the same way....but here is the difference, he is no longer in power. Though I spoke out about his shameful ways I secretly wished he would straighten out.

There is no excuse to that kind of behavior and the sad part about all of this is that kids today are growing up with this assinine behavior. The only similarity to Vietnam is that the same "cool" factor of dissing your country started there. F*ck those people. I support my country and in this instance I am even more right in doing so. We will win this war.

[drjohncarpenter]

I support my country and in this instance I am even more right in doing so. We will win this war.

When do you enlist, true believer?

DJC

[JEFF d]

Good one Doc! lol

[genesim]

What is so good about that one? Not only was it stolen from you puppet Jeff, but it was an idiotic stance to begin with. I am needed by my family and I have responsibilities toward them.

Hey Jeff and Doc...what about yours? Why aren't you down there picketing with Cindy? C'mon true believer's...just how many in your families do you have to support?? hmmmmm I am betting that my obligations are a little more then yours right now. Though just a guess.

Funny how you guys always talk of privacy, but you are the first to invade. As it stand, when my country calls me, I will serve and not run like the lying lowlife you guys admire. That is the difference. I carry my selective service card at all times, I await their call to me.

As it stands we are heavily armed with soldiers and despite the supposed dreadfully low amount(f*cking media hype BS) we have more then enough National Guard for even this catastrophe.

But you know what the funny part is...it is like saying well if you believe so much in fires being put out then why don't you become a fireman??? Not only are Doc and Jeff idiots for thinking this way, but ANYONE who have ever uttered the words! My personal decisions are my own and I shouldn't have to justify it to anyone. Doc and Jeff are carbon examples of people that continue to get personal because they have no basis for their views. They run out of ideas so they simply try for low blows.