Cindy Sheehan

[rossshow]

http://www.otwa.com/community/showthread.php?t=32636&page=5

Alot of discussion going on.

[Buffalo]

One thing she said, was that she'd like to ask him(Prez) that if this is such a "noble cause" and if he supports the troops then why doesn't he send his daughters there to relieve two soldiers who are on their second or third tour or stuck there as a result of stop-loss measures.

[agentorange]

One thing she said, was that she'd like to ask him(Prez) that if this is such a "noble cause" and if he supports the troops then why doesn't he send his daughters there to relieve two soldiers who are on their second or third tour or stuck there as a result of stop-loss measures.
Simple answer to that--President Bush doesn't "send people to fight his wars", nor would "sending his daughters" be possible, since they haven't voluntarily enlisted in our all-volunteer army. This crazy woman's son volunteered to serve his country, and he did so. Bush didn't "pick him up and send him".

[Cartman]

... from Drudge:





CINDY 2004

THE REPORTER of Vacaville, CA published an account of Cindy Sheehan's visit with the president at Fort Lewis near Seattle on June 24, 2004:

"'I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis,' Cindy said after their meeting. 'I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith.'

"The meeting didn't last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son's sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.

"The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected. "For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.

For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.

"'That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together,' Cindy said."

CINDY 2005

Sheehan's current comments are a striking departure.

She vowed on Sunday to continue her protest until she can personally ask Bush: "Why did you kill my son?"

In an interview on CNN, she claimed Bush "acted like it was party" when she met him last year...


... from Michelle Malkin:


The woman is clearly anguished about her son's death, as any parent would be. But in her grief, she has lost sight of the fact that her 24-year-old son, Casey, proudly and willingly served. Sheehan's father told the press in April 2004 that his son had re-enlisted the previous August, planned to make a career in the military, and "loved the Army because it gave him a chance to serve his country." I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for his mother's crazy accusations that he was murdered by his commander-in-chief, rather than the Iraqi terrorists who ambushed his convoy. I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for a bunch of strangers glomming onto his mother's crusade and using him to undermine the war effort as they shouted "W killed her son" (http://www.democrats.com/node/5595) in front of countless TV cameras.

Cindy Sheehan has surrounded herself with a group of anti-American, anti-military, terrorist-sympathizing agitators, including Code Pink (http://www.codepink4peace.org/), the Crawford Peace House (http://www.ntimc.org/newswire.php?story_id=2283&PHPSESSID=5921f60089d2d31ee6ba3b653f1da559), and the crackpot (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0506/S00280.htm) crowd (http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/3095).

It's a sad spectacle. President Bush should continue to treat Mrs. Sheehan with the same compassion and sympathy he showed her when they first met--before her heart and mind were poisoned by the professional grievance-mongers who claim to be her friends.

[Cartman]

Original story about Ms. Sheehan's first visit with the President:

http://www.thereporter.com/republished

[rossshow]

http://www.otwa.com/community/showpost.php?p=286927&postcount=80

[Buffalo]

It is wrong for our military to be in Iraq fighting this illegal and immoral war.

Cindy's question to Bush, "What is the noble cause". Is valid. Where is it written that free speech and the right to petition the government is limited by the administration's terms and conditions?

The administration has not answered Cindy's question because they cannot admit they are wrong, liars and war mongers. Bush's statement that the military needs to complete the mission is a perfect example of the hypocrisy that is this adminstration. Have you that support bush and his neo-con agenda forgotten May 1, 2003 when your leader fearlessly put on a costume and stood under the "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner?

Attacking people simply because they are exercising their civil rights is a reflection of own your fear that Cindy Sheehan, her supporters and other like minded individuals are correct.

It's pretty easy to post some derogative messages on a board under the cover of anonymity. Cindy Sheehan has taken her position public. Think about your fears and your leaders' fears the next time you attack Cindy. Can you say that you and your leaders share the same courage as she?

[Cartman]

Blah blah blah.

There is not a single courageous thing about Cindy Sheehan!

She is a left-wing lunatic who is betraying the ideas and the memory of her son.

She should be ashamed of herself!

She has also been accused of being anti-semitic, though I wouldn't personally level that charge.

Here are some of the things she has said BEFORE her handlers got her under control:

"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,"“My son was killed after L. Paul Bremer inflamed the Shi'a by taking away their tv station and newspapers.”

Also, American households, by a pretty large margin, don't agree with or support Cindy Sheehan - by EVERY poll out there! Here is one from AOL:
AOL Poll: Cindy's Support Fading

Watching Bush-bashing Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan's press coverage, you'd think she has won the hearts and minds of Americans by universal acclamation.

But a massive poll by America Online suggests that Sheehan is actually losing the public opinion battle by a landslide.

Asked: "Do you agree with Sheehan's views?" Cindy's supporters trail her critics, 56 to 44 percent, with nearly 290,000 Americans responding to the technically unscientific survey.

Asked, "Do you agree with Sheehan's tactics?" Cindy faired even worse, losing that contest 59 to 44 percent. Other, much smaller "scientific" surveys also show Sheehan losing support, but by smaller margins.



Cindy Sheehan: How to Turn a Grieving Mother into a Left-Wing Lunatic

Coming soon to a book store near you.

[Buffalo]

Still ranting about a mother who is grieving the loss of her son.
Well, that's conservative repugnicans for you. All ideology, no courage, the buck always stops somewhere else.

I'd like to make a clarification here. I am always on the side of our WARRIORS.

Our troops safety is paramount.

I am not on the side of our COWARD in chief, who did not have the integrity to follow through on the service that he committed to do. g w took the easy way out of Viet Nam and still did not have the dignity and moral sense to serve his obligation.

That he is sending troops to their deaths, with inadequate equipment, that he is touting himself as the war president and that he will not stand at attention at the coffins of our returning KIA or address the issue of MIA in Iraq is despicable.

[Cartman]

Another great Sheehan quote:


"My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny...you give my son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we'll put this war on trial."

How nutty is that?


And here is a statement by the Sheehan family disassociating themselves from mom:

“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.”


(mom is a kook)

[Cartman]

g w took the easy way out of Viet Nam and still did not have the dignity and moral sense to serve his obligation I bet you have the documents to prove it too!

lol

[Buffalo]

Most Americans (61%) think this war is stupid. They will not be changing their minds. Soon the number will approach vitual unanimity, something like 75%. Which will mean 75% of the public isn't stupid.

[ADMIRAL]

g w took the easy way out of Viet Nam and still did not have the dignity and moral sense to serve his obligation.

And your service to our nation is ??????????????????

Buffalo, go take a look at Mt. Rushmore.

Then ............... take a flyin' leap, preferably a "swan dive" off Washington's nose. :1clap3:

[Buffalo]

g w is the one who dishonored HIS uniform

why do you fall into lockstep behind a COWARD?

are you proud of g w's service record?

if you dishonored the country the way he did you'd be sitting in jail

why does g w get a free pass on being a deserter?

why do those who are serving in Iraq keep getting the back door draft?

are you proud of your deserter president

[ADMIRAL]

What makes you "think" that I would believe your malarkey? :D

And your service to our country is ?????????????? :i-roller:

[Buffalo]

People throughout history ask such questions.

What makes you so special, Martin Luther King, Jr.?

What makes you so special, Lech Walensa?

What makes you so special, ADMIRAL?

Some people, precious few, just got it, is the answer.

[Cartman]

blah, blah, blahOh yeah!

http://www.80stees.com/images/products/Kool_Aid_t-shirt_link.jpg

[ADMIRAL]

Buffalo, and your service to our nation is ??????????????????

[Buffalo]

Got any new lines?

Those cliches are getting pretty threadbare.

[ADMIRAL]

Some people, precious few, just got it, is the answer.

How nice for you that your puffed-up ego allows you to be one of the "precious few." :1clap8:


And your service to our nation is ??????????????????



(sorry if the question is just too tough for you to answer)

[Buffalo]

I admire Cindy for her efforts

The bottom line....Casey Sheehan GAVE HIS LIFE for this country.
g w couldn't be bothered to show up for his duty and disrespected the uniform issued to him

[ADMIRAL]

Got any new lines?

Those cliches are getting pretty threadbare.

No.
I shall be equally (or perhaps more) redundant than a Buffalo. :p

However, bereft of substance does aptly describe your posts. :1cryhard:

[Cartman]

g w couldn't be bothered to show up for his duty and disrespected the uniform issued to himThat is your OPINION!

51% of the country obviously didn't agree with you when that argument was made last year.

Official documents show, and history will record, that President Bush completed his service in the National Guard and was HONORABLY DISCHARCHED.

Those are the facts - and any suggestion to the contrary is based only on conjecture.

[Buffalo]

Keep yapping. Your yellow belly is showing. You and Limbaugh have a laugh at the mother of a dead soldier. Casey Sheehan is dead. Trashing his mother won't stop the question from coming. And they will keep coming...

[Buffalo]

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29952There are more and more voices within the party and military who are beginning to acknowledge that the situation in Iraq is not only not improving, but is actually getting worse," said Jim Cason of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a lobby group that opposed the war.

And an analysis Thursday, "Bad Iraq War News Has Some in the GOP (Republican Party) Worried over '06 Vote," argued that even among staunch war hawks in Congress, Iraq was fast becoming a political albatross of Vietnam-like dimensions.

To the surprise of many observers, Bush, who has spent three weeks at his ranch desperately avoiding meeting with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who has emerged as an anti-war icon, has done nothing to dispel the growing malaise.
Lost touch? Ya think?

[ADMIRAL]

...........won't stop the question from coming. And they will keep coming...

Well, good ol' Buffalo is correct.
The question will be asked once again.

Buffalo, what have you done to serve your nation?


P.S.

Your whining, sniveling, and thus far your ignoring the above question does not qualify as serving your country.

[Buffalo]

I hope this will help you move on and get back on topic.

have I served my country-yes
did I see action-yes
am I proud of it-no
do I like talking about it-no

How about a poem ADMIRAL

After thirty years I still see faces in my dreams,
some who never grew to be old men.
Most went off to war with honor and pride,
hoping their future they would win.


The images float by like specters,
I see some laughing while others cry.
Each one from a different background,
none thought they might be mangled or die.


I had hoped to put them all to rest,
I had hoped that time would make them fade.
But as the years slip by the more I remember,
the more of my dreams they do invade

[ADMIRAL]

I hope this will help you move on and get back on topic.

Buffie, you are the one who needs to move (on).
You seem to be very constipated.

Your self-proclaimed lack of pride in serving your country shows the lack of RESPECT
you have for those who paid the ultimate price in their service .........
those who have given to you the priviledge to post your marlarkey and be a total and complete fool.

Congratulations. :1finger1:

[rossshow]

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45883

Now there's an onslaught of ebay auctions.

[Powerhouse]

What a dumb bitch - if she doesn't pay her taxes it will be only she on trial - not any government policy - and a very short trial it will be since she openly admits not paying her taxes.
Do they even HAVE trials for that? I thought they just garnished paychecks and seized property through court orders for tax assessments.
Stupid cow.

[Buffalo]

The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 16); Go home and take care of your kids

--a message from Cindy Sheehan

I have received dozens of emails with this heading: Go Home and Take Care of Your Kids. I think of all the name calling and unnecessary and untrue trashing of my character, this one offends me the most. What do the people who send me this message mean?

First of all, it offends me because it is so blatantly sexist. Would anyone think of emailing George Bush when he is out and about (now he is going on a vacation away from his vacation to make speeches in Idaho and Utah defending his killing policies), telling him to go and take care of his kids? Does anyone write to ANY man and tell him to go home and take care of his kids. I have news for all of these people, my children are adults and their dad is home to take care of them if they need any taking care of.

The second reason this command from the self-righteous right offends me is that I believe that what I am doing is for my children, and the world's children. I think that the strategy of eternal baseless war for corporate profit and greed is bad for all of our children: born and unborn. We heard a few weeks ago that Rummy said that we would be in Iraq for at least a dozen more years, and we recently heard over the weekend that the military is planning for four more years of this occupation, at least. If Rummy is correct, then Soccer Safety Mom Susie's kindergartener will be fighting and dying in the harsh sands of the Middle East and if the military is correct than NASCAR Dad Nick's middle-schooler should start boot camp now. I hate to be the one to break it to America, but constant war is not a positive family value and this administration's policies are not making us more secure.

We as mothers need to stop buying into the load of misogynistic crap that our children need our constant presence in their lives so they can thrive and grow. What we need as families are strong support systems that allow each family member to grow and achieve his/her full potential as human beings. What we as Moms need to stop doing is giving our children to the military industrial war complex to be used as human cluster bombs: to kill innocent civilians and to perhaps die enriching and feeding the gluttonous war machine.

It is up to us Moms to make sure our children are whole and safe. We can start doing this by always opposing the wars that bury our kids before us. So what I am saying to the people who want me to go home and take care of my kids: I AM taking care of my kids, and yours, too.

[Buffalo]

Do people not realize that what Cindy is doing is for the greater good? Be thankful that she is taking a stand., when so many wouldn't.

[Powerhouse]

Do people not realize that what Cindy is doing is for the greater good? Be thankful that she is taking a stand., when so many wouldn't.

I think that it IS for the greater good - but that doesn't support lunatic activities - in that she may eventually hurt the 'greater good' by continuing to use such tactics.

Just a play on an old expression - 'enough is enough'.

I think there will come a time when popular support will turn against her if she utilizes certain tatics for too long. Some of that I speak of can be seen in the recent birth of the pro-military group camp that has sprung up nearby.
She needs to work on a new line - something to shock, surprise and refocus the message.
The 'no taxes' thing is a good one, but now that it is out and it's clock is running she already needs a new approach lest she becomes the victim of her own proclaimations.

[agentorange]

Buffalo, if you served your country and are ashamed of doing so, as you claim, then shame on you, and since you're such a rascal, you should be too ashamed to partake in any further political debate in America. How many innocent commies did you kill? How many innocent nazis did you butcher? LOL, since you think they are all innocent, and you are ashamed, I will now agree with you that you are a murderer, and a criminal, and have no business engaging in debate--you belong behind bars, by your own admission.

--a message from Cindy Sheehan

I have received dozens of emails with this heading: Go Home and Take Care of Your Kids. I think of all the name calling and unnecessary and untrue trashing of my character, this one offends me the most. What do the people who send me this message mean?
They mean that since your own family is disgusted by you, and has publicly chastized you and disowned you, that you better fix it before it's too late. Your mother had a stroke because of the stress you caused your own family, and you're lucky to find nary a relative who will even talk to you at this point.

First of all, it offends me because it is so blatantly sexist. Would anyone think of emailing George Bush when he is out and about (now he is going on a vacation away from his vacation to make speeches in Idaho and Utah defending his killing policies), telling him to go and take care of his kids? Does anyone write to ANY man and tell him to go home and take care of his kids. I have news for all of these people, my children are adults and their dad is home to take care of them if they need any taking care of.
Is there any evidence that Bush doesn't take care of his kids? Women are nurturers, men are bread winners, that's instinct. Sure, some families have a lesbo butch bitch taking charge while the faggoty hubby sits at home mopping bathrooms--but that's not nature. If this is what you wish to shove down our throats, go for it, but understand how silly and insane it is before you go thinking everyone agress with you. If you think your family doesn't need "taken care of" then I fucking wonder, you cruel, heartless CUNT, why the mother fuck you're out there championing for your DEAD son as if he is all that ever mattered? LOL, I think you're seeking publicity for yourself. Maybe you'll nab a reality TV show in the end? WOOOT~!

The second reason this command from the self-righteous right offends me is that I believe that what I am doing is for my children, and the world's children. I think that the strategy of eternal baseless war for corporate profit and greed is bad for all of our children: born and unborn. We heard a few weeks ago that Rummy said that we would be in Iraq for at least a dozen more years, and we recently heard over the weekend that the military is planning for four more years of this occupation, at least. If Rummy is correct, then Soccer Safety Mom Susie's kindergartener will be fighting and dying in the harsh sands of the Middle East and if the military is correct than NASCAR Dad Nick's middle-schooler should start boot camp now. I hate to be the one to break it to America, but constant war is not a positive family value and this administration's policies are not making us more secure.
Please name the specific corporations that are profitting from this war, and then state a case for their association with president Bush. Then, explain how being in Iraq for "a dozen years" is any different than being in GERMANY SINCE 1945 (we're STILL THERE)... Uhhh, did you sleep during our past wars or is this the first you've heard of it? The men and women still stationed in Germany, Vietnam, France, and all around the world, long after conflict has ended, CHOOSE TO BE THERE--it's entirely volunteer. They WANT to be there, they are not "kept there like prisoners". In 12 years, when we merely have a couple bases in Iraq, the same will be true. Nobody in the military is "stolen from their homes and planted there", as you suggest, you stupid worthless twat.

We as mothers need to stop buying into the load of misogynistic crap that our children need our constant presence in their lives so they can thrive and grow.
Your son wanted so badly to have your "constant presence" out of his life that he enlisted in the military and volunteered to go to Iraq, just to escape for your rotting cunt, and now, after he was killed, you're still badgering him, ruining him, destroying his legacy. I wonder if this is your cruel brand of punishment or if you lived a tortured life like only*irish*lass and just feel relieved after you rip someone's throat out? What is WRONG with you, lady!! Children DO need the constant presence of thier parents in their lives--that's what FAMILY is all about your dispicable feminazi bitch. GOD DAMN!

What we need as families are strong support systems that allow each family member to grow and achieve his/her full potential as human beings. What we as Moms need to stop doing is giving our children to the military industrial war complex to be used as human cluster bombs: to kill innocent civilians and to perhaps die enriching and feeding the gluttonous war machine.
Did you "give" your son to Bush's war? Oh, so then it's all YOUR FAULT. Okay, so then we should be attacking YOU, not Bush, since you just said you "gave your son to the military industrial war complex". Did you drag him by his ears? God, you must be feeling so much GUILT right now, I would if I were you, I mean you gave him away to this war, and he died as a result, SHAME ON YOU!

It is up to us Moms to make sure our children are whole and safe. We can start doing this by always opposing the wars that bury our kids before us. So what I am saying to the people who want me to go home and take care of my kids: I AM taking care of my kids, and yours, too.
No, you're alientating yourself from your own family and while doing so you're enjoying your 15 minutes of fame. You're a disgusting monster, and if you were my mother, I'd shoot myself in shame. Looks like your son did the same thing, only he chose another avenue to escape your embarassments. I hope you rot in hell SLUTTY SHEEHAN, or whatever your name is, you horrible rabid animal.
__________________

[agentorange]

...and I do not support the invasion of Iraq, and I am not a republican, and I don't respect any member of either the democratic or republican party as they are braindead sheep, pawned off and used as the stupid sheeple they are so willing to be.

If you have any sort of mind or brain function at all, you'll see that truth and common sense don't come "bundled with microsoft", or any of the two political parties that so dominate/seperate America--they come with thinking on your own, and being yourself, and seeking truth. It's quite a sad state of affairs this country is in, and it's NEVER GOING TO GET BETTER, EVER. National ID cards are on the way, and your "bill of rights" is on the way... OUT.

Cry, scream, hurl fuckin' chunks, you stupid beasts of the system, cuz tomorrow you'll be decked out in green uniforms doing the Hitler dance, for "patriotism", or doing the Stalin dance for "compassion". It's all the fucking god damn same thing--you either wanna rip the money from the successful or rip the souls from the poor--it all winds up the same, PRISONERS OF OUR OWN GOVERNMENT, and government supposedly (although long gone from practice) elected by the PEOPLE! LOL~! I love it.

Please let me know when people can be left the mother fuck alone, to do as they wish in peace, please? Maybe then I'll visit one of those "airports" you people keep talking about. "Take your shoes off for homeland". AHAHAHAHA!!!!! This country is such a joke, I laugh every fucking day I venture out to see a segment of society I don't OWN, like my home, where silly shit like that doesn't happen. Well, I do ask that children under age 10 spit out bubble gum, but that's my right and it's so annoying to watch tots chew cud.

[Shadowcat]

My goodness. Such angst. Why are people so afraid of this woman?

[Buffalo]

Hi Shadowcat :)

To mention what a sack you have to be to actually besmirch the mom of a dead soldier. I mean, seriously. But you'd think anyone with half a wit would find it wrong-minded to tear this woman down. Here's a woman who lost her son to combat in, whether you agree with this war or not, a hotly contested war. Her kid is dead. And people think it's fashionable to then take shots at her.

It's kind of creepy actually.

[agentorange]

To mention what a sack you have to be to actually besmirch the mom of a dead soldier. I mean, seriously. But you'd think anyone with half a wit would find it wrong-minded to tear this woman down. Here's a woman who lost her son to combat in, whether you agree with this war or not, a hotly contested war. Her kid is dead. And people think it's fashionable to then take shots at her.
Take shots at her? LOL! She has stomped on the legacy of her own son and the legacy of every other soldier that died in the war, and she sympathizes with the enemy, calling the terrorists "freedom fighters", and when people stand up to this LUNATIC, you call it "attacking a poor mother". Screw her. Alot of people lost relatives in the war, not just her, and in America, losing somebody tragicly doesn't make you invinceable or immune to dissent. This freakshow isn't any more or less special than anyone else in this country, and she made NO SACRIFICE for this country, her son did, and she's ashamed of him. I think she should be expelled from this country and forced to live amongst the "freedom fighters" she's so warm and fuzzy to.

[flawedplan]

My first post in the politics forum. Save your stinking breath, Basestealer, I have you on ignore.


http://www.buckfush.com/images/bush_Troops_Illogic.jpg


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Bartcop.com


Excerpt:

Cindy Sheehan is now purportedly "channeling" her slain son, Casey, from heaven,
suggesting he's calling Bush "an idiot," and she claims to have "tens of thousands of angels"
supporting her cause to bring home immediately American troops serving in Iraq.

Cindy also reflected on the days immediately after Casey's birth, noting, "I looked in his eyes
and it looked like he could tell what I was thinking. That's very disarming when you have
a week-old baby looking at you, and you know he knows what you're thinking."

Bart:

So, if you believe in the afterlife that's proof you're insane?
That's an odd position for a Republican to use to smear a military mom.

And if a mother feels like she's connecting with her baby, that's proof
that she's nuts and shouldn't have an opinion on Bush's bloody quagmire?

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

From James Wolcott:
http://jameswolcott.com/

Talking about moms against moms and the male imperative he says


...If this were the Sixties redux, they wouldn't put on a John Bircher opposite a civil rights leader, they'd find some Southern Negro to testify that they don't need some interloper like Martin Luther King marching into their communities and stirring up more trouble than it's worth. Or some Larry Elder or Larry Cain lift-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps pro-business cheerleader to argue that federal intervention isn't needed to uproot segregation, that the free market will remedy black society's ills if only these self-appointed troublemakers would butt out.

That's how the game is played now. Pit members of the same minority against each other for the benefit of privileged white bystanders hoarding their poker chips.

But I think there's something else festering in the mind of Sheehan's slimers: our old friends Rampant Sexism and Snobbish Classism. Men in authority, and those opinonmakers who polish that authority to a fine shine with their diligent tongues, resent being questioned by women. They consider it nagging, and nagging reminds them of their mother or wife, or a wife that reminds them of their mother.

"Bush's self-deprecating humor was evident throughout the lengthy interview. 'Why would you want to marry a weak woman?' he asks rhetorically, at one point. 'I was attracted to Laura because of her strength -- her beauty and her strength. And my mother? I didn't have any choice with her.'"

A very double-edged comment from Bush, lending credence to the suspicion that men who take public pride in declaring they're comfortable around strong women are blowing smoke. They may be conning themselves as much as they're trying to con us, but the truth is that the strong women they respect are those who play by men's rules. Who know just how far to "push it" before they back off.

Many men respect strong women in a professional capacity, and have no problem with being part of a power couple. But "power" is the operative word.

Men in positions of authority are less threatened by a Condi Rice or Hillary Clinton or Lynne Cheney or Ann Coulter or Michelle Malkin than they are by--well, we'll get to that. Point is, women who play by power rules and fit into the power grid are granted starring roles in political theater. The others are extras and should stay on the sidelines where they belong.

It's women who aren't on the power grid and refuse to stay on the sidelines who get mocked and derided as nags, scolds, and "emotional predators" (to use the disgusting Edmund Morris's sneer phrase). Who, having made their point, should stifle themselves, as Archie Bunker so often told Edith.

Consider how many of the corporate whistleblowers were women trying to be heard above the clubbish din of male executives and who had the courage to go up against the . Or Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower who sounded the alarm about Zacarias Moussaui, and for her audacity to write a follow-up memo about anti-terrorist strategy and tactics was called "a fool" by National Review Online's Ramesh Ponnuru.

In fact, pause here and read Ponnuru's entire post from March, 2003. Knowing what we know now about Iraq, WMDs, and the efficacy of the Bush doctrine of preemptive war, who's the fool?

Or consider the 9/11 widows, particularly the "Jersey Girls." At first the support and sympathy for their campaign for a 9/11 commission to investigate the unanswered questions and security failures of that day were near universal. But when they kept pushing and prodding, refusing to go away and take no for an answer, the attack poodles turned on them for being publicity gluttons "awash in their sense of victim entitlement." How dare they use their mourning to make demands? How dare they mobilize their grief and frustration into a truth campaign?

So, too, is Cindy Sheehan accused of exploiting her own victim mentality--found guilty of refusing to take the hint and get lost. Of being a public nuisance. It's bad manners for her to hang around longer than Edmund Morris and Bill O'Reilly deem appropriate. Bad manners for her to be so unslick and unschooled in soundbite banter. Bad manners for a mere lowly citizen to question the decisions of the country's leaders, and to insist on a personal accounting, a meeting that would require the president to respond as a responsible leader and not as a swaggering war president showing off his big belt buckle as he moseys up to the mike. Cindy Sheehan's sin is asking Bush to stop playacting, step out of his stilted role, and speak to her like an honest human being.

Today I learned that one of the young men on the staff of our co-op building died last week in Iraq. He and another soldier were killed when their Humvee struck a roadside bomb and the vehicle came under small arms fire. He was 29, a real nice guy. I can't pretend to have known him well. He was more of a familiar face. But seeing that familiar face on the front of the condolence card (a photograph of him smiling in his uniform at the camera) hit me hard, brought death to the doorstep. Each death diminishes us as a people. I'm going to plan my evenings better so that the next time there's a candlelight vigil to support Cindy Sheehan, I'm part of it instead of passing by. Such vigils may look quaint, literally candles in the wind, but what else is one to do?

[flawedplan]

http://www.buckfush.com/images/bush_Ignores_Cindy_Sheehan.jpg

[agentorange]

My first post in the politics forum. Save your stinking breath, Basestealer, I have you on ignore.
If you had me on ignore, you'd have no way of knowing I was even posting to this thread, you psychotic, anti-social puddle of crazy. However, I am glad you relate to Cindy, now that she's under your wing her mental health issues are clear for all to see.

I'm going to plan my evenings better so that the next time there's a candlelight vigil to support Cindy Sheehan, I'm part of it instead of passing by. Such vigils may look quaint, literally candles in the wind, but what else is one to do? For normal people, I say get on with your lives. For people like you, I suggest you check yourself into the nearest psych ward for a life sentence of constant medication, supervision, and velcro restraints.