Bush Responds to Cindy Sheehan >>>

[Cartman]

Dear Mrs. Sheehan,

You have asked me to identify the noble cause for which your son died. I have not answered you personally out of respect for the nobility of your son's sacrifice.

Being president forces me into the spotlight, but I would rather stand in the shadows of men like Casey Sheehan.

Directing national attention on my response to your protest creates a distraction from what matters. The focus of our attention, and our admiration, should rest on people like Casey Sheehan, who stand in the breach when evil threatens to break out and consume a helpless people.

The running story on the news networks should be the valiant efforts of our troops -- the merchants of mercy who export freedom and import honor. They trade their own lives for the sake of others.

As a result, we live in a nation where a woman can camp outside of the president's house and verbally attack the president for weeks on end without fear of prison, torture or death. And the number of nations where such protest is possible has multiplied thanks to the work of our military.

You ask for what noble cause your son died?

In a sense he died so that people like you, who passionately oppose government policies, can freely express that opposition. As you camp in Crawford, you should take off your shoes, for you stand on holy ground. This land was bought with the blood of men like your son.

Now, 25 million Iraqis cry out to enjoy the life you take for granted. Most of them will never use their freedom to denigrate the sacrifice of those who paid for it. But once liberty is enshrined in law, they will be free to do so. And when the Iraqis finally escape their incarceration, hope will spread throughout that enslaved region of the world, eventually making us all safer and more free.

The key is in the lock of the prison door. Bold men risk everything to turn it.

Mrs. Sheehan, everyone dies. But few experience the bittersweet glory of death with a purpose -- death that sets people free and produces ripples of liberty hundreds of years into the future.

Casey Sheehan died that freedom might triumph over bondage, hope over despair, prosperity over misery. He died restoring justice and mercy. He lived and died to help to destroy the last stubborn vestiges of the Dark Ages.

To paraphrase President Lincoln, the world will little note nor long remember what you and I say here. But it can never forget what Casey Sheehan did during his brief turn on earth. If we are wise, we will take increased devotion to that cause for which he gave the last full measure of devotion.

Our brave warriors have blazed a trail. They have entrusted the completion of the task to those of us they left behind. Let's, you and I, resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

Let's finish the work that they have thus far so nobly advanced.

Sincerely,
George W. Bush

Okay, so the President didn't really say that - but he should have.

http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/002289.html

[Powerhouse]

Or maybe this one:


Yo, Bitch!

I got too much shit to do to listen to your crying.

Why don't you get back to making babies because I've got more wars to launch.

Sincerely,
Da Man.

:1evil3:

[mango man]

yep b is correct ,mikes got it

[socrfan2]

Poor, poor Cartman.

So passionate, such a fool.

Utterly misses the point, as usual (the article --- and Cartman). Just the typical, negative tripe Rove and the rest of the Bush supporters use as a feeble substitute for policy. Whether it's McCain, or Max Cleland, or Kerry, or teachers, or Mrs. Sheehan, the playbook is always the same -- pick whoever your enemy du jour is and make them the devil: that's sure to make your guy look better. And maybe people will ignore his utter cluelessness.

To make some kind of point, the article he posts would have to be something that the President plausibly might have written. Let's see, a reasonably eloquent, articulate letter, might have been written by this borderline illiterate? Hmmm.

Or, a letter acknowledging the concerns of a critic, might have been written by the President who has made an art form of utterly ignoring criticism? Yeah, right.

Or the ultimate absurdity, the thought that keeping troops in Iraq has even a miniscule chance of accomplishing any of the lofty goals described in the article. Hilarious.


In a sense he died so that people like you, who passionately oppose government policies, can freely express that opposition. As you camp in Crawford, you should take off your shoes, for you stand on holy ground. This land was bought with the blood of men like your son.

Oh, really? Died to defend Americans' freedoms? How so? Is this the "we either fight them in Baghdad or we fight them in Boston" argument. Cartman, really, you need to get out more.

Now, 25 million Iraqis cry out to enjoy the life you take for granted. Most of them will never use their freedom to denigrate the sacrifice of those who paid for it. But once liberty is enshrined in law, they will be free to do so. And when the Iraqis finally escape their incarceration, hope will spread throughout that enslaved region of the world, eventually making us all safer and more free.

Even the Bush apparatchiks now acknowledge that the likely "best case" outcome would be a Shi'a-dominated Islamic republic which leans toward but isn't overtly allied with Iran. Probably more likely (certainly the course the Shi'a and Kurds are on) is to break up into three "autonomous" states, one a Shi'a "state" that's pretty much a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran, one a Kurdish state that's in a de facto state of war with it's nearest neighbors (Turkey, Iran, and Sunni Iraq), and a Sunni hellhole with Baghdad but no oil, no economy to speak of, and plenty of reason to make trouble for its "countrymen". Other possible outcomes include all-out civil war, Mogadishu revisited, etc.

The key is in the lock of the prison door. Bold men risk everything to turn it.

What utter nonsense. From most Iraqis' POV, they traded in one jailer who was nasty and capricious for another who prepares legal memoranda to justify his mass incarcerations.

Mrs. Sheehan, everyone dies. But few experience the bittersweet glory of death with a purpose -- death that sets people free and produces ripples of liberty hundreds of years into the future.

Casey Sheehan died that freedom might triumph over bondage, hope over despair, prosperity over misery. He died restoring justice and mercy. He lived and died to help to destroy the last stubborn vestiges of the Dark Ages.


There aren't as many as 200 people left who pretend we're trying to accomplish anything to match these lofty words. Hoping against hope that "our SOBs" will be marginally more successful than "their SOBs," perhaps. Hoping that whenever the time comes that we realize it's unrecoverable, that they at least hold off on fighting long enough to let us have a nice ceremony on the tarmac before we scuttle -- so much better than lifting the last evacuees off the embassy roof in helicopters.

One last question for anyone who thinks we're "on the right track." They've been there two years and haven't secured the road from their airport to the capital city yet. Can anyone conceive of a clearer definition of "losing"? US troops could be there for 40 years (and they may be), and the insurgency will be stronger then than it is now. Cheney's babbling about "last gasps of the insurgency" are no more credible than (and increasingly reminiscent of) the endless promises a generation ago of "light at the end of the tunnel."

Cartman, go back to being a netcop, or whacking off in your bedroom when Mom's out, or whatever it is you normally do. As a political commentator, you're really a joke.

[Cartman]

I love how liberals always turn to personal attacks whan they can't win debates (or elections).


Hoping that whenever the time comes that we realize it's unrecoverable, that they at least hold off on fighting long enough to let us have a nice ceremony on the tarmac before we scuttle -- so much better than lifting the last evacuees off the embassy roof in helicopters. It's almost like you are rooting for the Terrorists!

What's up with that?



.

[rossshow]

It's almost like you are rooting for the Terrorists!

That old saw?

Arrgggh.

I fucking hate politics. It cheapens the whole aspect of fighting. OF COURSE there's gonna be a fight.

Yawn.

[socrfan2]

No, shithead, I'm not "rooting for the terrorists". Different day, same old lame arguments from the sheep who blindly read the talking points they get in the mail "baa, baa, WMD, baa, baa, supported 9-11 attacks, baa, baa, the good Iraqis will welcome us with open arms, baa, baa, there's no insurgency, just a few Baath party holdouts, baa, baa, Abu Ghraib prisoners were terrorists, baa, baa, now that we caught Saddam, the insurgency will die, baa, baa, Chalabi is Iraq's George Washington, baaa, baa, Chalabi is a crook and a thief, baa, baa, Chalabi is a crafty policitican, baa, baa, now that we handed off sovereignty it'll all be wonderful, baa, baa, it's the media's fault baa, baa, John Kerry cheated to get his medals, baa, baa, Cindy Sheehan is a traitor." Gawd, you guys are funny. When do you finally say "duh, maybe this is a mistake"?

It's coming on three years now that I've been listening to ignorant jackasses accuse me of being "pro-terrorist" or "hating America" because I thought since day 1 that the invasion of Iraq was going to have a bad end. Well, guess what, I was right.

The people "rooting for the terrorists" seemingly are the people who have been their most effective recruiters -- Dubya and his minions. The people disrespecting our troops are the people who think they should continue to stay there, in insufficient numbers to do anything meaningful, and support a "policy" that our leaders can't even articulate. Do I think we're doomed to fail? Yes, I do. Am I happy about that? No, I'm not. But no amount of saying "we kicked Saddam's azz and now we're gonna kick the insurgents' azzes" is going to change the reality on the ground.

But keep believing, Cartman. It's amusing to watch.

[Cartman]

It's coming on three years now that I've been listening to [my fellow American citizens] accuse me of being "pro-terrorist" or "hating America" I didn't figure that I was the first to point that out to you.



If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck ...


:1bradquac



.

[socrfan2]

No, Cartman, you're far from the first bigoted, blowhard, jingo moron I've run into on the boards. Less original than most of them, but certainly of the type. "Roobus Americanus" -- the typical American rube: "I got mine, Jack", "up yours", and "if you love Iraq so much, why don't you move there." Really persuasive arguments.

I could see you 100 years ago, working for Pinkerton breaking strikes (well, probably not, but cheering them on), 60 years ago cheering the people as they interned the Japanese, and 40 years ago cheering Bull Connor as he turned the fire hose on the civil rights marchers. Yee-hah, go git im, podner!!!!! Let's see if he can swim with all these chains on im!!!!

Unless you're posting from your tent in Iraq, all your blatherings about the war on terror are just so much wind.

[flawedplan]

Excerpt from Bartcop: (http://www.bartcop.com/1607.htm)


They say Bush is a dirty, lying rat bastard

He showed pathological lying habits and was in denial when challenged on his prejudices and biases.
He would even deny saying something he just said 30 seconds ago. He was famous for that. . . .

Students who challenged and embarrassed Bush in class would then become the subject of a whispering
campaign by him, Tsurumi said. “In class, he couldn’t challenge them. But after class, he sometimes came
up to me in the hallway and started bad-mouthing those students who had challenged him. He would
complain that someone was drinking too much. It was innuendo and lies. So that’s how I knew, behind
his smile and his smirk, that he was a very insecure, cunning and vengeful guy.

This past week when George W. Bush stood on the lawn of his ranch in Crawford, he declared
that he supported Cindy Sheehan’s constitutional right to her strong opinion against the war in Iraq.
"This is America," he said. And the minute he was on the record as backing her First Amendment rights,
his attack dogs (http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/Amr0819.htm) went after her.

Excerpt from

BUSH LAUNCHES OPERATION CINDY SHEEHAN:

http://www.bartcop.com/spin_city805.jpg


Once again, Karl Rove has let the dogs out. A vicious campaign to maul Citizen Sheehan is in play. Instead of answering her questions -- the right wing media hacks are focusing on her motives, her mental health, her ideology and her family. These are standard and classic Rovian tactics used to smear administration critics. The predictable pundits at FOX have taken the lead by portraying Sheehan as a treasonous “crackpot” who is exploiting the death of her son to gain fame and fortune and advance the extremist political agenda of leftist “anti-American” groups. Hate radio stations across the nations are assailing Cindy’s integrity and questioning her patriotism.

The objective of this smear campaign is to draw fire away from Bush. Instead of focusing on the argument between Sheehan and the president -- we now have a contest between Sheehan’s supporters and her detractors. What started out as a search for the truth is being reduced to an ideological spat between the left and the right.

The success of the White House plan of attack is by no means certain. Unlike the small band of neo-cons that infest the administration, most Americans are not glued to any ideology. They tend to navigate the political landscape using nothing more than their common sense. Millions of honorable conservatives want answers to Cindy’s questions. As for the phantom “extreme left” in America -- it only exists in the imagination of the extreme right, which unfortunately has a very real constituency.

Still, one should never underestimate Karl Rove. The man has an unenviable track record in the smear industry. Vilifying Cindy puts her on the defensive and obliges her to fend off vicious attacks questioning her motives, her agenda and her ideology.

...The smear campaign against Sheehan has other advantages. It gives the mainstream media a pass from concentrating on George Bush and his failed policies in Iraq. Let there be no doubt that the mainstream media barons have as much stake in this drama as the president. Judith Miller is but one example of the many “journalists” and publishers who conspired with the White House to market this war of choice and pull off the WMD hoax. So, don’t expect them to push the envelope.


...Although Karl Rove has the MSM freaks of nature in his back pocket, he still has his work cut out for him. His adversary is a white middle class small town practicing Catholic mother who married her high school sweetheart at the age of 17. Cindy Sheehan descended on Crawford armed with nothing more than a few legitimate inquiries about the cause of the quagmire in Iraq. In a single year of political activism -- she has managed to earn recognition as a national leader in the peace movement. So far, the Bush administration has vastly underestimated her ability to clearly frame questions regarding the disaster in Iraq. Like, why are we still there and why did we go there in the first place? Who was responsible for the WMD hoax and how can we hold them accountable? When do we bring the troops home and when do we get straight answers?

...For Cindy to succeed in her noble mission, we need a sudden outbreak of journalism in America. We need to shove aside the professional character assassins at CNN and FOX. We can never hope to shame the clowns on hate radio. Their shame genes were absent at birth. It is a worthless exercise to expect a rational exchange with those endowed with the intellect of cartoon characters. These right wing hacks specialize in the art of distraction. The best way to get around their attempts to shield the president from having to answer Cindy’s questions is to ignore their ideological tantrums and keep pressing for answers from Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice and Congress.

[rossshow]

http://www.otwa.com/community/showthread.php?t=33151