Cindy Sheehan Category Archive

News from Texas about Crawford Peace House, Cindy Sheehan's base of operations. Apparently, there are questions being raised about where all the money went.

Courtesy of KAS Publicity, authors Cat Moy and Melanie Morgan were kind enough to answer a set of questions I posed to mark the launch of their book, American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War--Torn by Beliefs. When I was offered the opportunity, I decided to ask the obvious question:

As a blogger, I am acutely aware that what I write is ephemeral. It exists only on the web, to be read and then forgotten by the the modest readership I have gathered, to whom, of course, I am always grateful. But I'm not a product of the digital age. I was raised on books, and to me, unless it appears on a book on a library shelf, it will be lost to time, and probably very quickly. The printed page -- and I mean printed on paper -- is the only real way to preserve information for the future.

So it is with that in mind that I am both excited and humbled to see my name in print in a real, honest-to-goodness book. I'm sure it sounds silly to you, but for me, I know now that my kids and their kids and their kids who will be born well after I'm gone can go to a library, pull this book off the shelf, open it up, and say, "That's grandpa. He made a bit of a splash way back then."

Her fifteen minutes long past, Cindy Sheehan is the subject of a book by journalists Cat Moy and Melanie Morgan. A serious look at Cindy Sheehan had to wait until the intensity of the media spotlight faded away.

In part, the book is an emotional look at the lives of two soldiers, Casey Sheehan and Justin Johnson, close friends and proud soldiers who lost their lives within six days of each other in Iraq, and the dramatically different ways in which Casey's mother Cindy and Justin's father Joe dealt with the grief. But more importantly, it looks at the political phenomenon that was Cindy Sheehan, at the powers behind her crusade, and how she was used by those eager to advance their own agenda.

That analysis might turn out to be very important during the next presidential election.

With her book hitting the shelves next week, Cindy Sheehan reveals she fantasizes about going back in time and killing George W Bush when he was an infant and so preventing the Iraq War. The revulsion evoked by discussing infanticide notwithstanding, her plan could never work because of the inevitable intervention of Skippy the Wonder Dog.

New information has been released concerning Cindy Sheehan's condition. Unfortunately, it deals only with the treatment. We already know the symptom. We still don't know the cause. And as long as Cindy Sheehan's people are using her medical situation as a part of their political theatre, it's fair to ask about the exact nature of her condition.

According to one of Cindy Sheehan's colleagues at Gold Star Families for Peace, Cindy Sheehan went to hospital to undergo a transfusion to treat blood loss amounting to an astounding five pints! Gynecologically speaking, there are not too many ways to lose that much blood, especially since Cindy Sheehan has not undergone any surgery recently.

Did Cindy Sheehan grossly overpay for the land in Crawford, Texas? The answer really depends on whether the money spent has helped reach the desired goal. The answer right now seems to be that it has not.

We now know about Cindy Sheehan's cordial relationship with paleo-libertarian Lew Rockwell. What about the cordial relationship she predicted she would have with her new neighbours?

Cindy Sheehan's divorce had less to do with her political crusade last summer, and more to do with her long-running affair with Lew Rockwell, libertarian thinker and fascist detector extraordinaire.

OK, I'm going to do something here that some people won't like.

I'm going to give Cindy Sheehan a huge boost.

How?

By linking to her blog.

Why should it matter? From her Sitemeter:

Total: 332
Average Per Day: 5
Average Visit Length: 1:13
Last Hour: 0
Today: 20
This Week: 34

Five a day? Has she become so irrelevant that you can count the number of people who come to read her writings using the fingers on one hand?

Over the last 30 days, her peak traffic was 44 hits on the June 18. At the time I write this, her day's traffic is 20. I suppose that will change given my Saturday and Sunday traffic runs at over a thousand each day.

Where is her traffic coming from? Mostly Google hits. Besides Google, the most recent hits are coming from this article at AlterNet, a left-wing online independent media outlet.

Her website was created by Theron Parlin, a part-time web designer, so I would doubt this is technical problem.

I just expected something else. A couple of thousand hits a day from adoring fans at Code Pink and elsewhere. But a couple of dozen?

Maybe this is an example of the difference between the media and the people they serve. Cindy Sheehan still makes it in the papers and on TV with her fasts and her foreign trips to visit the likes of Hugo Chavez. But in the blogosphere, where you choose what news you want to read, people are going elsewhere.

Interesting.

Update: Some people have wondered if the blog is, in fact, a parody, or otherwise not legitimate. That might be the case. However, the registration information looked right (including an address in Berkeley where Cindy Sheehan now resides). The email address provided checked out with a comment left on Tim Blair's blog that also seemed right. The link from AlterNet certainly adds credibility. I've scratched my head on why the blog of such an anti-war celebrity seems to be so dead, and I've considered that maybe this isn't her blog at all. But I can't find any reason not to think it is her blog, and several reasons to think it is. If it is a parody, I don't get the joke. But then an unfunny parody is not likely to get a lot of traffic, now is it.

If anyone can confirm this one way or the other, let me know.

Here is something interesting to consider. I just went through every subpage of Michael Moore's recommended links (Alternative Media, Community, etc), and I found no mention of Cindy Sheehan on any page under any category. Daily Kos does not have her on the Blogroll. In fact, Google can't find any pages that link to her blog (too soon for my link to show).

Regrets: I have to say that I am starting to regret highlighting Cindy Sheehan's blog (if indeed it is hers, or run by someone close to her). People have been visiting the blog and leaving some very crude and vicious comments. Obviously I'm not responsible for what someone else does with their online time, but to know that they used my link in order to spew their bile makes me hope that most of my readers are made of better stuff than that. If you are one of those posters and you are reading this, please consider other blogs and websites than mine where you might be welcome. You aren't welcome here.

Casey Sheehan has his monument. Finally.

What about the story behind the story?

Well, here is what I know, from a reporter close to the events. Cindy Sheehan paid for the monument, which she described as "very expensive". There was a small ceremony on Memorial Day (also Casey's birthday) which she attended. It was a private affair -- no media. Apparently, she was embarrassed that the grave was unmarked for two years, and so wanted no one around. Earlier in the day, there was another ceremony attended by local dignitaries and veterans.

Cindy Sheehan did not attend the public ceremony.

To get a better sense of what happened, I got in touch with the family, and here are more details. The details cast a shadow on this moment of closure.

People wonder why it is that now Cindy Sheehan, who controls the money, is putting up a monument. According to my source, Patrick Sheehan forced her to approve of the monument as part of the divorce agreement.

Shocking. I would never have expected that.

The selection of the headstone itself and the verse engraved on it was the result of the effort of Patrick Sheehan and the children, Andy, Carly, and Jane, Patrick did the verse. Cindy Sheehan apparently had no say. It is not clear if she offered no input, or if she was was rejected. I suspect the former. Cindy Sheehan saw and approved the final design before it was completed.

As for the ceremonies: There was a small ceremony on Casey's birthday, May 29, which was attended by immediate family and some local friends. Afterward the group went to a local restaurant. Cindy Sheehan arrived late and left early, made no statement or comment and did not go to the restaurant afterward. Apparently she had a flight to catch. Some political event, I would guess -- but that's only speculation.

There will be another family ceremony, including Casey's paternal grandparents, and sans Cindy Sheehan, at a later date.

So even the conclusion of the saga of Casey headstone, an opportunity for reconciliation and for healing, seems to have been sullied by Cindy Sheehan's intrasigence. Fortunately, the rest of the family seems to have moved on, leaving Cindy Sheehan to plot her own path. It's too bad, because whatever else he might be thinking, Casey certainly could not have wanted this for his mom.

Casey Sheehan finally gets his monument (via email from the family).

CASEY AUSTIN SHEEHAN

May 29, 1979
April 4, 2004

Our Casey

Ever faithful, kind, and gentle. Good
son, beloved brother, brave soldier, dear
friend. You loved your family and lived
your life serving others 'til the end.

Rest in peace.

This is good news. However, the occassion of the monument finally being placed was not one of reconciliation and healing.

As a wise man (or woman) once said, you're entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.

Fact: The sky is blue:

Canadian voters who bought into that whole "hidden agenda" fairy tale about the federal Tories seem to be awakening to the fact that they were fed a load of nonsense during two election campaigns.

For the third time in less than a week a major public opinion poll has shown Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives riding a wave of support and opening a wide gap in popularity over the Liberals.

SES is the latest agency to weigh in on the question of party standings. In a poll prepared for Sun Media, SES says 38% of us would choose the Conservatives if a vote were held today, compared with 28% who would vote Liberal and 19% NDP.

There has been a huge swing in Atlantic Canada, where 37% say they'd now vote Tory -- a 9-point jump from three months earlier.

Whatever the colour of the sky is in Cindy Sheehan's world, it certainly isn't Tory blue:

By many accounts, Stephen Harper was put in place as leader of Canada by the collapse of weak coalitions and scandals that led to this man now leading a minority government there. He is wildly unpopular from coast to coast up north and there is a growing sense of unease about his emulation of a very unpopular person in the USA but even more in Canada: George Bush.

Now Canadians need to wake up to the fact that their new minority, disliked government is leading them down this same slippery slope to the fascistic militarism of their immediate neighbors to the south.

Worse yet for Cindy Sheehan, Canadians are still supportive of the Canadian effort in Afghanistan, even though everyone knows it is not a peacekeeping mission.

Here again is the sky as it is:

Support among Canadians for the country's military mission in Afghanistan has slipped but is still relatively solid despite a rash of recent military casualties, according to a new poll on Friday.

The Ekos survey -- provided to Reuters -- shows 62 percent of Canadians support the mission in Afghanistan, down from 70 percent in early February. The number opposed grew to 37 percent from 28 percent.

"In some ways, what is most remarkable here is how robust support for the mission has proven to be," said Ekos President Frank Graves.

"After all, for the first time in many years, Canadians are seeing significant casualties among their armed forces," he said in a statement.

And the sky some weird shade of...who knows?

The recent polls in Canada show that the people there are starting to wake up by the truckloads with support for their administration's support of BushCo's war slipping 14 percentage points in two months! Canadians are seeing that the war in Afghanistan is not righteous and that when Canada sends troops there, it frees American troops to be illegally and immorally deployed to Iraq. Canada needs a Cindy Sheehan to go to the PM's residence and demand to know what noble cause her child died for, or is still fighting for.

See, when you insert what are clearly fabrications into a piece that otherwise has some points to make that are worthy of debate, well, the whole thing is tainted. Did Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor sign the NORAD extension with sufficient debate in Parliament, for example, as she suggests? You might make an argument that the implications weren't discussed thoroughly enough (I'm not saying that is the case, but it is a plausible argument).

But it's hard to take anything Cindy Sheehan says seriously while she suffers from a serious disconnect from reality. The Conservative government is doing remarkably well, as poll after poll shows. Support for Canadian troops and their mission is solid, though people are justifiably concerned. If Cindy Sheehan wants to recapture her position as an influential representative of the anti-war left, she has to stop hanging out with the anti-war leftists. It's paradoxical, but true. The more time she spends outside of the echo chamber into which she has locked herself, the better the chance she will see the world as it really is. Then when she speaks, people are more likely to taker her seriously.

Of course, the danger is that once she sees the sky is really blue, she might not mind it so much.

Since Cindy Sheehan seems to have come into focus yet again, I'm going to take some time to look at her latest missive, and then indulge in a bit of unsubstantiated rumour-mongering. Why? Because I've been accused of doing that all along.

I've been taken to task over Cindy Sheehan. Now there's a blast from the past.

Haven't posted much on this topic for a long time, but it looks like things might change:

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is set to hold an 11 a.m. press conference Thursday in San Francisco regarding her potential run for the Senate.

Sheehan has considered running against current California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is up for re-election in November.

Sheehan gained national attention for holding a vigil outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch in 2005 for her son, Casey.

Casey Sheehan was a soldier killed in Iraq in April 2004.

By all accounts, Cindy Sheehan is not a great speaker (especially if she can't rely on four-letter words), nor is she particularly effective in interviews. On the issues, well, she essentially only has one -- the Iraq War. Her opinion on any other issue can be predicted by starting with the assertion that the United States is evil, and then extrapolating.

Economics? Trade? Law and order? The environment? There's a lot to being a senator.

And it costs a lot of money to run. The big donors looking between known quantity Feinstein and unpredictable radical Sheehan will know where to put their money.

Cindy Sheehan can expect donations from the Code Pink fringe, but then they will expect her to bring their concerns front and centre. Complete American withdrawal from world affairs. Abandonment of Israel. Wholesale disarmament. Appeasement of the Muslim radicals.

Remember that there are the people who ridiculed American soldiers recuperating in hospital.

So what Cindy Sheehan sees as support the voting public at large will see as serious baggage. If she tries to take on Feinstein, be ready to see all this and more brought back into the limelight in an attempt to cut Sheehan off at the knees. The Democratic Party was happy enough to use Sheehan when she was a thorn in President George W Bush's side, but if she makes a run at them, they will use every trick in the book, dirty and otherwise, to slap her down.

Give the president credit -- all he did was ignore her for five weeks. Sheehan hasn't seen a real fight yet.

I get on average about 1,800 hits a day. Today I'm at 1,180 with three hours to go until midnight.

Why do I mention this? Because even a slow weekend for me is not generally too shabby. I don't know why. But whatever the reason, I'm grateful I haven't fallen to the depths of this famous person.

From Reuters (hat tip to LGF), Cindy Sheehan will tie herself to the White House fence, and keep tying herself to the fence until such time as all cameras are aimed at her...or something like that.

Nuff said.

Clarification: I guess "Nuff said" was too subtle, judging by the comments. Unless something significant comes to my notice about Cindy Sheehan, I doubt there's much more to be said on the topic. Chaining herself to the fence? Her tragedy has completed the transformation into a farce. I'll maintain my net of contacts, but I doubt there is much Cindy Sheehan can do to draw my attention. I've discussed the truth of Cindy Sheehan's politics, her family dynamic, the events at Camp Casey, her bus tour, Casey's grave -- I've done my bit telling the facts that the MSM refused to discuss.

From the ContraCostaTimes:

Cindy Sheehan, the Gold Star mother who has become a lightning rod for opposition to the war in Iraq, has moved to Berkeley. According to her sister, Dede Miller, Sheehan moved here about a month ago.

"She enjoys Berkeley and the city's progressive nature," said Miller. "But she now lives in Berkeley because some nice folks offered her an apartment space in their home, and Berkeley is not too far from Vacaville, where her kids live."

Um, old news, people. I posted about this three days past, and revealed that the "nice folks" are the Pearcy's who like to decorate their Sacramento home with effigies American soldiers, hanging by a noose, with crude signs hanging around their necks.

So go ahead and enjoy Berkeley's vicious progressive nature.

Cindy Sheehan, Berkeley, Stephen Pearcy

From the San Francisco Independent Media Center:

In addition to the warmth and inspiration provided by Cindy, and the compelling anti-war displays and activities we've had out there before, the Capoeira Arts Academy Performing Group performed live percussion, dance and theater acts in the context of opposition to Bush's war.

Cindy Sheehan attended the sixth major anti-war rally in Sacramento since August 14, 2005. This time over 400 people gathered at 16th & Broadway, Saturday, October 15th, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Cindy Sheehan is constantly described as warm and inspiring -- everybody's favourite mom.

Here's a shot of Cindy Sheehan hugging two protesters:

Here's a close-up of that girl's arm:

Let's be clear. Cindy Sheehan portrays herself as America's grieving mom, but at the same time she lets rip with screeds filled with curses and vulgarities. She sets the tone, and worse yet, seems to endorse that sort of thing, as we can see by these pictures. I know my kids will be taught that dissent and criticism is best delivered in an even tone, without swearing and cheap shots. When you stoop to that, your message is lost.

Too bad these girls seem happy to take Cindy Sheehan's advice. She's hardly the best role model to follow.

As an aside, one wonders if Carly or Janey Sheehan would get more attention from their mom if they used their bodies as billboards for insults aimed at George W Bush using crude allusions to penises.

Cindy Sheehan

No, this is not a Hallowe'en themed post. But it does deal with something scary, improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, the favoured weapon of the insurgents/terrorists in Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan discussed IEDs on Monday, and points out that the US government is happy enough to have soldiers blown up rather than spend money on protecting them.

Well, as seems to be typical, she's either uninformed, or lying.

Cindy Sheehan, Warlock Blue, Buckeye, IED, Iraq

Michelle Malkin has the story of a Veteran's Day Ceremony in Berkeley being canceled because of the risk that a co-founder of Cindy Sheehan's Gold Star Families for Peace, Bill Mitchell, would hijack the non-partisan event:

Berkeley's Veterans Day ceremony, scheduled for Nov. 11, was abruptly canceled on Monday because the volunteer organizing committee split over the political content.

At issue was a proposal by the chairman, singer/songwriter Country Joe McDonald, to have Bill Mitchell, a co-founder of Cindy Sheehan's organization, Gold Star Families for Peace, as the keynote speaker.

Mitchell's and Sheehan's sons were killed in Iraq the same day.

Some committee members worried that Mitchell would inject an unwelcome note of partisanship into the event, which has been scrupulously non-political in years past.

Other groups would not share the stage with Bill Mitchell:

Edwin Harper, adjutant of the local Disabled American Veterans chapter, which has participated in past Berkeley Veterans Day observances, threatened that his group would pull out.

"They have the other 364 days and 23 hours to make their political point," he said. "This one hour should be reserved for honoring veterans, period."

McDonald, backed by other members of the committee, disagreed, saying that not permitting Mitchell to express his point of view would be tantamount to censoring free speech.

Unable to agree, the council decided to kill the whole idea:

But on Monday, McDonald, a U.S. Navy veteran, circulated an e-mail among the committee reading, "The disagreement over the participation of Gold Star Families, with their anti-war reputation, in our 2005 ceremony has made it impossible to continue. Without consensus we have no program. The event is cancelled."

The question I set to myself was this: Would Bill Mitchell have used the the event to push a partisan agenda?

My answer is "Yes", and here's why.

You'd think there would be some difficulty here. Cindy Sheehan has been accused of making anti-Semitic comments, which she denies (saying that an email had somehow been altered), and has certainly aligned herself with anti-Semitic organizations like Crawford House.

But apparently getting forgiveness wasn't too hard. Of course, it helps when the rabbi in question is Michael Lerner, Abbie Hoffman in a yarmulke (actually, Hoffman was born Jewish, but you get the point).

Cindy Sheehan, Michael Lerner

The YWCA sponsors a post and essay contest every year to promote non-violence in schools:

Led by YWCAs in thousands of communities in the United States and more than 40 countries on six continents, the YWCA Week Without Violence is always observed the third full week in October. Topics for the Week Without Violence include: A Day of Remembrance, Protecting Our Children, Making Our Schools Safer, Confronting Violence Against Women, Facing Violence Among Men, Eliminating Racism & Hate Crime and Replacing Violence with Sports, Recreation & Fun.

It has a local apolitical focus, dealing with violence stemming from bullying, vandalism, violent video games, and the like.

Well, in Brooklyn this year, the contest is being co-sponsored by the Brooklyn Parents for Peace. Peace in the classroom and playgrounds? No, not quite:

Brooklyn Parents for Peace is a network of Brooklyn residents — parents, neighbors, and educators — alarmed by the growing militarism of our society and its effect on our lives and our children's future.

We seek to inform ourselves and our community about issues of war and peace and to enable ourselves to respond effectively.

We hope to give our children a role model of active response to problems which easily lead to hopelessness, cynicism, and despair.

Parents for Peace was founded in 1984. Our earliest initiatives included organizing local opposition to the Staten Island home port for nuclear-capable Cruise missiles and the U.S. intervention in Central America. We subsequently mobilized local opposition to the Gulf War and economic sanctions which penalize Iraqi children.

After the terrible events of September 11, we reached out to affirm our sense of community and to oppose a military response to this tragedy. We have continued to organize for peace and social justice, specifically for compensation to civilian victims of US bombing in Afghanistan; ending of the Israeli occupation and a peaceful solution of the conflict, guaranteeing security of both Israelis and Palestinians; preservation of civil liberties in Brooklyn for all including immigrants; apprehension of terrorists through methods which respect international law; avoidance of a new war in Iraq.

Well, this sounds like your run-of-the-mill anti-war protest group. Cindy Sheehan will be the keynote speaker at their event this Saturday.

That event will also mark the judging of the contest entries, and the presentation of the winners, including a reading of their essays.

So you can wonder just what sort of essays and posters are going to be scored more highly by the judges. Seems to me that the children are best set on the task of dealing with violence in their immediate area; they are hardly equipped to consider issues of statecraft and history. Moreover, children will work hard to please their parents, meaning we might get treated to essays that repeat the verbage of the anti-war movement without real comprehension.

Too bad the YWCA didn't think that maybe the highly charged political agenda of the BPFP was not a great fit for Week without Violence. It'll be interesting to see the winning essays and posters. Assuming they get posted, I'll let you know next week.

Something I had noticed earlier, but hadn't planned on mentioning. Still, I've received more than a couple of emails, so I'm not the only one to have thought it odd:

Peace mom Cindy Sheehan peered out a window 14 floors above the Civic Center on Friday and asked, Want to see my new car?

She pointed to a sky-blue Volkswagen Beetle convertible parked near City Hall. She explained she hasn't treated herself to much since her son, Casey, died in Iraq in April 2004, but she'd always wanted such a car and recently decided it was time for a change.

The base price for a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle is $17,180. In California, shipping pushes the price up to $17,795. A covertible goes for a cool $21,920 base, or $22,535 with shipping. This is for the 2.5L version. If she has the TDI, add $1,210 to the base price. We can only speculate on what options her Beetle has.

She does not have a recent job history, only recently having signed up with Speaking Matters. As well, being a paid speaker is not regular work. So I have to think that financing was out of the question, especially with her notoriety making her a serious risk (can't make payments if you're in jail for trespassing), meaning she paid cash. I'm guessing here, of course.

This in turn means she either had money left over from the original $250,000 she received upon Casey's death, the money she said had run out, or the cheque for the additional $238,000 has arrived into her Alliance chequing account over which she has sole control.

So she treats herself to a new car. Can't fault her for that, except that Casey and his family back in Vacaville have yet to be treated to a simple gravestone.

Cindy Sheehan, headstone

Absolute nonsense, as it turns out.

Just some tibits from a solid source:

Casey's life insurance benefits? Almost all spent on flitting about with the likes of Michael Moore.

The divorce? Patrick Sheehan wants what benefits remain, and those are substantial.

I'm wishing him luck.

Here's a question. Has Cindy Sheehan retained legal counsel? If so, who, and who is paying for it?

[And if you haven't read the update, check out the details about Cindy Sheehan's new digs in Berkeley.]

From Cindy Sheehan's interview with progressive newpaper The Bloomington Alternative:

I think Nancy Pelosi is changing her tune, but not nearly fast enough. I have met with her a couple of times lately. I am not thinking of running against Hillary, or Nancy, or Dianne Feinstein, for that matter. If it were anyone, though, it would be Feinstein because I am a Californian and I believe she is a despicable warmonger. People have been begging me to run, but I think I can do more good on the outside of Washington than the inside.

Interestingly, having vacated the family home in the wake of Patrick Sheehan's divorce petition, Cindy Sheehan chose to move to Berkeley. Not to her mom Shirley's place to stay with her brother Scott.

Not to Venice, California, the home of Code Pink. Her sister Dede is a full-time member of Code Pink.

Not to Crawford. Not to Washington, DC.

But Berkeley.

It's a 15 minute drive over the bridge to the address of Feinstein's San Francisco office on Post Street.

Update: Thanks to my reporter friend, we know that Cindy Sheehan has taken up residence with the Pearcy's. Who are the Pearcy's? Well, Stephen Pearcy is a Berkeley lawyer who spends weekends in Sacramento. The Sacramento home was host to this:

"Your taxdollars at work" and a soldier hung in effigy. An Iraqi flag. Gutter-talk on posters where children can see.

Yeah, Stephen Pearcy is a major activist figure in the anti-Bush anti-war movement.

I find it hard to imagine why Cindy Sheehan would feel at home with these people. Stephen Pearcy is also an artist, or so he claims, having applied his considerable Michelangelo-like skills to this piece:

I can see where Cindy Sheehan and Stephen Pearcy would have common ground here, since Cindy Sheehan is on record as calling the United States a "morally repugnant" system. But she claims to so concerned about the troops, and so distraught about her own son's death, that I would have thought that she would not appreciate the imagery of soldiers being hanged, regardless of the political point behind it.

But then she might be comfortable with those using a dead soldier to pursue a political agenda than I would have guessed. Some would say they are not all that far apart on using that tactic. It does suggest that Cindy Sheehan sees those who use dead soldiers as pawns in a political activist game as kindred spirits, and I find that really disturbing.

I guess Cindy Sheehan is a more complex person that I've given her credit for.

[On the question of how Democrats who voted for or against the war resolution will fair in 2008, Captain's Quarters has an analysis.]

Cindy Sheehan, Dianne Feinstein, Berkeley, Stephen Pearcy

Does she read my blog? I've been provided hints that she does. If so, this is for you, Cindy Sheehan.

Read this. This is an extract:

But I am not leaving this land because the bad guys are not going to leave us or you to live in peace. They are the same ones who flew the planes to kill your people in New York.

I ask you in the name of God or whatever you believe in; do not waste your son's blood.

We here have decided to avenge humanity, you and all the women who lost their loved ones.

Take a look at our enemy Cindy, look closely at the hooded man holding the sword and if you think he's right then I will back off and support your call.

His blood didn't go in vain; your son and our brethren are drawing a great example of selflessness.

God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil.

God bless the souls of Iraqis who suffered and died for the sake of freedom.

God bless all the freedom lovers on earth.

A question has been asked that deserves an answer. Post a comment there, or here, or send me an email. Or post a message on the website of your friend Michael Moore.

(Hat tip to Michelle Malkin)

I wish liberals would not quote from the Bible.

Not because I don't think the Word of God is for them. Of course it is. But because they can't resist misquoting the Bible in order to make a political point.

In the US, the main stream media has been gloating over how a teleconference between President George W Bush and a group of soldiers in Iraq was staged:

It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution.

"This is an important time," Allison Barber, deputy assistant defense secretary, said, coaching the soldiers before Bush arrived. "The president is looking forward to having just a conversation with you."

Barber said the president was interested in three topics: the overall security situation in Iraq, security preparations for the weekend vote and efforts to train Iraqi troops.

For example:

"If the question comes up about partnering - how often do we train with the Iraqi military - who does he go to?" Barber asked.

"That's going to go to Captain Pratt," one of the soldiers said.

"And then if we're going to talk a little bit about the folks in Tikrit - the hometown - and how they're handling the political process, who are we going to give that to?" she asked.

Staged? Or just organized? Via Michelle Malkin, from a soldier who was part of that group:

First of all, we were told that we would be speaking with the President of the United States, our Commander-in-Chief, President Bush, so I believe that it would have been totally irresponsible for us NOT to prepare some ideas, facts or comments that we wanted to share with the President.

We were given an idea as to what topics he may discuss with us, but it's the President of the United States; He will choose which way his conversation with us may go.

We practiced passing the microphone around to one another, so we wouldn't choke someone on live TV. We had an idea as to who we thought should answer what types of questions, unless President Bush called on one of us specifically.

But because the President was not subject to what in Canada we call a "scrum", the whole event was somehow phoney.

You want a real example of staging?

The camp at Crawford is full of Cindy Sheehan supporters, people from all walks of life, but off to the side are a small group of professionals skilled in politics and public relations who are marketing Cindy Sheehan's message.

Cindy Sheehan kneels before a cross with her son's name on it, touches his picture, wipes her tears. It's an outpouring of emotion that is part of a scheduled news event organized daily for the television, radio and print reporters who crowd in to capture a mother's grief.

Cindy Sheehan: "I'm never going to see him again, I'm never going to hold him again, I'm never going to hear his voice again."

Sheehan's message hasn't changed since she got here, but the support staff interested in getting that message out to the world has grown considerably. [emphasis added]

Just to be clear to everyone. This is organized:

And this...

is staged:

There's a difference.

(And then there's a difference between staged and just plain lying!)

[More from Blogs for Bush, Say Anything, and Michelle Malkin]

Cindy Sheehan gives us a lecture on family values. But her family is suffering because Cindy Sheehan has, for some reason, neglected to have a headstone placed at Casey Sheehan's grave.

[Apparently, she can afford a brand new car.]

Cindy Sheehan, headstone

Remember impoverished Cindy Sheehan?

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan recently signed on with a speakers' bureau, and her appearance on the lecture circuit drew mixed reaction Tuesday night, especially from her younger supporters at the University of Maryland.

Sheehan previously told Cybercast News Service that she was not taking money from organizations like MoveOn.org or private financiers like George Soros but that her recent 51-city bus tour was funded by "grassroots fundraising."

She said her contract with Speaking Matters, which has not yet disclosed how much a Sheehan appearance will cost, will help her "finally make some money ...'cause Casey's insurance money's going to run out pretty soon.' "

Well, here's the full skinny on the insurance:

The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief Act 2005 (Public Law 109-13) increases this immediate cash payment from $12,420 to $100,000 for survivors of those whose death is as a result of hostile actions and occurred in a designated combat operation or combat zone or while training for combat or performing hazardous duty.

The supplemental also increases the maximum amount of SGLI coverage from $250,000 to $400,000 for all service members effective Sept. 1, 2005 and provides that the department will pay or reimburse the premiums to service members, who are deployed in a designated combat zone for $150,000 of SGLI coverage.

So $150,000 for the insurance policy, $88,000 for the death gratuity, and a reimbursement of premiums. I've been told the cheque could arrive any day now, if she doesn't already have it.

Corrected the sum in the title. Linked at the Weekend Edition.

Cindy Sheehan, insurance

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I posted a story about Cindy Sheehan's visit home, and now it's gone. It was in draft mode when I realized I had gotten the key fact backwards and then deleted the draft. In fact, though, I hadn't deleted it, but posted it instead. I noticed 30 seconds later, and deleted it immediately, without thinking.

I regret that, because in that 30 seconds, it might have gotten onto my RSS feed. If it has, or if you saw the story during the short time it was up, I apologize.

First, the article in question got the facts right. Patrick Sheehan lives in Vacaville with the kids, and Cindy Sheehan is now living in Berkeley, about a five hour a forty minute** drive away. In my first (and second and third) read, I thought the article had gotten it backwards, and that was the gist of my post. On my fourth read, I saw my error and tried to kill the draft.

Second, I should not have deleted the story after it had made it to the blog, but rather corrected it. For a moment I thought I had time to remove the story from the blog as I had originally intended, but in retrospect, I shouldn't have even tried.

So this stands as the correction. Apologies to you, my readers, and to the Associated Press. And maybe a quick email to Moveable Type to implement a "Confirm" inquiry prior to committing posts to the blog.

Cheers everyone!

[** Double-checked with Mapblast and made the correction. Thanks to reader Not a Yank. I had done a check with Mapblast earlier, and must have mistyped one of the points of the trip. Not ever having been to California, I didn't know the value was unreasonable.]

Apparently when Cindy Sheehan said "this country was not worth dying for", she was talking about Iraq.

She made that remark on April 27. This "correction" is being provided on October 4. A span of 5 months. Why so long?

Maybe she was hoping no one would remember the context of her original statement.

Sorry to disappoint, but I remember.

Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan is out of money, and so is compelled to start making paid appearances. Or so she claims.

Problem is, according to what I've found out, she's got at least another tax-free $150,000 payment coming to her this month.

In fact, all the money she claims to have received and spent in 2004 was tax-free, courtesy of the US Department of Defense, making her "I'm not paying taxes!" pledge a bit of theatrical nonsense.

[Is Cindy Sheehan lying again? Read the latest and decide for yourself.]

Cindy Sheehan

Donald Sutherland blubbers:

Choking back tears, "Commander-in-Chief" star Donald Sutherland warned this week: President Bush "will destroy our lives!"

The star of the new ABC drama, which follows the first woman President of the United States, lashed out at the real White House during a dramatic sit down interview with the BBC.

Sutherland ripped Bush and his administration for the war and Hurricane Katrina fallout.

"They were inept. They were inadequate to the task, and they lied," Sutherland charged.

"And they were insulting, and they were vindictive. And they were heartless. They did not care. They do not care. They do not care about Iraqi people. They do not care about the families of dead soldiers. They only care about profit."

At one point during the session, Sutherland started crying: "We('ve) stolen our children's future... We have children. We have children. How dare we take their legacy from them. How dare we. It's shameful. What we are doing to our world."

Sutherland went on rip Karl Rove's "methods and means" against people like Cindy Sheehan.

"We're back to burning books in Germany," Sutherland said of NBC's editing out of Kanye West's comment on Bush during a hurricane relief telethon.

I guess Sutherland is angling for an ambassadorial posting.

And did Donald Sutherland just compare Bob Wright with Adolf Hitler**?

Editing out Kanye West babbling "George Bush doesn't care about black people" is the same as Nazi book burning? Does that mean Kanye West is our generation's answer to H.G. Wells?

Seems like stupid things to say.

I guess a Canadian education is not all that superior to an American education after all.

** It should be mentioned that this is a refreshing change from comparing George W Bush with Adolf Hitler.

A new interview with Cindy Sheehan, and no surprise, you are either her, or you'll be ruined. Cindy Sheehan can guarantee that, because she's in control.

Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan is going to start taking on paid speaking engagements. Why?

Because she has almost finished running through Casey Sheehan's life insurance!

Before the event, Sheehan met with reporters to discuss her plans for the future. She said she didn't think her contract with Speaking Matters LLC will distract from her message.

"This is a society where people make money doing what they do and I have to pay my bills, too," she told Cybercast News Service.

"I love doing this and I do it for free," Sheehan continued. She said she has been spending her own money to travel around the country in recent weeks to rally opposition to the war in Iraq.

Sheehan previously told Cybercast News Service that she was not taking money from organizations like MoveOn.org or private financiers like George Soros but that her recent 51-city bus tour was funded by "grassroots fundraising."

She said her contract with Speaking Matters, which has not yet disclosed how much a Sheehan appearance will cost, will help her "finally make some money ...'cause Casey's insurance money's going to run out pretty soon."

Casey left behind a brother, two sisters, and a father as well. But it sounds like Cindy Sheehan took his insurance money and used it to pay her way, and presumably some of the expenses of her "fellow travelers".

How much money? We don't know for sure, but we can guess. From the US Army:

The Serviceman's Group Life Insurance, better known as SGLI, is group term life insurance currently available to all members of the US Army. SGLI is a group life insurance policy purchased by the VA from a commercial life insurance company, and is partially subsidized by the federal government.

Servicemembers on active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty for training and members of the Reserves are automatically covered for $250,000, the maximum amount of coverage, unless they opt out in writing. A soldier can elect lower coverage or no coverage by completing VA Form SGLV-8286. Basic SGLI premiums are currently $.065 per $1,000 of insurance, regardless of the member's age. View rates for different coverage amounts.

Some people were asked if their opinion of her changed now that she'll be taking money for speaking engagements:

[University of Maryland student] Megan Hanford said it makes sense that Sheehan would start charging for appearances. "She can't work while she's traveling the country," Hanford said, "and she's lost any income that her son might have brought her."

Her son was an adult. Her husband had a job. So did she. Casey would not have brought any income to Cindy Sheehan, under normal circumstances (read the Anchoress for more on this facet).

If Cindy Sheehan was the sole beneficiary, then she had every right to take the money and do what she wanted with it. We don't know who Casey named as beneficiary, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just his mother -- before I got married, I routinely named my dad as my beneficiary on insurance forms, fully expecting that in the event of my demise, the money would be going to both my parents, and to rest of my immediate family, as required.

Did any of the insurance money go to paying off family debts? The mortgage on the house? The car loans? The college bills for the other kids?

What other family resources did Cindy Sheehan squander? Is this part of the reason for the divorce proceedings, including the Patrick Sheehan's demands that Cindy Sheehan pay for the cost of the divorce, and pay some sort of support back to Patrick. Is Patrick Sheehan trying to recover the lost insurance money?

Many have been disturbed by the way Cindy Sheehan has used Casey's name to promote her own agenda. Apparently she was using far more than just his name.

I will try to find out more...

Update: Got more. Much more...

Cindy Sheehan

Recall that Cindy Sheehan complained that the news media was spending too much time on Hurricane Rita and has been roundly criticized for it, in particular by the left, many of whom are wondering if the accusations of Cindy Sheehan being a media opportunist leveled by the right were true.

Recall that Cindy Sheehan's spokesperson then issued a denial, suggesting that someone else had used Cindy Sheehan's Kos account to make that post, a story which few believed.

Now on MichaelMoore.com, Cindy Sheehan admits that she posted the original complaint:

Now about Hurricane Rita: I woke up on Saturday morning filled with excitement. I knew that the rally and march were going to be amazing events and I was thrilled to be a part of them. I switched on the TV and turned on CNN and for 2 hours, I watched one of their reporters in front of the same downed tree and it wasn't even raining. I knew that there was a hurricane and it was damaging. At the point of the news cycle though, I thought CNN could be covering other news.

OK, so nows she's complaining that CNN wasn't covering how she was watching CNN hours before the actual rally? And didn't the spokeswoman who issued the denial, Morrigan Phillips, say that Cindy Sheehan would not have had the time to post the offensive comment because Sheehan "was pretty busy on Saturday"? In fact, Phillips said she was "certain" of that.

Well, from Cindy Sheehan herself -- she had enough time on Saturday to watch CNN for 2 hours hoping to catch herself on TV.

Time for a new spokesperson.

But back to the retraction:

I am sorry for what seemed to be an insensitive remark about the people who were affected by Rita, but that was not my intention. I am very aware that the failed policies of the Bush administration have all put us in the same boat, so to speak, and we need to take responsibility for righting the wrongs here in our country and in Iraq.

Cute working George W Bush in there. Nothing ruins a good apology than trying to blame someone else. My four-year-old does it all the time.

So there you have it. To all the Democratic Underground folks who desperately wanted to believe that Cindy Sheehan's really stupid comments were the result of some nefarious but Republican hackers...oh well.

Cindy Sheehan, Hurricane Rita

Cindy Sheehan was roasted on Daily Kos over her dismissal of Hurricane Rita as "a little rain", and wondering why more media attention wasn't being focused on her.

Well, now there is an attempt to say that the posts were fakes. Funny thing is, this is the second time she's pulled out the "I was framed" defence when confronted with her own poorly chosen words.

Update: I guess Cindy Sheehan has noticed that few rational people are buying her defence, and so she has retracted her retraction, and admitted to writing the original post.

Cindy Sheehan, Hurricane Rita

...Cindy Sheehan was arrested.

*Yawn*

Actually, I wonder if her misdemeanor could be used as leverage by Patrick Sheehan in the divorce proceedings. All I know is that if I was facing a divorce, I'd sure as hell keep my nose clean instead of risking losing access to my kids, or perhaps being punished when support was being decided. But then I've got different priorities.

This is too sweet to let pass. Cindy Sheehan tries to "focus" her followers, and suddenly, the whole Sheehan mystique goes *poof*, at least for some people.

Update: Cindy Sheehan's people insist that Cindy was framed!

Update: I guess Cindy Sheehan has noticed that few rational people are buying her defence, and so she has retracted her retraction, and admitted to writing the original post.

Cindy Sheehan, Hurricane Rita

Everyone knows how President George W Bush and the federal government have been taken to task over the response to Hurricane Katrina.

This post is about a developing story about Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, and the Veterans for Peace, who with hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations entrusted to them to distribute, were too busy playing politics to help the suffering people. Moreoever, they seem to have lost $100,000, and no one knows where it went.

At least with the government, there is the excuse of the complexities of three levels interacting, trying to manage a response that would be costed in the billions, to explain how that response suffered. But a handful of people with a measly $350,000?

Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, Veterans for Peace, Anny Spell, Katrina, New Orleans, George W Bush

The shape of the mound conforms to the coordinates where the victims fell.

A marker is placed at each coordinate.

A stream winds down to a glade amidst a tall stand of trees.

A quiet suite for family members, located in the Freedom Tower, overlooks the memorial site.

This was one of the ideas for a WTC memorial. It is frankly impractical -- all those markers? And also a bit insensitive -- the towers were 110 stories high, so knowing where your loved one hit the ground at upwards to 120 miles per hour amidst a rain of crashing concrete and steel is, well, creepy.

And of course, there is absolutely no recognition of the fact that this was a site of a terrorist attack, or of the bravery of the firemen and police officers who rushed to the scene, and then died in the collapse of the towers.

Just lots of tall trees (that would somehow be made to thrive in Manhattan).

Yeah, it's a Green Party idea.

But specifically, it is the idea of Paul Zulkowitz, the fellow arrested in New York during the Cindy Sheehan protest by cops who don't seem to really care who Cindy Sheehan is or what she's about.

Paul Zulkowitz, Cindy Sheehan, New York City, Freedom Tower

Cindy Sheehan's bus tours are visiting congressional office after congressional office, and so far, just about no one seems to be home.

Cindy Sheehan

Pat Robertson says something stupid. The media is after every major conservative figure for a reaction to the statements made by this major conservative icon.

Cindy Sheehan says something stupid. The media says little, and no major liberal figure is put into the position of criticizing this major liberal icon.

Hardly seems fair. Thank goodness for that.

Pat Robertson, Cindy Sheehan, media

Cindy, Cindy, Cindy. Focus woman. It's Iraq. It's all about Iraq. That's where your son died. Remember him. Casey. In Iraq.

But now she issuing "statements" on New Orleans. Oddly though, these statements seem to consist of the same statements she makes of Iraq, with "New Orleans" being substituted for "Iraq".

The result is downright bizarre.

Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, Katrina, New Orleans, National Guard, looting, New Orleans Police Department

Cindy Sheehan's tour of empty congressional offices continues. Today it was San Francisco, to meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein:

Feinstein was not at her office and did not meet with Sheehan.

Or not meet with her.

Some unidentified staffer was there though:

Cindy Sheehan met in San Francisco Friday with a member of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's staff.

Wow, now that's real pull for you.

How much you wanna bet that staffer had a short straw crushed in his angry grip?

Cindy Sheehan is advised to cancel her appearance to protest the Blue Angels demonstration at Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine. My thinking is that the optics were bad, and her media handlers want to make sure Cindy Sheehan is never upstaged in public.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Brunswick, BNAS, Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Golden Knights, Katrina, Colorado

The old Cindy Sheehan didn't care if she wasn't welcome. She wasn't welcome by the majority of people in Crawford, but she didn't care, and camped out for a month, demanding to see the President.

The new Cindy Sheehan has a different approach:

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has canceled three visits to Colorado after emotions over her protest outside President Bush's ranch boiled over at a church and college campus.

A Glenwood Springs church voted Thursday not to allow Sheehan to give a speech scheduled for later this month after some members threatened to leave the church if she came.

Actually it was a big coincidence, since it turned out she was required to be elsewhere anyway:

The day after the church called off her visit there, Sheehan canceled other visits to the state, citing "more pressing needs elsewhere in the country," according to Karen Sjoberg, director of Grand Valley Peace and Justice, which had arranged for one of the visits.

Right. Pressing needs. Elsewhere.

A pressing need not to be seen being run out of town, more likely.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, media, Katrina, Colorado

Cindy Sheehan has packed up and left Crawford.

And there was much rejoicing.

But she hasn't stopped talking.

And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But curiously, her language has gotten more strident and raw, back to the Cindy few have ever seen. Her handlers have been very careful to suppress her raging radicalism, lest it alienate Middle America. But today she slips up and falls prey to Godwin's Law. Did her handlers miss this one? I doubt it. I think it's a sign that as her star fades, her handlers are willing to have her suffer some controversy, as long as it reinvigorates the movement.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, media, Katrina

Martin Sheen congratulated Cindy Sheehan on her vigil, and evoked some bits of Irish history and tradition. My own cursory examination of Irish traditions failed to reveal the specifics of what he was talking about. Now a far better educated student of history casts doubts too.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Martin Sheen, Irish tradition, vigil

Cindy Sheehan continues to lose the grip on the media, both in terms of sheer coverage and in sympathy.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Al Sharpton, media

Al Sharpton is guaranteed to flutter moth-like to any event where he is likely to have his picture taken.

I guess he picked wrong today. With Katrina hitting New Orleans, and Cindy Sheehan losing steam, it looks like Reverend Al would have done better to have gone to a New Orleans shelter to help with relief efforts than to hang around with Cindy Sheehan and her increasingly tiresome grief show.

Actually, if Reverend Al had gone to New Orleans and helped with setting up a shelter as the storm approached, he would have earned a measure of respect from me, even if he was motivated by a desire to be in the public eye.

He is sometimes called a "media savvy buffoon" by his detractors who grudgingly concede his ability to play the media. Today he's just a buffoon.

Katrina, New Orleans, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Al Sharpton

Is Hurricane Cindy losing intensity as it makes landfall at the shorelines of reality? This one-time supporter thinks so.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford

From CNSNews:

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton."

The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.

Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq.

Code Pink Women for Peace, one of the groups backing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford Texas, organizes the protests at Walter Reed as well.

I've got two questions.

First, if Casey Sheehan had been wounded instead of killed, would Cindy Sheehan support having people chant "George Bush kills American soldiers" under Casey's window while he was trying to recuperate?

Second, for consistency's sake, should the protesters apply the chickenhawk rule to themselves? Perhaps only people who have fought and been wounded in combat should be allowed to carry placards reading "Maimed for Lies" and wave them in front of family members coming to the hospital to visit loved ones.

(Hat tip Michelle Malkin)

Walter Reed, Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan, Global War on Terror, Iraq, protest, news and politics

This story is about to take a turn. Counter protesters: 3000 and counting.

I guess a lot of people were listening very carefully to Cindy Sheehan's message.

Updated for 4:20pm.

Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, protest, news and politics, Fort Qualls

Cindy Sheehan's missive today takes a legalistic turn. She brings up Casey Sheehan's oath as a soldier, or tries to, and tries to use it as a club to strike at the President and the War on Terror.

Cindy Sheehan, Global War on Terror, Iraq, news and politics, UCMJ

From Yahoo:

Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan, whose vigil near President George W. Bush's Texas ranch has become a symbol for the anti-war movement, said on Friday she plans to focus on Congress, starting with Bush close ally and fellow Texan House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

"I think our first stop might be Tom DeLay's office," she said, surrounded by supporters. "I just wanted to let him know so he'll be in his office when we get there."

"The president is not going to meet with us, probably," Sheehan said. "We the people need to influence our congressional representatives and I hear he's pretty close by," referring to DeLay.

Well, so much for holding out until the president meets with her. The president has shown that he won't succumb to emotional blackmail. That lesson seems to have been taken to heart:

A spokeswoman for DeLay said his schedule was already set and did not plan to change it to meet with Sheehan.

Ouch! Will this degenerate into a farce? Cindy Sheehan and her bus driving from empty district office to empty district office...

Cindy Sheehan, Global War on Terror, Iraq, protest, news and politics, Crawford, Tom DeLay, George W Bush

So what's the difference between the crosses at Camp Casey and the crosses at Fort Qualls?

Those at “Camp Qualls” have their own unique version of the memorial crosses erected by the anti-Bush war protesters over at “Camp Casey” and “Camp Casey II.” Rather than presuming to speak for the families of the fallen, those at “Camp Qualls” are letting the families themselves give permission to erect memorials in honor of their fallen sons and daughters.

Some parents themselves have personally arrived to plant the crosses.

Now I wonder if someone has thought to suggest that for every cross that goes up at Fort Qualls, a cross with the same name at Camp Casey, should it be there, ought to be immediately and quietly removed. Stands to reason...

news and politics

Cindy Sheehan, protest, Crawford

Michelle Malkin links a story from Carbondale, Illinois:

For two years, Carbondale residents have been riveted by the writing of a little girl imploring her father in Iraq: "Don't die, OK?"

The Daily Egyptian, Southern Illinois University's student-run newspaper, today will admit to its readers that the saga - of a little girl's published letters to her father serving in Iraq - was apparently an elaborate hoax perpetrated by a woman who claimed to be the girl's aunt.

"We're always talking about skepticism and basic fact-checking," said [Lance Speere, former faculty adviser and now general manager for the newspaper], who noted how taken the staff had been with the little girl. "Leading with your heart can make you blind."

Geez. But this is not about some student newspaper. This is about the pros at the Washington Post and others who have been telling the Cindy Sheehan story for weeks, even as bloggers had long since been unearthing her radical comments, her anti-Israel rants, her off-the-wall conspiracy theories about how bin Laden was allegedly responsible for 9/11, the inconsistencies in her stories about her family life, or her relationship with Casey Sheehan.

Yours truly has been doing this non-stop for over two weeks.

But they would rather continue to tell the compelling story of a grieving mother (and show new pictures from her daily grief show) instead of using their skepticism and asking some harsh questions.

Talk about leading with your heart.

Did these students screw up? Big time. Do I blame them? Hell no. Look at the lousy examples they have to follow.

[Wizbang has more links.]

media, Iraq, Washington Post

A San Francisco ABC affiliate has an interesting story about the money flowing into, and out of, Camp Casey.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Code Pink

Cindy Sheehan insists that she knew her son. Really.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, protest, Crawford, Iraq

Thanks to the The Phantom, this column from FrontPage:

Sigmund Freud had a concept he called “projection, which has been defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.

In many ways I think that explains the behavior of the media’s current patron saint, Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush is really meant for someone else who she can’t admit even to herself is her real target. To do so would represent one of th