NYT: Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President (NYT hopes)

New York Times ^ | August 8, 2005 | RICHARD W. STEVENSON

[OESY]

President Bush draws antiwar protesters just about wherever he goes, but few generate the kind of attention that Cindy Sheehan has since she drove down the winding road toward his ranch here this weekend and sought to tell him face to face that he must pull all Americans troops out of Iraq now.

Ms. Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed last year in Iraq, after which she became an antiwar activist. She says she and her family met with the president two months later at Fort Lewis in Washington State.

But when she was blocked by the police a few miles from Mr. Bush's 1,600-acre spread on Saturday, the 48-year-old Ms. Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., was transformed into a news media phenomenon, the new face of opposition to the Iraq conflict at a moment when public opinion is in flux and the politics of the war have grown more complicated for the president and the Republican Party.

Ms. Sheehan has vowed to camp out on the spot until Mr. Bush agrees to meet with her, even if it means spending all of August under a broiling sun by the dusty road. Early on Sunday afternoon, 25 hours after she was turned back as she approached Mr. Bush's ranch, Prairie Chapel, Ms. Sheehan stood red-faced from the heat at the makeshift campsite that she says will be her home until the president relents or leaves to go back to Washington. A reporter from The Associated Press had just finished interviewing her. CBS was taping a segment on her. She had already appeared on CNN, and was scheduled to appear live on ABC on Monday morning. Reporters from across the country were calling her cellphone.

"It's just snowballed," Ms. Sheehan said....

[Polyxene]

Red diaper doper baby.

[bayourant]

According to the DU people and their homepage she has just called the DU folks and has been informed that she will be arrested on Thursday as a threat to national security. Same day Rices, Fundraiser etc happens

[antiRepublicrat]

But when she was blocked by the police a few miles from Mr. Bush's 1,600-acre spread

Aside from the naive mother who can't make up her mind, I don't like this bit. I believe those are public roads going by the ranch. This woman, a non-violent protester, is having her rights infringed. Bush never liked people exercising their constitutional right to peacably assemble and petition their government for a redress of grievances (read "protesters"), even as governor.

[GraceCoolidge]

The NYT still has not picked up on the fact that this woman has changed her story?

I am sure they will put some crack reporters on it as soon as they finish their investigation into the adoption of Judge Roberts' children. On the bright side, their refusal to report this reversal certainly shows up their bias for the world to see.

[shezza]

Give peace a chance....

[shezza]

The private access roads that lead to the ranch are ALWAYS controlled. You can't get there, be you a Smith or a Sheehan, without Secret Service approval. The main thoroughfares and town streets are not blocked, and I would imagine the only time they ARE is when the presidential motorcade is going through. But then that happens in NYC, too.

[jonrick46]

The hippie peace signs are the tip off. She is back in the sixties. She would have been in high school then. I wonder if she still smokes pot?

[jonrick46]

I just discovered that Cindy Sheehan is 48. She would have been in high school around 1972. This was a time when the hinges were totally off in the pot smoking scene. The popular use of cocaine began in this decade. The seventies was described as a new age of narcissism-- in other words, immediate personal gratification. She is living in the past where whatever feels good--do it! This was also a decade of religious cults, including the Hare Krishna's, the Reverend Moon's Unification Church and Jim Jones' People's Temple. This is the decade where Cindy Sheehan's personality was formed. It is the decade that gave rise to the "Me Generation."

The idea of sacrifice of life for the liberation from tyranny is not in her play book.

[antiRepublicrat]

The private access roads that lead to the ranch are ALWAYS controlled.

That's the question: are they private or are they public? If they're private, and Bush owns them, then fine. If they're public, then he has no right to block citizen access.

[OESY]

"THE GRIEF PIMPS"
By Michelle Malkin · August 09, 2005 11:35 AM


Still lots of e-mail and blogger reax pouring in on anti-war protester, Cindy Sheehan (currently the #3 search term at Technorati). A sample:

From Avenue B Alum...

I wonder if the lefties pimping the grief of that dead GI's mom are pro-life. (The Grief Pimps would make a great name for a band but the lefties, apparently, have dibs on it.) If the Grief Pimps are pro-choice, they are hypocrites. They'll respect the right of a 15 year old to have an abortion, but not the right of an 18 year old to volunteer to fight. Respecting the right to choose what you do with your body does not include the choice of putting on a uniform and serving your country. I hope this mom snaps out of it soon. Her son made a choice as an adult. It was a noble and honorable choice and he went into it understanding he might die and offering his life freely. And now the Grief Pimps are publicly emasculating this GI in his grave by encouraging his mom to disrespect what he chose and what he gave his life for.

[Publius6961]

Fortunately, this moonbat "progressive" is a problem for the president only if he allows her to be.

I hope he does not.

When you consider that there are almost a million troops in the military, there could be up to 2 million parents.
What are the odds that a significant number of them will be incompetent, mentally challenged or out and out nuts?

By the sound of this ongoing sad story, the probability is pretty much 1.

[Publius6961]

She's uglier than I imagined... on the outside.

Inside, it's not ugly, it's insanity, so no sense judging.

[DJ MacWoW]

It's not like she's being ignored or anything else. This woman is a tool of MoveOn etc and an aging hippie nut. I read another article on FR that said she was against the war BEFORE her son was in Iraq.

The man sitting on the pavement is National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, while the man sitting in the chair to the right is White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin. They discussed with Sheehan at length the president's thinking in the decision to go to war in Iraq. . . .

[Publius6961]

Is there a Freeper, or anyone reading this who knew Casey?
I am truly curious about this young man and his life.

Has his so called mother thought to tell us more about him?
I would feel grateful and honored to hear more about him.

[antiRepublicrat]

It's not like she's being ignored or anything else.

My possible objections aren't really about her, but freedom of assembly and petition in general.

[DJ MacWoW]

My possible objections aren't really about her, but freedom of assembly and petition in general.

My thoughts on that are that Clinton closed Pennsylvania Ave because of security concerns and I'd say that's a public road. I see her as a security risk as she seems to be rather unhinged and allied with DU.

Have you seen this?

Drudge Focuses on Vacaville Mom ( Cindy Sheehan Responds with Lying Press Release)

[april15Bendovr]

The stages of grief Kubler-Ross identified are:

* Denial (this isn't happening to me!)

* Anger (why is this happening to me?)

* Bargaining (I promise I'll be a better person if...)

* Depression (I don't care anymore)

* Acceptance (I'm ready for whatever comes)

I am sorry to say but during these phases I'm sure it is easy to be manipulated and vulnerable by the likes of Michael Moores, Moveon.org and the George Gallaways of the world.

This poor women is in need of all the support she can get and she fell into the wrong hands.

[antiRepublicrat]

My thoughts on that are that Clinton closed Pennsylvania Ave because of security concerns and I'd say that's a public road. I see her as a security risk

Pennsylvania Ave is closed to traffic, not to people. Bush also made the policy permanent.

She hasn't shown any dangerous propensities, and is simply sitting on the road with no capability to cause serious mischief. I might be willing to give Bush the benefit of the doubt if he didn't already have a history of this sort of thing.

[DJ MacWoW]

I might be willing to give Bush the benefit of the doubt if he didn't already have a history of this sort of thing.

I definately do because of who is sponsoring this leftist. Shehan has gone so far off the deepend that her husband has left her and her other 3 kids are "estranged". So far that news is only being reported on the left coast and FR.