Posted on 08/10/2005 5:26:36 PM PDT by kristinn
In her fifth day quietly camping out on a road near President Bush's ranch, a grieving mother protesting the war that took her son's life has captured the nation's attention.
Cindy Sheehan's simple vigil has pulled at many people's heartstrings and stirred anger in others, symbolizing the country's divided opinion of the war in Iraq.
Dozens from across the country have started to camp out with her, pitching tents in muddy ditches and hanging anti-war banners; others have sent flowers. One activist called her "the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement." Her name was among the most popular search topics Wednesday on Internet blogs.
The soft-spoken Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., said she is surprised at the overwhelming response - most of it positive, she said - but that people upset over the war just want their voices heard.
"Before my son was killed, I used to think that one person could not make a difference," she said Wednesday under a tent where she has slept since arriving Saturday. "But one person that is surrounded and supported by millions of people can be heard."
But Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the Washington, D.C., chapter of FreeRepublic.com, which has held pro-troop rallies since Sept. 11 and counter-protests of anti-war demonstrations, said Sheehan's protest is misguided and is hurting troop morale.
"She has a political agenda that goes way beyond her son's death in combat," Taylor said.
On Saturday two high-level Bush administration officials, the national security adviser and deputy White House chief of staff, talked to Sheehan. But she called the 20-minute meeting "pointless" and still wants to talk to the president, vowing to remain until his stay at the ranch ends later this month.
Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Sadr City, Iraq, in April 2004 just five days after he arrived. He was the oldest of four children. His two younger sisters and brother, ages 19 to 24, are devastated and miss his laid-back personality, humor and uncanny laugh, Sheehan said.
After his death, among his belongings she received was his unfinished letter, saying he was looking forward to a smooth year of service. He didn't agree with the war, Sheehan said.
"I begged him not to go," she said through tears. "I said, 'I'll take you to Canada' ... but he said, 'Mom, I have to go. It's my duty. My buddies are going.' "
She said she is upset that various government and independent commission reports have since disputed the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein had mass-killing chemical and biological weapons - a main justification for the March 2003 invasion.
Sheehan, a former Catholic youth minister, formed a group called Gold Star Families For Peace earlier this year and has spoken out against the war across the nation and overseas. She usually stays and eats meals with those who organize her speeches, but she has been using her son's insurance money for living expenses.
Judith Young, national president of similarly named The American Gold Star Mothers of America, Inc., said she is concerned that the public will mistake her 76-year-old Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization with Sheehan's group.
Young's group, commonly known as Gold Star Moms, arranges for mothers whose children died in the line of duty to volunteer in veterans' hospitals and programs. Members are all mothers, mostly between 60 and 80 years old, and they don't do advocacy work, Young said.
At Sheehan's makeshift camp off the two-lane, winding road leading to Bush's ranch, she has spent the past several days in the rain talking to scores of reporters, hugging fellow protesters and taking brief breaks to eat sandwiches and fruit brought by supporters.
Many decided to go to Crawford because of rumors that Sheehan would be arrested this week. But no protesters will be arrested unless they trespass on private property or block the road, said Capt. Kenneth Vanek of the McLennan County Sheriff's Office.
Trucker Craig Delaney, 53, was in Georgia on Monday when he heard numerous radio shows discussing Sheehan - some criticizing her. He altered his route to California, heading for Texas, and got to Sheehan's site Wednesday morning.
"I felt compelled to come and tell her I support her," said Delaney, a self-described hippie from Sly Park, Calif. "The way they were badmouthing a mother whose son was killed in the war is un-American."
Nearly 40 Democratic members of Congress have asked Bush to talk to Sheehan. And on Wednesday, a coalition of anti-war groups in Washington called on Bush to speak with Sheehan, who they say has helped to unify the peace movement.
"Cindy Sheehan has become the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, leader of the Hip Hop Caucus, an activist group. "She's tired, fed up and she's not going to take it anymore, and so now we stand with her."
I hate her. I don't care. Can't have love without hate in equal measure or you'll let the things you hate destroy what you love.
Why don't you link us to a post that says someone hoped she got cancer?
And I think you're just one more troll. You don't seem to understand just how much this woman has lied.
Maybe you're one of those leftists who actually celebrates liars, but here on FR, we appreciate the truth. So get over yourself.
And she takes a dump How???
She thinks the war in Iraq wasn't worth it. That her son's life was just wasted. Now the people who support the war don't believe that tripe. But she does. She had a perfect opportunity to make her sons death worth it, do great things for her family or others. She could have took that money she is wasting now and used it for her other kids and future grand kids education. She could have donated it to the salvation army or some other deserving charity. But she is so self-centered that she wants to blow all the money on herself.
Nicely put... and an interesting thought.
I think it would be interesting if a *real* group of Gold Star Mothers would camp out on the other side of the road.
Rosa Parks was an operative and had an agenda too, so maybe the comparison is apt. Not that what Rosa did was wrong, but she wasn't some Black Everywoman who just got fed up one day. Miz Cindy, on the other hand, is wrong, and her comments are revealing what a despicable person she is day by day.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
"I think they're following the exact same script they followed back then".
Yep, but the Internet and Talk Radio have castrated there BULL! ;-)
LLS
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Of course it was just fine for delaney to have (no doubt) bad mouthed our troops as they came home from Vietnam. I can feel for a mother who has had a child killed while serving his country...but that's where it ends in this case.
Remember back when the impeached former president was glad-handing in Chicago? He was approached by a woman who angrily accused him of killing her son. Shortly after her outburst, she was detained by Secret Service because the impeached former president told them she had threatened him. - That's my recollection, at least - I cannot recall her name.
More like the Kristin Breitweiser of the summer of '05.
"I go back and forth from feeling sorry for her to being angry with her".
Just ask yourself if you feel sorry for the likes of jane Fonda, or michael moore. Both financially support her.
Just wait for sheehan's fall (anti-war) bio-diesel bus tour, starring hanoi jane! She will be right up-front for all of the media to see.
LLS
Cindy Sheehan's Email address: SCINDY121@aol.com
there=their
too quick on the draw! ;-)
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