The savaging of Cindy Sheehan (FR mentioned)

uruknet.info, Italy information from occupied iraq ^ | August 12, 2005 | Matthew Rothschild

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The shameless savaging of Cindy Sheehan continues.

Bill O'Reilly says she's a tool of "far left elements."

The New York Sun echoes the charge, evidently reading the same rightwing talking points.

In an editorial on August 11, it says Sheehan "has put herself in league with some extreme groups and individuals."

This is old-style McCarthyism, straight on down to the red-baiting.

The editorial quotes Sheehan about some of the groups she's involved with, including Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out.

It then notes that these groups are on the steering committee of United for Peace and Justice, along with the Communist Party USA. (A person representing that party is one of the forty-one members who was voted onto the steering committee.)

This classic guilt-by-association trope just shows the reflexive response of the right: When your critic has credibility, and you can't find anything else on her, destroy her with the old standby: You're a communist dupe!

The Sun also points out that Sheehan is working with the Crawford Peace House, and it says that group's website "includes a photo depicting the entire state of Israel as Palestine." Actually, it depicts a protester holding a sign showing four maps of what is now Israel and the Occupied Territories, noting how Palestinians have been allowed less and less land over the past 60 years.

"Nobody is anti-Israel here," says John Wolf, one of the founders of the Crawford Peace House. "We're just asking for peace with justice and respect for international law."

But for the New York Sun, the Crawford Peace House's view of the Israel-Palestine conflict is convenient enough to tar Cindy Sheehan with.

Rightwing talk show host Phil Hendrie goes even lower, writing an article amazingly entitled "Anti-War Mom: Another Ignorant Cow," Hendrie called Sheehan a "self-righteous ignoramus," and then went into full mockery mode: "A mother grieving her loss. The inhumanity of war. Oh, the wickedness of it all."

I've seen callousness before, but this piece may top them all. And catch Hendrie's defense of the Iraq War: "This war was unavoidable, brought on by an historic clash of culture and ideal, powered by the American people themselves, rising to meet the future, pissing off the rag heads." Rag heads?

By the way, Hendrie's screed was posted on the website, freerepublic.com, which calls itself "the premier online gathering place for independent, grassroots conservatism on the web."

Sheehan responds to her critics: "Nothing you can say can hurt me or make me stop what we are doing. We are working for peace with justice. We are using peaceful means and the truth to do it."

[Rockingham]

True as to the victory in the field; but, as in the famous exchange in Paris between Harry Summers and an NVA general, American victory in the field was irrelevant due to the collapse of domestic political support for the war.

The Johnson administration's gradualism and restricted, stop-start bombing of the North; its public begging for negotiations; and the Westmoreland search and destroy tactics gave the US public a sense of the Viet Nam War as a costly, overlong, no-win effort.

When Nixon came in, he had a de facto mandate to promptly bomb North Viet Nam into submission, but failed to do so until the continuation of the war endangered his reelection. Too late to resurrect domestic political support, Nixon finally shut Haiphong and hammered Hanoi with B-52 strikes. Within weeks, our POWs were on their way home and a peace treaty of sorts was cobbled together.

Unfortunately, when that treaty was broken by the North's invasion in 1975, Congress and the country were unwilling to reengage and prevent South Viet Nam's fall. In San Clemente, Nixon looked back at his failure to hammer the North in early 1969 as a great error on his part -- which is what I saw it as being at the time.

[N. Theknow]

This is old-style McCarthyism, straight on down to the red-baiting.

Ah, the old, can't find anything wrong with your argument so I'll just bring out an old label ploy.

Typical Leftist BS.

And the only people who think McCarthy was wrong are the socialists.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

And we don't want to do that again.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!!

[Rockingham]

There are times when I fear the Bush administration is doing just that. My preference is for the Jackson/Sherman/Patton/LeMay style of hitting the enemy as hard and as fast and as fiercely as one can. After utter defeat in the field and mass civilian casualties from aerial bombardment, Japan and Germany were far more pacific when occupied and amenable to reconstruction than Fallujah and the Sunni triangle have been after being treated tenderly.

[sayfer bullets]

"***.........I'm often asked by conservatives about the continuing role and influence of the Communist Party..."

Wow. Powerful stuff.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It would be nice to have help from more countries.

I fear for Western Europe.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Yes. It certainly is.

[Let's Roll]

Cindy Sheehan and her handlers are as dangerous to our brave troops and the American people as fanatical islam.

She deserves "savaging" and more.

Of course she's pathetic etc. - that's why they picked her - but indulging the wimpy anti-American left as has been done for the last 30 years is over.

[bert]

Gimme that ol time McCarthyism
Gimme that ol time McCarthyism
Gimme that ol time McCarthyism

It's good enuff for we....

[spectre]

Thank you.

The leftist MSM and CNN can cover her protests till kingdom come, but I hope the rest of us can just ignore her. I'm going to try.

sw

[bert]

Others have tried.....

[RedEyeJack]

"Stupid is as stupid does"...

- "Forest" Gump

[GarySpFc]

This crap is getting old...real old. I wish everyone would just ignore this woman.

[Fudd Fan]

That is a vile disgusting cartoon.

[Fudd Fan]

Bingo.

[Shawndell Green]

LOL!! Good call! I hope she likes the Texas heat and humidity.

[arasina]

This is old-style McCarthyism, straight on down to the red-baiting.

LOL! Had to drag out the old uniform and salute your comrades, eh, Matthew? Funny thing is about 'red-baiting': you guys always take the bait and show your true colors.

[Shawndell Green]

“If she is not away traveling or speaking, she is home with her laptop, watching news, or talking on the phone…This is important, we try to continue to support her.”

In other words, she is obsessed with her cause and thinks she knows better than the elected President of this country what our military policy should be. If she is so smart, run for office. Her husband should tell her to shut up and behave or get the heck out of the house for good.