Posted on 08/14/2005 1:24:47 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CRAWFORD, Texas - Cindy Sheehan's antiwar protest entered its second week, gaining momentum and spurring counterrallies, as hundreds of people with conflicting opinions about the war in Iraq descended on a road leading to President George Bush's ranch.
More than 350 antiwar demonstrators gathered at a park near downtown Saturday, then moved the rally several miles away to the peace vigil's makeshift campsite along the road to Bush's ranch.
''Who knew that the beginning of the end of the occupation in Iraq was going to start last Saturday in Crawford, Texas?'' said Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., who started the protest Aug. 6 in memory of her 24-year-old son Casey, killed in Iraq last year. ``We're here to change the world.''
In the meantime, President Bush defended staying with his schedule.
`PART OF THE JOB'
Before leaving for a two-hour bike ride with some of his staff and journalists, Bush said he is aware of Sheehan's antiwar sentiments and those others who have joined her protest near his ranch.
''But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job,'' Bush said. ``And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life.''
Sheehan is seeking a justification for the war, as well as her son's death.
''I don't want comfort from him,'' she said Friday. ``I want answers. I want the truth.''
In addition to the bike ride, the president's schedule included an evening Little League Baseball playoff game, a lunch meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, some fishing and some reading. ''I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy,'' he said when asked about bike riding while Sheehan wanted to speak with him. ``And part of my being is to be outside exercising.''
''So I'm mindful of what goes on around me,'' Bush added. ``On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so.''
BUSH BACKERS
As about a dozen Bush supporters stood across the street holding signs, down from more than 250 who gathered there Saturday morning, one exchange became heated. A Bush supporter approached an antiwar veteran, and they stood chest to chest as deputies tried to separate them.
When the veteran shouted about his wartime experiences and yelled, ''I earned the right to be here!'' several of his fellow protesters subdued him, moving him away as he sobbed and his knees buckled.
Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents otherwise kept the groups on opposite sides of the road, and no one was arrested.
''I feel sorry for Cindy, but I think she went about this the wrong way,'' said Bill Garrett, a member of Protest Warrior, a group that holds counterprotests to antiwar rallies.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1462795/posts#27
***........It is far more likely that Ms. Sheehan has flip-flopped because she has either been unwittingly co-opted or has willingly aligned herself with some of the more virulent radical leftwing groups protesting the war. Ms. Sheehan posts her blog on both Michael Moore's website and at the website of Code Pink, the lovely leftists who sent $600,000 to the "insurgents" in Iraq and who protest every week outside Walter Reed hospital, in full view of the wounded soldiers recovering there.
Digging further, it has been discovered that Ms. Sheehan participated in a rally for Steve and Virginia Pearcy, the Sacramento couple that came under fire for hanging a U.S. soldier in effigy outside of their home. Ms. Sheehan also spoke at a rally at San Francisco State University, with the group "Students Against War". This rally was to honor Lynne Stewart, the radical lawyer whose most egregious client was Omar Abdul Rahman - the convicted bomber of the first WTC attacks.
During this rally, Ms. Sheehan stated, "Lynne is my human Atticus Finch. He did what he knew was right, but wasn't popular. That is what Lynne is doing." Sheehan further stated that, "we (Americans) have been killing people, we are responsible for death and destruction over the past 200 years." Sheehan further denoted George W. Bush as the "biggest terrorist" and ludicrously asserted that the United States was waging a "nuclear war" in Iraq. She further stated that Iraq is suffering under a "U.S. imposed sense of freedom and democracy". Yes, things must have been so much better under Saddam! Also at this rally, flyers entitled, "Should We Help the Iraqi Resistance?" were passed out. ..........***
She has stated she is no longer interested in meeting with the President.
This is just about her now. (and the money she will make dishonoring her son)
Yes. I heard that, she said if he met with her it would break the momentum, so it's better "giggle giggle" this way.
Ain't no cryin' in protestin'... What are ya some kind of sissy?
****.......United for Peace is nonetheless flogging Ms. Sheehan's story in the run-up to its big weekend of "civil disobedience" and "direct action" next month in Washington. That protest is timed to coincide with World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, so that the people who were throwing rocks at Starbucks in Seattle to protest free trade back during the Clinton administration can now make common cause with the anti-war folks.
The news that Congressman Conyers and Congresswoman Waters are involved fits with the rest of the picture. Mr. Conyers was the host of a Democratic "hearing" in June on the Iraq war that his fellow Democrat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, protested was a forum for "people motivated by anti-Semitic or anti-Israel animus." And Ms. Waters is still best known for having endorsed the conspiracy theory that the CIA caused the crack epidemic in American cities.
This whole crowd probably gains more from its association with Ms. Sheehan than she gains from her association with them. But all together, it's not a pretty picture. ........***
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1462577/posts?page=180#180
Mike Gallagher! WHoo Hoo! GO MIKE! :D
TrueMajority, an antiwar group founded by Ben Cohen -- one of the creators of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream -- hired Fenton Communications, a Washington public relations firm that has worked intermittently with Sheehan over the past year to coordinate media coverage.
With this help, Sheehan has courted coverage from the traveling White House press corps with a news conference. A schedule of when relatives of other military casualties in Iraq are expected to join Sheehan in Crawford was distributed to reporters. Her team coordinated an antiwar rally attended by hundreds in Crawford yesterday.
Sheehan also launched a television ad campaign yesterday, hoping to achieve what her roadside vigil so far has not: a second chance to directly tell Bush about the devastation she has experienced since her son's death.
''Mr. President, I want to tell you face to face how much this hurts," Sheehan says in the ad, which will air in Waco, the nearest broadcast market to Bush's 1,600-acre ranch. ''How many more of our loved ones need to die in this senseless war?"
Bush has been publicly respectful, telling reporters that he has thought ''long and hard about her position," even though he disagrees with her about the war.
''Withdrawing our troops from Iraq prematurely would betray the Iraqi people, and would cause others to question America's commitment to spreading freedom and winning the war on terror," Bush said in his weekly radio address yesterday. ''So we will honor the fallen by completing the mission for which they gave their lives, and by doing so we will ensure that freedom and peace prevail."
With this help, Sheehan has courted coverage from the traveling White House press corps with a news conference. A schedule of when relatives of other military casualties in Iraq are expected to join Sheehan in Crawford was distributed to reporters. Her team coordinated an antiwar rally attended by hundreds in Crawford yesterday.
Sheehan also launched a television ad campaign yesterday, hoping to achieve what her roadside vigil so far has not: a second chance to directly tell Bush about the devastation she has experienced since her son's death. …***
 SHEEHAN |
` bump for reference
But Sheehan's own words ( and deeds ) from the past impeach her. She condemns herself- only TOM ( the Tired Old Media ) could be gullible enough to fall for, and promote, this phony act.
Thanks for the grapic. It says so much.
"This country isn't worth dying for." - Cindy Sheehan.
That tells me more than I need to know ( or really wanted to ) about this pathetic woman.
You may be able to mount a successful argument that our leaders and their agendas are not worth dying for, but a country is made up of her people-- any normal person will lay down their own life in an instant for spouse or child. Most will do so for a friend or neighbor or relative, and many will do it for a stranger.
What she is telling me is that her life has no value or worth, beyond, of course, being a professional scold.
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