Cindy Sheehan: The Media’s Desperate Search for an anti-war Movement that Is Not There

columnist and radio talk show host on KOGO AM 600 based in San Diego ^ | August 18, 2005 | Steve Yuhas

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Ever since the 2004 election the mainstream media has been hoping (indeed praying; if believed in G-d, but that is something for us regular folks) that an anti-war movement would spring up akin to the anti-war rallies they participated in as young college students during Vietnam. The problem is that no matter how many polls they play with, no matter how many doom and gloom stories they print and no matter how much coverage they give to Cindy Sheehan and the 100 protestors who joined her in Crawford, Texas – the media is just not getting the anti-war movement they have been longing for.

Cindy Sheehan has been on the front page of every major newspaper since she began her “protest” outside the Texas ranch of President Bush demanding to see him to give him advice about the war and to demand answers about why her son died in Iraq. Specialist Casey Sheehan was a 24-year-old soldier who died in Iraq as a volunteer serving in a combat zone; he volunteered to serve his country and became an outstanding soldier ultimately giving his life for the rest of us.

If only his mother could see that the sacrifice of her son was not made in vain, as she asserts today, and that the noble cause that she says does not exist in Iraq was made clear when people braved threats of death and went to the polls to vote and Iraq works her way towards being a true democracy in the heart of the Middle East.

For Cindy Sheehan her son died in a war that had no noble cause that President Bush started by lying to all of us (forget the Congress approved it as well) and now many fringe left wing groups that have taken up her cause and made her part of their advertising campaigns against the war in Iraq. It is unfortunate that the more Ms. Sheehan speaks the more it is apparent that she is a woman in need of serious counseling. Consider some of the assertions that she has made in recent weeks:

She owes no taxes for 2004 because her son died during the war (if this were the Clinton years - there would be an audit today)

That President Bush killed her son (not the insurgents or terrorists)

The United States is using “nuclear weapons” in Iraq (is she on mushrooms - or was there a mushroom cloud?)

And that she will continue her vigil in Washington by standing on the White House lawn until she is once again given an audience with President Bush (think that will happen?)

And to show that her attitude is in concert with those on the fringes of the radical left she made sure to point out that the war in Iraq was a war for oil (sounds familiar) and for the benefit of Israel (what would an anti-war protest be without some blame for Israel?)

It is no wonder that on August 12, 2005 her husband, Patrick Sheehan, filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.” Their 28 year marriage has been over since June 5, 2005 when the couple separated and Cindy believes that it is because of the political stand she is taking over the war in Iraq, but that position was clear for many months before the separation and she made no secret of it. Maybe he is suing for divorce because he knows she has lost her mind.

There can be nothing more hurtful than the military showing up at your door to tell you that your son is dead, but Casey died what he wanted to be doing – serving in America’s armed forces. It is a noble calling that does not make a person rich, it seldom brings a person glory or notoriety, but the benefits of serving for the cause of freedom and liberty is something that only someone who wore the uniform of this country could understand.

It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, black or white or soldier, sailor, airmen or Marine: the feeling is still the same each day that you wake up knowing that you are serving the American people and are the front line of the defense against terrorism. While you serve you are also protecting the rights of Americans of all political persuasions and their rights to have idiot opinions and obtuse protests. So convinced was Casey Sheehan in his decision to join the military that he re-enlisted before he was killed in Iraq.

The media covers the siege in Crawford with almost as much vigor as the war itself or if thousands of people were standing in solidarity with Cindy Sheehan instead of maybe a hundred. Nobody makes any effort to find out if the people being counted are there to protest Cindy Sheehan and the radicals that came to support her (there have been many arguments caught by cameras and radio stations) or if they are part of a counter protest. The only coverage that matters is Cindy Sheehan and her waiting game for divorce papers to be served and, perhaps, tea with President Bush.

Enter Move America Forward (http://moveamericaforward.org) that will have a caravan to Crawford, Texas that will traverse California then head out to the Lone Star State. The convoy will star a mother proud of her son and his service, Deborah Johns of California Marine Moms, and will begin near San Francisco and culminate with a “We Support Our Troops AND Their Mission” rally on Saturday August 27, 2005 at 1:00PM in Crawford, Texas. We’ll see if the media covers the rally the way they’ve been covering the mother of one veteran and a few dozen of her closest new friends that just happen to belong to some of the most radical groups in the country.

The mainstream media that is reporting the news and deciding what to lead with has been wishing for a backlash to the war on terrorism for a long time, but it is just not happening. They’ve used skewed polling data, a bad news campaign that leads the networks every night and now the sympathetic figure approach with Cindy Sheehan front and center to no avail. The American public may not think that everything is peachy in Iraq, but we’re not the kind of people who cut and run – at least anymore (we lost Vietnam, despite Bill O’Reilly’s decision to school Ann Coulter to the contrary) precisely because the media was in charge of public opinion. Not anymore.

The fact is that while the mainstream media covers every gathering of a dozen people or fewer who are opposed to the war they ignore hundreds or thousands of people who gather for any number of conservative causes like supporting the troops and their cause or the hundreds of thousands who march on Washington every year to protest Roe v. Wade and the murder of children in the womb.

If I were not the optimist that I am I would think that America might one day follow the media and actually believe we were losing in Iraq, but with blogs, the Internet and talk radio – it is impossible to miss the fact that Iraqis seem to like the idea of democracy and the troops that are there know what they’re doing is valuable and noble. It is a shame that the mother of one fatally wounded war hero doesn’t believe that way, but in the end – in a few weeks we’ll be into the confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court Associate Justice and everyone will be saying Cindy who?

It used to be that the mainstream media could not only report on the news, but could create a groundswell of support in one direction, but their monopoly is broken and now people know that what they say is not always the case. With Cindy Sheehan the mainstream media has their summer story and they can count on the day that the divorce papers come or the caravan from California arrives with mothers who are proud of their sons and daughters. What ever will they do if the anti-war folks are outnumbered by the proud to be Americans and proud to be supportive of our President and armed forces?

I can tell you: they’ll use a tighter lens to make it appear that there is more than just Cindy Sheehan and the same rent-a-mob protestors that have been there since the beginning and pretend that the mob of people supporting the troops are just a bunch of hicks from around the area, but it could very well be a bigger gathering than people expect and I certainly hope that it is.

Steve Yuhas is a columnist and radio talk show host on KOGO AM 600 based in San Diego. He may be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com or www.steveyuhas.com

[Gen-X-Dad]

TrueMajority, an antiwar group founded by Ben Cohen -- one of the creators of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream -- hired Fenton Communications

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The radio host, Ancarlo, mentioned that TrueMajority was there and that they were sponsored by Ben & Jerry. He claimed the rude PR lady was from a exclusive New York firm, but maybe Fenton Communications has a branch there. He said the PR firm is a well known liberal mouthpiece.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thanks much for the follow-up.

[johnb838]

The White Ho was sitting in? I wish I had caught it. Fox was boring and I have a little bit of a thing for her.

[johnb838]

I think that is the fatal flaw of the a-rat party. They have such obligations to widely disparate Groups that they can't possibly please one with out alienating another. Take Black Parents vs. Teachers Unions for example. Can't be done.

[johnb838]

Cindy looks kind of like someone I know. I would never share this about my friend, because she's very nice, and very intelligent. But she looks sort of like a sea lion, or some sort of beast. Like maybe there's not really much going on in there. And like maybe there should be some tusks and whiskers. Sorry, that's not nice. but if there are any budding caricaturists out there...

(I didn't like it when they caricatured Condi, but I'm not sure I wouldn't enjoy it now. Except I'd do it more as a dominatrix than as W's parrot)

[beyond the sea]

and I have a little bit of a thing for her

I hear you, she's pretty nice. She's not looking as good as she did a couple of years ago, but she's nice. By the way, where is Heather Nauert these days. I haven't seen her lately. I like her quite a lot. I think she should have her own show. She's very cute, is a no nonsense girl, does her homework, speaks very well, and has a great personality.

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Remember Jennifer Eccleston? (pant)