God bless you and other military families for the sacrifices made of our loved ones for the freedoms enjoyed by every citizen of great country.
Posted on 08/18/2005 9:25:42 AM PDT by smoothsailing
Yeah, she's just a grieving mother, my ass!
Am I stupid?
Not at all...you are a complete f#$king idiot!
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007122
She Does Not Speak for Me
My son died in Iraq--and it was not in vain.
BY RONALD R. GRIFFIN
Thursday, August 18, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
I lost a son in Iraq and Cindy Sheehan does not speak for me.
I grieve with Mrs. Sheehan, for all too well I know the full measure of the agony she is forever going to endure. I honor her son for his service and sacrifice. However, I abhor all that she represents and those who would cast her as the symbol for parents of our fallen soldiers.
The fallen heroes, until now, have enjoyed virtually no individuality. They have been treated as a monolith, a mere number. Now Mrs. Sheehan, with adept public relations tactics, has succeeded in elevating herself above the rest of us. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida declared that Mrs. Sheehan is now the symbol for all parents who have lost children in Iraq. Sorry, senator. Not for me.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times portrays Mrs. Sheehan as a distraught mom standing heroically outside the guarded gates of the most powerful and inhumane man on earth, President Bush. Ms. Dowd is so moved by Mrs. Sheehan's plight that she bestowed upon her and all grieving parents the title of "absolute moral authority." That characterization epitomizes the arrogance and condescension of anyone who would presume to understand and speak for all of us. How can we all possess "absolute moral authority" when we hold so many different perspectives?
I don't want that title. I haven't earned that title.
Although we all walk the same sad road of sorrow and agony, we walk it as individuals with all the refreshing uniqueness of our own thoughts shaped in large measure by the life and death of our own fallen hero. Over the past few days I have reached out to other parents and loved ones of fallen heroes in an attempt to find out their reactions to all the attention Mrs. Sheehan has attracted. What emerges from those conversations is an empathy for Mrs. Sheehan's suffering but a fundamental disagreement with her politics.
Ann and Dale Hampton lost their only child, Capt. Kimberly Hampton, on Jan. 2, 2004, while she was flying her Kiowa helicopter. She was a member of the 82nd Airborne and the company commander. She had already served in Afghanistan before being deployed to Iraq. Ann Hampton wrote, "My grief sometimes seems unbearable, but I cannot add the additional baggage of anger. Mrs. Sheehan has every right to protest . . . but I cannot do that. I would be protesting the very thing that Kimberly believed in and died for."
Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis was Stacey Sammis's husband. Ben died on April 4, 2003, while flying his Super Cobra helicopter. Listen to Stacey and she will tell you that she is just beginning to understand the enormousness of the character of soldiers who knowingly put their lives at risk to defend our country. She will tell you that one of her deepest regrets is that the world did not have the honor of experiencing for a much longer time this outstanding Marine she so deeply loved.
Speak to Joan Curtin, whose son, Cpl. Michael Curtin, was an infantryman with the 2-7th 3rd ID, and her words are passionately ambivalent. She says she has no room for bitterness. She has a life to lead and a family to nurture. She spoke of that part of her that never heals, for that is where Michael resides. She can go on, always knowing there will be that pain.
Karen Long is the mother of Spc. Zachariah Long, who died with my son Kyle on May 30, 2003. Zack and Kyle were inseparable friends as only soldiers can be, and Karen and I have become inseparable friends since their deaths. Karen's view is that what Mrs. Sheehan is doing she has every right to do, but she is dishonoring all soldiers, including Karen's son, Zack. Karen cannot comprehend why Mrs. Sheehan cannot seem to come to grips with the idea that her own son, Casey, was a soldier like Zack who had a mission to complete. Karen will tell you over and over again that Zack is not here and no one, but no one will dishonor her son.
My wife, Robin, has a different take on Mrs. Sheehan. She told me, "I don't care what she says or does. She is no more important than any other mother."
By all accounts Spc. Casey Sheehan, Mrs. Sheehan's son, was a soldier by choice and by the strength of his character. I did not have the honor of knowing him, but I have read that he attended community college for three years and then chose to join the Army. In August 2003, five months into Operation Iraqi Freedom and after three years of service, Casey Sheehan re-enlisted in the Army with the full knowledge there was a war going on, and with the high probability he would be assigned to a combat area. Mrs. Sheehan frequently speaks of her son in religious terms, even saying that she thought that some day Casey would be a priest. Like so many of the individuals who have given their lives in service to our country, Casey was a very special young man. How do you decry that which someone has chosen to do with his life? How does a mother dishonor the sacrifice of her own son?
Mrs. Sheehan has become the poster child for all the negativity surrounding the war in Iraq. In a way it heartens me to have all this attention paid to her, because that means others in her position now have the chance to be heard. Give equal time to other loved ones of fallen heroes. Feel the intensity of their love, their pride and the sorrow.
To many loved ones, there are few if any "what ifs." They, like their fallen heroes before them, live in the world as it is and not what it was or could have been. Think of the sacrifices that have brought us to this day. We as a country made a collective decision. We must now live up to our decision and not deviate until the mission is complete.
Thirty-five years ago, a president faced a similar dilemma in Vietnam. He gave in and we got "peace with honor." To this day, I am still searching for that honor. Today, those who defend our freedom every day do so as volunteers with a clear and certain purpose. Today, they have in their commander in chief someone who will not allow us to sink into self-pity. I will not allow him to. The amazing part about talking to the people left behind is that I did not want them to stop. After speaking to so many I have come away with the certainty of their conviction that in a large measure it's because of the deeds and sacrifices of their fallen heroes that this is a better and safer world we now live in.
Those who lost their lives believed in the mission. To honor their memory, and because it's right, we must believe in the mission, too.
We refuse to allow Cindy Sheehan to speak for all of us. Instead, we ask you to learn the individual stories. They are glorious. Honor their memories.
Honor their service. Never dishonor them by giving in. They never did.
Mr. Griffin is the father of Spc. Kyle Andrew Griffin, a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star, who was killed in a truck accident on a road between Mosul and Tikrit on May 30, 2003.
Drugged out,maggot-infested hippie scum who are now spewing their leftist filth to a whole new generation.
This time around,it ain't gonna work.
Well keep in mind that this "Drugged out,maggot-infested hippie scum who are now spewing their leftist filth to a whole new generation." has been teaching our children and grandchildren at high schools, colleges and universities all over America for the past 40 plus years...
Pacifists are introspective sophists. For the folks in Rio Linda, instrospective sophist is another way of saying self centered idiot.
Mr.Griffin speaks for the America I know and love and defend.
('nuff said)
>>Am I stupid? No, I know full-well that my son, "MY FAMILY",
>>this nation, and this world were betrayed by a George Bush
It's my understanding that the father of the son who was killed, is a Bush supporter. He is now divorced with Ms. Cindy. I can't blame the guy, for not wanting to be with her anymore.
These letters need to go to folks who are going to the Texas rally and read out loud on a loud speaker to Sindy!
If any of the news organizations were smart (and not so blinded by hatred) they would do profiles on some of the soldiers killed and their families left behind rather than focus with a pinpoint spotlight on bile-spewing Cindy Sheehan. I for one am glad to read their stories, to learn what kind of special, honorable people they were throughout their short lives. Thanks for posting these excerpts.
As a military wife this woman OUTRAGES me and I'm not alone. People need to stand up, hit the streets and say ENOUGH! NEVER again should America turn against its military. The President needs to step up to the plate defend and bring the people back to why we are at war. He needs to continue pounding into the American people brains, ONLY united can we defeat terrorism!
Cindy Sheehan is a dope. Why anyone gives her the time of day is beyond me.
All liberals are juveniles emotionally and let that immaturity take control of their reasoning ability. That is why they stubbornly cling to selfish, self-centered, hedonistic and unrealistic utopian ideals instead of conservative truths based on knowledge, wisdom, logic and reality.
Unfortunately, many have become entrenched in the education system from primary schools to college where, especially in universities, they brainwash the next generation of young men and women. The one saving grace is that student are computer savvy and there is another medium -- the Internet -- to provide another viewpoint if they but look.
I don't personally know Jim and Shelley Douglass, but I know many people who are friends of theirs, and we have talked about them quite a lot. They oppose war for much the same reason the Mennonites or the Amish oppose it, and to me, the proof that their faith is sincere is the fact that they live very much like strict Mennonites. It's a shame they are lumped here--or have allowed themselves to be lumped--with the likes of George Soros and the Bush-haters at MoveOn.org. That isn't what they are about.
God bless you and other military families for the sacrifices made of our loved ones for the freedoms enjoyed by every citizen of great country.
To the old media,it would be seen as promoting the "Bush Agenda".
I was in the newspaper and publishing business for 20 years and believe me,that twisted logic permeates the old media.
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