Posted on 08/26/2005 7:54:41 AM PDT by BJClinton
Sigmund Freud had a concept he called “projection, which has been defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.
In many ways I think that explains the behavior of the media’s current patron saint, Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush is really meant for someone else who she can’t admit even to herself is her real target. To do so would represent one of those “unacceptable impulses” Dr. Freud was talking about.
In this case it could well be that Cindy Sheehan is projecting her rage at George Bush when the one she really despises is her late son Casey, who died as a hero in Iraq, precisely because he did die a hero in Iraq.
The more I listen to Cindy Sheehan and consider her past actions and her past words, it occurs to me she has always been a liberal, she’s always been anti-military, and she’s always been anti-Republican. It appears that she raised Casey in such an environment, yet despite that what does he do? He not only joins the military engaged in a war she bitterly opposes, but to add insult to injury when his enlistment runs out, he re-enlists although he knew that by so doing it meant he would be sent to Iraq where a war his mother despises is being fought.
Think about that. What Casey did was to reject not by words but by deeds his mother’s most closely-held beliefs.
Then, to make matter worse in her eyes, this son volunteers to go on a dangerous mission even his superiors warned him against, and dies as a result. Casey Sheehan's sergeant asked for volunteers. Sheehan had just returned from Mass. After Sheehan volunteered once, the sergeant asked Sheehan again if he wanted to go on the mission. According to many reports (and according to his own mother) Casey responded, "Where my chief goes, I go."
He went, and it cost him his life. You can almost hear her saying to his spirit, “How dare you spurn me and turn your back on me? How dare you go join the military, and then how dare you volunteer to fight against the innocent Iraqi freedom fighters and get yourself killed?”
Casey Sheehan’s heroic action has embittered Cindy Sheehan. And her actions have embittered her family who bitterly resent her exploitation of her son’s heroic death in behalf of her political extremism. Here’s what they wrote to Matt Drudge:
“The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son’s good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our president, silently, with prayer and respect.”
Cindy Sheehan says she wants to ask the president, “Why did you kill my son?” She knows that George Bush did not kill her son. The butchers she supports with her far-out liberal activism killed Casey Sheehan and that activism is now resulting in the deaths of other young Americans because she is giving aid and comfort to our enemies and encouraging them to persist in their terrorism, giving them hope that if her views prevail the U.S. will lose its will and pull out. And so the fight goes on, and more Casey Sheehans die as a result.
And she says of her son, "He died for oil. He died to make your friends," Bush’s friends, "richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East."
How dare he?
Cindy Sheehan doesn’t need to talk to the president. A talk with a therapist would be more appropriate.
A bit off topic, but this is what I've been saying is wrong with Democrats today. They hate America, Republicans, conservatives and capitalism, but actually are projecting their hate because they hate themselves, and what they have become as a political party. They defend Bill Clinton (everyone does it) knowing his behavior is unacceptable in a just and civilized society. The list one can make proving the point is too long to write down, but every time I hear a Cindy Sheehan, Al Gore, John Kerry, Howard Dean and other Democrat leaders spouting off, this always comes to my mind.
She really hates her son. She tries to reclaim him by claiming he was deceived.
I agree with you. I read somewhere yesterday that she said she wants to make sure Casey "died for peace". Or something to that effect. She continues to spit on his grave daily.
"What does Bilbo Baggins Hate?"
Michael Reagan understands people and what make them tick. I wholeheartedly agree with his analysis here. Great job.
ping to an excellent article
"Nobody wants anything to do with her rants that apparently she has been prone to all her life."
The problem is that the major networks show her every night right after the daily casualty numbers. Many Americans still only get their news from the MSM. Every night they show Sheehan's picture and never mention any of her wacked out statements. I bet they will show her mug again tonight. Think I'll bet my son a milkshake they do.
Thank God Reagan adopted Michael. This is quite possibly the best article he's ever written.
Cindy will be legitimized now as she's finally got a Dem of high stature behind her, The Revernd Al Sharpton.
Hard to tell. She's not all that articulate. On a casual inspection, she seems to hate Bush and the whole Republican establishment, but it is more than that. There is this gnawing suspicion that she must harbor in her heart, that she is somehow not worthy of the attention and love that has been bestowed upon her, and she rages that they have made her feel guilty about accepting all the love.
Yeah, which is why I believe so many principled Democrats, who have personal character, morals and ethics, are leaving that party and becoming Republicans. Zell Miller explains it too, but most of the radial Democrats don't want to believe it and won't listen to understand what's happened to them.
These people truly believe Bush has lied to everyone over an over about everything, and they cannot fathom why nobody but them can see that. They are what Thomas Sowell called the "anointed" class that is destined to lead everyone to their utopian fantasy.
Exactly! This is why they hated Reagan so much. Deep down, they knew he was right and they were wrong, but he was a gentleman about it. The same thing is repeated with Bush. They want to hate him so much, but deep down, they know he is right. This makes them hate him even more. But it all boils down to the fact that they really hate themselves because they really know they're wrong, but have decades of justification that to even admit they're wrong cause their whole house of cards ideology to come tumbling down.
I've heard about her mental instability, but I haven't seen any news reports that document this - nor her being prone to rants. Is this documented anywhere? I'd like to read them.
She is angry at her son, but I believe she really feels he was programmed once he joined the Army. Maybe she's been reading too much Starship Troopers, the Heinlein book not the buggy movie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.