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Bush vs. The Mother ('Rolling Stone' Writer: 'Cindy's Ex 'a coward,' Crawford is 'dog s***')
Rolling Stone Magazine ^ | September 8, 2005 | Matt Taibbi

Posted on 08/28/2005 10:30:12 PM PDT by L.N. Smithee

Crawford, the home of President George W. Bush, is a sun-scorched hole of a backwater Texas town -- a single dreary railroad crossing surrounded on all sides by roasted earth the color of dried dog s---. There are scattered clumps of trees and brush, but all the foliage seems bent from the sun's rays and ready at any moment to burst into flames.

The moaning cattle along the lonely roads sound like they're begging for their lives. The downtown streets are empty. Just as the earth is home to natural bridges, this place is a natural dead end -- the perfect place to drink a bottle of Lysol, wind up in a bad marriage, have your neck ripped out by a vulture.

It is a very unlikely place for a peace movement to be born. But that's exactly what happened a few weeks ago, when an aggrieved war mom named Cindy Sheehan set up camp along the road to the president's ranch and demanded a meeting with the commander in chief.

(Excerpt) Read more at rollingstone.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: bias; cindysheehan; degenerate; hack; liar; taibbi; wenner; zondervan
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These are the opening paragraphs of a dishonest account of the Sheehan circus as told by Matt Taibbi. Although Taibbi highlights the ways that Sheehan's spotlight is being hijacked by leftist activists of all types ("Particularly irritating was the sight of a giant school bus bearing the inscription "Free the Cuban Five" parked in front of the Peace House. Jesus, I thought. The Mumia people can't be far behind"), and details tinfoil tendencies of protesters from both sides, he also takes shots at KLIF talkhost Darrell Ankarlo ("Dallas right-wing talk-show reptile") and tells a doesn't-pass-the-smell-test story about fooling a local yokel into thinking he was a Fox News Channel producer doing advance work for Sean Hannity ("[When Sean] finishes the broadcast, he takes his shirt off and flexes his muscles for the crowd. You know, rrrr. . .").

Whatever attempts at fairness a Rolling Stone writer can be expected to display, none could overcome that noxious opening statement. 'Sure, I came from New York City and think your town looks like "dried dog s---," but that doesn't mean you're not good people.' And even if someone were to believe that Taibbi, with his blue state superiority complex written across his forehead, was making a half-hearted attempt at balance, all one needs to know to abandon that hope is this statement:


In still more proof that red-blue politics often comes before family in this country, her in-laws had released a statement cruelly denouncing her. Her estranged husband, perhaps a coward and perhaps unable to handle the stress, filed for divorce.
While Cindy was sitting in a ditch in Texas, Casey's father Pat filed for divorce back in California. When the word leaked out, messengers of that fact -- primarily blogress extraordinaire Michelle Malkin -- were savagely verbally attacked for implying that it's possible Pat's action of filing at that time was evidence of dissent from Cindy's activism. But Taibbi suggests that Pat's "perhaps a coward and perhaps unable to handle the stress" and what do we hear? So far, crickets.

Taibbi also suggests Matt Drudge was guilty of twisting her words in the Freeper-revealed Vacaville Reporter story with Sheehan's quote about "...the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together";


Drudge implied that Sheehan was referring to the meeting with the president. In fact, what Sheehan was saying was that the real gift Bush gave the families was the opportunity to meet each other, not the president.
I don't believe Drudge implied any flip-flop about that part of the article, although it certainly wouldn't be outrageous to interpret it as being fundamentally different from calling him a "murderer" and a "terrorist," like she does on a daily basis nowadays.

What makes Cindy a "flip-flopper" are these parts of David Henson's Reporter account of the first meeting with Bush in June 2004, which is unambiguous, not disputed, and, naturally, not mentioned much by the mainstream media:


"We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled," Cindy said. "The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached."

The 10 minutes of face time with the president could have given the family a chance to vent their frustrations or ask Bush some of the difficult questions they have been asking themselves, such as whether Casey's sacrifice would make the world a safer place.

But in the end, the family decided against such talk, deferring to how they believed Casey would have wanted them to act. In addition, Pat [Sheehan, Casey's father] noted that Bush wasn't stumping for votes or trying to gain a political edge for the upcoming election.

"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said.

Sincerity was something Cindy had hoped to find in the meeting. Shortly after Casey died, Bush sent the family a form letter expressing his condolences, and Cindy said she felt it was an impersonal gesture.

"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."


If Taibbi were an honest reporter, he could have, even while maintaining his status as a Bush-basher for hire, postulated other possibilities for Pat's filing for divorce; "...perhaps dismayed that Cindy was no longer treating Casey's Commander-in-Chief with the respect they previously agreed upon," or something of that nature.

But Taibbi didn't write that because he's NOT an honest reporter. Fortunately, he writes for Rolling Stone, where you don't have to be.

I posted this for your information and amusement. It's not like any takes Rolling Stone seriously anymore -- if anyone ever did.

1 posted on 08/28/2005 10:30:13 PM PDT by L.N. Smithee
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To: L.N. Smithee

I never thought the intellectual quality of Rolling Stone could go down, but it clearly has.


2 posted on 08/28/2005 10:31:51 PM PDT by TBP
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To: TBP
They're a Blue State rag. And their singles is sh*t.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
3 posted on 08/28/2005 10:34:48 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Taibbi was the guy who 'volunteered' at a Republican HQ in FLA under false pretenses to write an article about "Behind Enemy Lines" for the last 'stolen election'.


4 posted on 08/28/2005 10:35:01 PM PDT by Sender (Team Infidel USA)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Ecce Asshat.

5 posted on 08/28/2005 10:35:03 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: TBP
makes you long for the good old days of algore's airbrushed crotch on the cover, eh?

Rolling Stone trying to stay relevant is as pathetic as the Rolling Stones trying to stay relevant.
6 posted on 08/28/2005 10:36:14 PM PDT by flashbunny (Always remember to bring a towel!)
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To: L.N. Smithee
Sheehan's demand was that Bush meet with her and explain to her what, exactly, her son had died for.

Cindy is a radical leftwing loon. She has a lot to learn about life.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
-Ronald Reagan

7 posted on 08/28/2005 10:42:16 PM PDT by Reagan Man (Secure the borders;punish employers who hire illegals;halt all welfare handouts to illegals.)
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To: L.N. Smithee
Yup... Whenever I am seeking hard news and insightful commentary, I always reach for Rolling Stone first < /sarc>
8 posted on 08/28/2005 10:43:03 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: L.N. Smithee

FWIW Taibbi Jr. (worked for Kerry campaign) and his old man (PMSNBC-Iraq)are 5th Columnists.


9 posted on 08/28/2005 10:43:59 PM PDT by Jan Hus
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Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: L.N. Smithee
...this place is a natural dead end -- the perfect place to drink a bottle of Lysol, wind up in a bad marriage, have your neck ripped out by a vulture.

Is he talking about Crawford or Manhattan?

11 posted on 08/28/2005 10:46:28 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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this guy is just another NY left wing AH. They are a dime a dozen here


12 posted on 08/28/2005 10:47:44 PM PDT by Cougar66 (The only liberal movement is what's in their diapers. .)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Tell this stupid city boy-girl cows do not MOAN they MOOO.


13 posted on 08/28/2005 10:48:40 PM PDT by therut
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anyone know what Sheehans going to do when Bush leaves Crawford? Shes already been quoted that the war will end because of her 'vigil'
14 posted on 08/28/2005 10:48:58 PM PDT by Cougar66 (The only liberal movement is what's in their diapers. .)
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To: L.N. Smithee

A stoned reporter.

It is OBVIOUS there was no peace movement born in crawford. NOTHING WAS started there.

It was the execution of a DNC marketing plan. PERIOD.

The DNC may have used surrogates, they may have used CFR sanctioned "entities" but it was all a marketing gimick born out of a conference room not a ditch.

This stoned repoter is just trying to feed into the MSM delusion. Newflash to RStoned reporter. Being a dupe will not get you an award, it only buys you ridicule for your pansy boy antics, Sucker.


15 posted on 08/28/2005 10:49:14 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: martin_fierro

He puts the ECCCH! in Homo.


16 posted on 08/28/2005 10:50:21 PM PDT by adam_az (It's the border, stupid!)
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To: L.N. Smithee
but that's exactly what happened a few weeks ago, when an aggrieved war mom

Total BS. More like an aggrieved Kerry voter.

17 posted on 08/28/2005 10:53:34 PM PDT by Echo Talon (http://echotalon.blogspot.com)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Good old Rolling Stones Magazine - still struggling for relevancy when it's about 30 years past dead.


18 posted on 08/28/2005 10:56:25 PM PDT by hsalaw
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To: Reagan Man
"Cindy is a radical leftwing loon. She has a lot to learn about life."

As do all radical left-wingers.

But try and tell them that, and see how fast they're down your throat, since part of their illness is the delusion of "enlightenment".

I speak from experience, as I was so afflicted during the first go-round of this anti-American "peace" B.S. in the sixties.

Fortunately, my cure took. Now I'm like a reformed smoker who, after having thumbed my nose at all the evidence that smoking was bad for me, came to my senses...and gets really irritated whenever someone still ignoring the evidence tries to tell me they know what they're doing.

19 posted on 08/28/2005 10:59:04 PM PDT by TheClintons-STILLAnti-American
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To: clee1
Yup... Whenever I am seeking hard news and insightful commentary, I always reach for Rolling Stone first < /sarc>

Indeed..perhaps only if "High Times" magazine is sold out first.

This kind of article is deliberately over-the-top for the purpose of getting some attention (like we are providing). I think a lot of these leftie writers throw grenades like this just to get on the talk shows. This is the kind of thing that can generate hours of commentary on some of the more light-weight conservative talk shows. Hannity also loves rant at guys like this - it's a win-win to get them on the show but does nothing to advance either cause.

20 posted on 08/28/2005 11:00:41 PM PDT by Sunnyvale CA Eng.
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