Posted on 08/30/2005 11:33:27 AM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
Rush transcript of NPR's Neil Conan, speaking by phone with Cindy Sheehan:
NC: Very nice of you to be with us today.
CS: [cheerfully] Oh, thank youuu!
NC: I know that you were, uh, out in California last week because your mother was ill. How’s she doing?
CS: Um, she’s doing better. They’re trying to keep her from having another stroke. And if she doesn’t have another stroke, she should be able to recover.
NC: That’s good news. Now, tell us, a little bit about your son, Casey.
CS: My son Casey was an amazing human being. He was gentle, loving, peaceful, sweet. He always just wanted to help people. He was an Eagle Scout and an altar boy for ten years. He had been in college for three years before he was recruited. He was just, uh, an almost perfect son and a really good big brother to his two sisters and his other brother.
NC: Why did he decide to join the Army?
CS: Well, he got lied to by his recruiter. His recruiter made him five promises that he broke all the promises to Casey. Casey was a very trusting and trustworthy person. So, he felt everyone else was trustworthy. Especially somebody who represents the government.
NC: Mmm hmmm. But, so, did he say afterwards, “I was duped?”
CS: Um, he, he, when we’d ask him about all these things that your recruiter promised you, he’s just say, “Well, Mom, you know, it’s the Army. They didn’t tell us they didn’t have to fulfill their promises. We were the only ones who had to fulfill our promises.”
NC: Mmm hmm. And did he write you letters about what he was doing in Iraq?
CS: Well, he was only there five days before he was killed. He started one letter that he never finished, and we got it back with his things.
NC: What did it say?
CS: Um…well, I’ll give you the general thing, but it was kind of personal. Y’know, he said that, um…it should be a pretty smooth year, that they were looking forward to a smooth year. And he was killed four days later. And he said that he wished he could be home for his sister’s graduation. And some other personal things.
NC: Um, and of course, I don’t want to get too personal, but…I wonder: When he was deciding to join the Army, did you try to talk him out of it?
CS: We didn’t have a chance because he joined before he talked to us.
NC: Before he talked. So, he made a choice of his own.
CS: [pause] Right.
NC: Um, now, you were…
CS: [not so cheerfully] But does that have to do with him being sent to a war that’s illegal and immoral to kill people and get killed for, um, a country that was no threat or harm to the United States of America?
NC: Uhhh…no. But, he wasn’t drafted. He made a choice of free will.
CS: Yeah, and if we give our children to the government to serve their country, we should make sure that they’re only used if it’s absolutely necessary to defend the United States of America.
NC: I wonder, now, you got a chance to meet with President Bush with a group of other families for a brief time. What happened in that meeting?
CS: Ummm…I’ve talked about this a lot. Do we have to talk about this? Do you have any questions about what’s going on right now or what we’re gonna do in the future?
NC: I’m just curious; I’ve not heard your answer to this.
CS: Um, excuse me?
NC: I’ve not heard your answer, if you wouldn’t mind.
CS: [someone speaking in background] I have two minutes.
NC: [amazed] You have two minutes.
CS: I have two minutes so…he was—George Bush acted like we were at a tea party, he was rude to us, and we felt worse than we did after we met with him.
NC: Mm hmm. Um, I didn’t realize you just had two minutes. We thought we had more time with you today, but, uh…I did want to ask. I know you’re planning to, when President Bush comes back to Washington, you’re planning to continue the protest here in Washington D.C.
CS: Yeah, we’re taking the bus tour to Washington D.C. and we’re all meeting there on September 24 for the big United for Peace and Justice…um, war protest.
NC: And you did get a chance to meet with some of his senior advisors a couple of weeks ago. Did you get a chance—did they listen to you, or did they talk to you?
CS: He-hello?
NC: Did they listen to you? Or did they talk to you?
CS: Hello?
NC: Yes. Hi?
CS: [clear as a bell] I didn’t hear your question, I’m sorry. We have a really bad connection.
NC: I apologize for that. It’s the cell—
CS: That’s not your fault. I’m in the middle of Crawford, so, you know, it’s very spotty cell phone service out here.
NC: I understand. I was asking about your meeting with some of the President’s chief advisors, including the National Security Advisor. In that meeting, did they, did they listen to you?
CS: Um, they listened to me and they talked to me. They tried to tell me things that I knew weren’t true, and so finally I said, “Just because I’m a grieving mother doesn’t mean that I am stupid.” And I said, “I don’t believe you guys are stupid either.” So we ended the meeting and they said they would pass on my concerns to the president, and then…they left.
NC: So you felt like you were being dismissed.
CS: I felt like I was being patronized.
NC: Patronized.
CS: And I felt that they thought that they were gonna be able to intimidate me into leaving, and, or impress me by the high level of officials that they sent.
NC: What would you say to President Bush if you had another chance to meet him?
CS: I’d say, what was the noble cause he sent my son to die for? And, why are soldiers still fighting over there when we know this war is based on lies, and to tell him to quit using my son’s name to justify the continued killing.
NC: As you know, there are parents of other men and women who died in Iraq who say you’re using their sons’ and daughters’ names in your cause.
CS: To stop the killing? You know, just because my son’s killed, why should I want any other children to be killed? Why would I want any other families to be going through this and this seems to be the President’s reason for continuing the war because he’s killed so many American soldiers already he has to kill more. And I believe that’s the most insane and the most immoral reason for continuing the war.
NC: I understand what you’re saying, but, they say you don’t speak for them.
CS: I never said I spoke for them. I never said I spoke for 100% of the military families. I never claimed to. I know they have their opinions and I believe that’s their right to their opinions.
NC: Fair enough. Do you st—You’ve come out…A lot of statements have been attributed to you as this…Camp Casey has grown, as this movement has grown, and uh…
CS: I gotta, I have to go now. Thank youuuu. [click]
NC: [dumbfounded] Cindy Sheehan. Leaving us there in Crawford, Texas. We apologize for that. We had arranged with people there to speak with Cindy Sheehan for the remainder of this segment and take some phone calls as well. Uh, evidently, plans changed at the last minute and we apologize for that.
In my experience as a native Californian, most of the stereotypical California "moonbats," etc., are not California natives, or if they are, are first-generation born. California is where Free Republic originated, remember? Jim Robinson, Fresno? Ring a bell? It's where Nixon came from ... also Ronald Reagan was OUR governor, remember? Find a county by county election map of California (which, by the way, covers the same square mileage as about a dozen of your tiny East Coast states), and you'll see that like the rest of the nation, California is an everwhelmingly RED state.
my understanding is Chillary is looking to Hire SIN-dy as her personal communication tutor.
Whata piece of work this loser is...
Thanks for doing the transcript. I listened to it as well.
That is truly hysterical -- her comment that cell reception is bad in Crawford. Maybe it would be better if the leader of the free world lived there and they had the best communications systems possible. Oh... wait... the leader of the free world DOES live there. Bad cell connection! Puh-leeeze! What an idiot!
http://websrvr20.audiovideoweb.com/avwebdswebsrvr2143/news_video/cindy2sat512K.mov
Be sure to check that out.
Wasn't there a recent interview (?press conference?) where she was asked what she would do in Iraq --- OWTTE. She gave some stupid, absolutely senseless, rambling answer, then immediately turned away from the mike, saying "no more questions", and left the stage.
It was unbelievable! Something like when Streisand was asked a question at a Harvard thingy, and she couldn't answer a question without a script.
Thanks. I already knew that. I said that CA has a stereotype. Relax.
Lighten up, Francis.
Re-upped. Volunteered for the rescue mission he died on. Looks like the maturity skipped a generation on the maternal side before he had it.
Camp Casey Diary From A CQ Reader
The NPR anchor went off message.
If he was Airborne, wouldn't he have had to volunteer twice? Once just to join the Army, the second time to go Airborne? Puts the lie to her 'they duped him' statement.
He missed a great follow up opportunity.
You say he was lied to by the recruiters? Then, why did he re-enlist?
LOL.
I wish I had a link to get the exact wording of what she said but I saw a videotape (broaddcast on Fox) of Ms. Sheehan speaking before the People Of The Ditch down in Crawford. The quote was something like:
"When the history books are written about the anti-war movement, you can say that you came to Camp Casey and saw Casey's mom."
Not exactly the cries of a grieving mom, is it? That one quote goes further to show her true motivations- she craves recognition and the spotlight- far more than anything else I've seen or read.
"If he was Airborne, wouldn't he have had to volunteer twice? Once just to join the Army, the second time to go Airborne? Puts the lie to her 'they duped him' statement."
Casey Sheehan probably did not go through jump training. The 101st Airborne Division, even though it keeps the "airborne" label, hasn't had any parachute units in years. It is now an airmobile division. In a textbook situation the maneuver units would go via helicopter to the battle. The division has an entire brigade of transport helicopters, UH-60 Black Hawks and CH-47 Chinooks, for that purpose.
"Why aren't they by her side? Are they really young? "
They are young adults. They are falling apart as a family but Cindy stated in an interview that they will have to take care of themselves because she can't. She needs to do this protest thing. It comes before family. Her son asked her to please come home but she said no.
Wanna bet that not one key Dem meets with her in DC next month
"I cannot believe that none of Casey's friends or relatives have come forward with copies of his letters or e-mails stating HIS feelings or opinions about the war in Iraq."
My understanding is that his father stated that he loved being a soldier and wanted to make it his career.
I get the sense that his mother is almost happy that he died...she seems to be revelling in the "limelight."
I feel sorry for her husband and other children.
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