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.
I was pleasantly surprised by that too. This past friday I saw a show on PBS in which the interviewer -- I think it was David Brancaccio (doubt I spelled that right; he's one of the NPR people) -- challenged his lefty guest, which was also a pleasant surprise. Then they followed that with a roundtable of the Wall Street Journal editorial staff. Sometimes public broadcasting doesn't suck.
Now THERE's a mother who truly respects and loves her son.
My heart weeps for that mother and all who have lost their sons and daughters....even Mrs. Sheehan. But I grieve MORE for the loss of Casey's life, NOT her loss. Why? Because Cindy Sheehan dishonors her son by her characterization of him as being "duped," AND because SHE has become the center of this, NOT her son who has died. It may be called Camp Casey, but it's ALL Cindy! Just listen and read her comments...the photo ops, her comments about herself in future history books, etc. It's ALL about her.
This is not really all that surprising. There is left wing media that consider NPR corporate sponsered news. Listen to Pacifica or Free Speech Radio. They would never think of questioning Cindy like this at all.
They are All Hate USA 24/7...
I think this is the type of interview she expected..
She admits to drinking Kool Aid?
This interview just made Brit Hume's show.
Can you give me links to the letters?
Interesting possibility, but unlikely IMO. She's just not smart enough.
And, she's obviously been brainwashed since the 60's and has never come out of her zombie-like obedience to the left.
Disgusting! I sent this thread to Brian Sussman of KSFO - I hope this picture goes on their website!
Did Zacs Mom take this picture?
No actually I found out after I posted the picture that there was some photoshopping.
The original picture had Cindy's big feet on some woman's thigh.
" Can you give me links to the letters?"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032105Y.shtml
They are also at another website , but, I won't give him a ping ( Mr Fatrenheit 911)
I included the text in case they are scrubbed from the internet. Very sad and poignant reading.
These letters to Casey Sheehan's family were never sent. Military personnel gave them to the family after his death.
March 13-14, 2004
"The Beginning"
It was a long ordeal starting out at 1100 Saturday morning. We arrived at the back dock to find out we weren't leaving until 2:30 that afternoon.
And so began a lot of waiting around. The married soldiers had their families to see them off, and all I had was a call home the night before.
Mom cried her eyes out over the phone, not the first time it happened either.
From the back dock we loaded onto a bus that took us to the iron horse gym, where we did some more waiting and the families had one more chance to say good bye.
From there we took another bus to Abrams gym, where we actually did some manifest processing for the flight.
They had a nice setup for us, too.
Phones, Internet, video games, food, free stuff and music were all provided prior to the next bus ride to the plane. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, they formed us up and herded us onto the bus for the plane.
As we loaded the plane, the flight attendants proceeded to tell us we were making a stop in Ireland before we got to Kuwait.
Unfortunately for us, we have to stay on the plane while the crew changes and the plane is refueled.
We will be landing in Ireland shortly, then on to Kuwait.
We stayed in Ireland for about 4 hours.
While we were here, there was also a National Guard unit from Sacramento.
I spoke with the sergeant major of that unit and let him know I was from Vacaville.
I also spoke with one of the airport employees. She told me about the country and the different things to do.
She also informed me that my family name is well known here.
Shortly after that, we boarded the plane for Kuwait which we were informed will take 6 hours and 4 minutes to get there..
March 31, 2004
Hey Family:
I've finally made to Iraq. Luckily for us, there was no threat to our convoy.
How is everyone doing? I wish I could be home for Jane's graduation.
We should be looking at a pretty smooth year. The unit we are replacing had only two deaths during its time here. Anyway, I didn't think Mom needed to know that. She's already too worried about me being here.
I'm glad I finally got to write. They didn't give us the address until we got to our camp.
I'm also glad I got to talk to Mom for a bit about a week ago.
She probably doesn't remember because I woke her up.
I had an interesting flight. We flew from Fort Hood to Ireland. We had had 3 1/2-hour layover there.
I spent $1.30 for a coke out of a soda machine and got 70 cents back in Eurocoins.
I got to speak to one of the employees at the airport. She told me about the country and said that our last name is very well known.
After Ireland we landed in Kuwait ...
Ah, just as I suspected! That Cindy is sure a piece of work. I listened to the interview after I read the transcript. Wow. She really is a shame to her son, God rest him.
Did you listen to the next guest? Mr. Qualls? He explains how Mrs. Sheehan hung up on him when he tried to talk to her with the excuse that she had a "bad connection", then she refused to take his calls again.
Neil was dumbfounded.
I guess I will listen to the whole thing.
What a moron she is. Also, what a liar.
Oh, yeah. The rest of the segment is GREAT, since the pro-military family members got much more airtime after the Muthasheehan bailed early.
from powerlineblog.com:
Reader Curt Loftis spent two days in Crawford, Texas, carrying out a first-hand reconnaissance of the anti-American forces assembled there. He writes:
I arrived at the original Camp Casey at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was hot and dry and the assembled demonstrators were in a melancholy state. I quickly made friends, stressing “cocktail” conversation, not political discussion. My goal was not confrontation, but a desire to understand what was actually happening here in Crawford…and being incognito was the only way this would happen.
After bonding with several nice ladies from the central coast of California, I drove with these new buddies to the larger, tented camp where Ms. Sheehan and Company was to be found. There I found a well funded, well orchestrated public relations campaign, run by media professionals complete with the highest quality electronic equipment available. From Satellite trucks and cell phone to wireless computer access, every modern convenience to enhance the “message” was there…and being used by left wing, socialist and Marxist (self-described) media representatives and Bloggers.
Most of the Sheehan protesters were either professional (paid staff of Fenton Communications or the radical organization Code Pink or the like), or were long time protesters, some admitting to beginning vigils against the government as early as 1965. I had conversations with approximately 50 of these people over 48 hours, and all seemed like interesting and engaging people. We talked sports, and cars and how wonderful California is, and just about everything that could be discussed without my divulging that I am a conservative. But when “scratched” just a little with some mild political talk, they all responded the same way…”it is America's fault”. No matter what the issue, each and every one of them had the same default…”bad things are America’s fault”.
Toward the end of my time there, I decided to innocently toss into the conversation different issues just to elicit a response. One issue I politely deposited into our talks was of the peasant unrest in rural China, and the brutality shown to the peasants by the government and their hired thugs. There response to this problem was…”well, look how we treated the blacks in America”, or, “gays are being beaten every day in America”.
So the cliché of the “hate America” crowd is indeed true. It is as if the protesters were intellectually bulimic, and having ingested all of the hate America bile, they looked forward to regurgitating it as a show of their steadfastness to their cause of peace and love.
Cindy Sheehan spent most of her time huddled with VIPS in and air-conditioned trailer. When she ventured out it was for a scripted and often televised moment. She was always trailed by her media people, and they were quick to keep her on point. During one conversation I had with her I tried to ask her a pointed question about how much time she would actually be on the bus tour to Washington (I had discovered she would only be on the tour for two days, and would be away giving speeches during the rest of the trip…and I wondered if she were being paid for these speeches) Her media person grabbed her arm and led her back to the trailer, and away from me. The message was protected. I was left standing there…alone, and feeling a little less secure about my status at Camp Casey.
But just a few minutes later, she emerged from the trailer, smiling, and performing for the cameras. Like the chicken at the local carnival that plays tic tac toe, she eagerly performs for any microphone. She is relentless, and professional, well financed and on message.
And the message is “All things bad are America’s fault."
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