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.
Well, he re-enlisted. But I'm not sure if he was in Iraq on his first tour of duty...
It is strange that this ~60 year old woman speaks like a ditzy high school sophomore.
Well the whole rest of the family issued a statement saying Cindy does not reflect their views, but I think they're being very low key about it, not being leftist pond scum like her. The media's failure to mention that written statement in all these stories is journalistic misfeasance.
Voluntary service
Mothers will always cry
As their sons go off to die
This is the way it’s always been
But in the USA, can you call it a sin?
We volunteer to serve our country well
If you don’t understand that, go to hell.
By Jim Bianchi
Aug. 30, 2005
Even if he hadn't been to Iraq before, the reenlistment pretty much washes away her "He joined the army because a recruiter lied to him " BS.
She affirmed the fact that she was speaking for all families by replacing crosses that pro-America families took down. See Previous Post for more details.
Exactly. The war was already in full swing when he decided to enlist. Even chaplains are in danger. He knew that. He wanted to serve.
Why does CA seem to have such a large proportion of moonbats, homosexuals and liberals? We live in NC and these are our stereotypical perspectives we have of CA.
If you dig deep enough you will probably find Cindy's whole deal with Casey is about revenge on her ex-husband.
Great job!!! I heard on Laura Ingram the rest of the interview...NPR interviewed Mr Quells (sp?) and he related that Cindy had claimed having a bad connection, then hung up on him.
The NPR host sorta laughed and said something to the effect that a similar thing had happened to him
I hope Brit Hume puts this on the air tonight!!! It would be GREAT!
Make sure you listen to the whole NPR segment. Mr. Qualls really lays into Muthasheehan.
Apparently, Saint Cindy pulled the same "bad connection" trick on Mr. Qualls and hung up on him.
He was "recruited"? Like the Army came on campus and lured him into their cult while he was at the beer hall cozying up to a skirt?
Sounds like more than an Army Of One did that.
Someone please send that bimbo some hemlock ... with instructions.
Build their gallows high
CS: Well, he got lied to by his recruiter. His recruiter made him five promises that he broke all the promises to Casey.
Yes, Casey was scorned bitter duped individual. That's why he rejoined the military after he could of gotten out. Obviously lots of bitterness towards that organization.
You could fire torpedo's through the size of the holes in this woman's story.
I just e-mailed the FR link to the transcript to Michael Medved. Everyone should send it to their favorite radio show hosts--this needs to be ALL OVER the airwaves: Rush, Hannity, Prager, Hewitt, Humphries, Larson, Beck, etc.
I think Mrs. Sheehan has some real issues...the lengths to which she has gone with this whole thing isn't just because she is looking for "stardom" (though by her actions, I would also wonder about that)
But the fact that she didn't see him off...Her total disdain for his decision makes me question her feelings for him. I think there's a lot of hidden self-guilt going on here.
My 26 year old son is in the Air Force....I would never presume to tell him how to live his life as this woman apparently tried to do!
The more they speak, the deeper they dig their own public opinion grave.
don't count me in that batch of wacko's. We spend alot of time converting .. some are braindead from the 60's too far gone.
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