Their playbook hasn't changed in 35 years!
Posted on 08/30/2005 6:57:23 PM PDT by Zacs Mom
sheehan's publicity stunt in Crawford is not her first attempt to browbeat officials into providing her an opportunity to spew her anti-American, Bush-hating bile at them, face to face. As the following two articles from early in 2005 clearly show, while in Washington, DC to participate in the Anti-Inauguration protests, sheehan badgered the Pentagon for an audience with Rumsfeld. Since Rumsfled appears to again be a target in sheehan's scope, these articles bear rereading
The Dangerous Gold Star Families
by Cindy Sheehan
Buzzflash
January 24th, 2005
Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld continues to astound us Gold Star Families with his heartlessness, callousness and disrespect in the faces of our children who are being killed in the mindless invasion and occupation of Iraq.
I am one of the founding members of a group called Gold Star Families for Peace. Some of us families who have lost loved ones in this illegal and immoral war in Iraq have organized to use our collective voices to bring the tragedy of war to the fore front of America's hearts and souls like it so tragically is in ours. We families are amazed that so few of our fellow citizens are touched by the horrors of the invasion and occupation of a sovereign country. It seems to us like the only people who are asked to sacrifice anything for the war effort are our brave young men and women fighting this so-called war and their families. There are some families in our nation like us, that have paid the ultimate price for the lies and betrayals of this current administration.
I, and some other Gold Star Families, have been writing and calling the Department of Defense for over three weeks. We were all meeting in DC to protest the inauguration and we thought it would be a good time to meet with Donald Rumsfeld. We have many questions to ask him about our loved ones' deaths and we deserve to have some answers. I think it is our right as Americans and grieving families to have these answers. For example, why were the children of this country sent to fight a war without the proper training, equipment or armor? Why were our children sent to fight a war that had no basis in reality? Why are American children still over there fighting a war, and dying in a war, when all the reasons for the war have been proven false? When is this administration going to bring the rest of our children home before it's too late for their families?
If we were granted an audience with him, we didn't really expect Mr. Rumsfeld to be truthful with us or even polite to us considering his past history of being so sarcastically untruthful and blatantly rude. The real reason I wanted to meet with Rumsfeld was so he could see the face of my son, Spc Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Sadr City on 04/04/04. I wanted him to look me in the face and see my red swollen eyes and to see all the lines that grief has etched. I wanted him to see the unbearable pain his ignorance and arrogance has caused me and my family. I wanted him to know that his actions have terrible consequences.
Our letters, phone calls, faxes, and e-mails to the Pentagon were to no avail: we received no response. So in conjunction with Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) we decided to go to the Pentagon and try and meet with someone, anyone. We were met at the parking lot by a couple of dozen of police officers blocking our way. We were told that we weren't allowed to go into the Pentagon because we didn't go through the proper protocol to request a meeting!!
I find it so ironic that with all the tight security for the events in DC this week that enough time and energy was mustered to stop families in mourning so forcefully at the Pentagon. I also find it ironic that if I were a wealthy Republican who had donated large sums of money for the "re"-election of the President, I could have had access to all the big wigs at the lavish parties -- but I, whose son paid the ultimate price of his precious life to this country, can't even get within a half of a mile from the man who sent him to die.
We Gold Star Families for Peace are not giving up the fight to hold someone in this administration accountable for the quagmire in Iraq and the more important struggle to bring the rest of our children home from this devastating occupation now. It takes most of our energy just to get out of our beds in the morning and mourn our horrific losses. We need all Americans to wake up and start lobbying their elected officials for an end to this immorality in Iraq and to join our voices in protest.
Gold Star Families for Peace: www.GSFP.org
Cindy Sheehan: Scindy121@aol.com
In the above article of January 24, 2005 sheehan claims, "Our letters, phone calls, faxes, and e-mails to the Pentagon were to no avail: we received no response."
Yet in the article below, of February 5, 2005 sheehan claims, "They were taking our phone calls at first, and they just stopped taking our phone calls."
Taps for Casey
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Jeeni CriscenzoBR>
Interview with Cindy Sheehan, founder of Gold Star Families for Peace
JC: Why have you started Gold Star Families for Peace?
CS: Our goal is to bring the troops home now. We don't want other mothers to go through what we're going through. We don't want another family to have to suffer what we're suffering for this so-called war - the invasion and occupation.
We had already been going around the country, as you know, talking and speaking about our personal losses and how this war has affected us. But we've been doing it for other people - other people who have other agendas besides just stopping the war immediately so no other family suffers like we're suffering - Iraq families or American families. We realized that when this war is over (we hope) and Bush is out of the White House, our loved ones are still going to be dead - our sons and our brothers and we were going to need to be there for each other for support. So it's also a support system for our Gold Star families.
We've already started to find out different information - helpful information from people who have been through what we've been through reaching out to families who might not have a voice.
JC: Doesn't the Veterans of Foreign Affairs provide those services?
CS: They have something. They have counseling and if you are a wife or a child of a military person that was killed then they have more resources. But being mothers and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles we don't have any connections to those resources because we weren't our sons' or daughters' dependents.
This is a core organization for peace. There are some Gold Star families who support the war and support the president and we don't. We want to organize to be a united voice to end the war.
JC: How are you getting along with people who feel that for you to speak out against the war is demeaning the sacrifice that these families have made?
CS: If they have to believe that this war is just in order to survive their losses then that's what they have to believe. Being somebody who has been struck by this tragedy, I'm not going tell another person how to believe. I don't want them to tell me how to believe. But we believe that our children were sent over there for lies. And we believe that none of our children should have been there in the first place. And even though our sons are heroes, all of our sons and daughters are heroes, even the ones that are fighting and trying to stay alive, but that their deaths were in vain because none of them should have been there.
They didn't die for our freedom. They didn't die to keep America safe, they died for lies. They died for oil. And that's what the families that have organized for peace believe. In order for us to make some kind of meaning out of our children's death and some kind of meaning out of our own suffering, we feel that we have to fight to bring them home.
JC: Tell me about your attempts to reach Donald Rumsfeld. What is it that you want to tell him?
CS: If we were to ask him policy questions he would just be flippant or lie to us anyway. But my real goal is I want him to look at my son's face. I want them to know that they sent these people over there to die. And I want him to look at my face and see the devastation that his reckless policies have caused. I want him to know that there are tragic consequences to his mistakes.
JC: Do you think this man will be affected at all by that?
CS: I don't know. I'd like to see if he does have any humanity.
JC: You're not getting that chance?
CS: They're not even giving us the courtesy of even saying "Go to hell, we're not meeting with you," or anything like that. They were taking our phone calls at first, and they just stopped taking our phone calls. And then when we were met at the parking lot at their offices at the Pentagon, they said we couldn't meet without going through proper meeting protocol. And that's what we thought we had been doing for almost a month before we got there, and we were just being ignored.
JC: Who were you hoping to see?
CS: Anybody. Maybe a public relations liaison, maybe an assistant, an aide -- just really anybody. We had pictures and letters from Gold Star families all over the country that we wanted to deliver for them to read. We gave them to the officer that was in charge who stopped us from going to the Pentagon, but I doubt if they're going to get to anybody and I wouldn't give him the picture of my son. I'm not going to give them my son's picture just to end up in somebody's garbage.
JC: How many people are in your group now?
CS: Since my article came out in Common Dreams and Buzz Flash today we've had almost 8,000 hits. Isn't that incredible! I think before all this we had about twenty-five Gold Star Families and we just began this in December. We're going to have our first big West coast meeting on February 19th, in Berkley at the Unitarian Universalist Church. We have people coming from Washington and all over California coming to that. And then we're going to travel to Fayetteville, North Carolina, on March 19th. That will also coincide with a major war demonstration. We will be mourning the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. So we'll have the East coast members and some of us West coast members in Fayetteville. We had no idea that this would be so supported. We want to get our voices out there as much as possible.
JC: Are you surprised by how much support there is?
CS: A little surprised and shocked. Always when I have something published in Common Dreams I've always gotten a lot of response, but this has been incredible.
JC: Are you worried that you're putting yourself on the radar screen?
CS: We have to do this. We're bringing people's attention to the fact that our babies are being killed. People don't want to hear that this war has a human cost and somebody has to be held accountable for it. Our thoughts are, "What else can they do? They've already taken away something so precious, worth more than anything to us.
JC: What was your reaction to Bush's Inaugural Speech?
CS: I think any thinking person in this world would be frightened by that speech -- just the hypocrisy of him saying that he's going to fight tyranny all over the world. Why doesn't he start in his own country? If he thinks everybody should be free - that begins at home.
JC: Did you ever think you would be involved in a political movement?
CS: No, I didn't. I wish I didn't still. One time, when Medea (Benjamin) and I were traveling all over Florida, I said, "You know, Medea, sometimes I'm just so tired, I just feel like putting my head under my covers and just staying there for about six months." And she said, "What, and hope the world would be a better place when you finally decide to come out?"
So we've just got to keep on trying, no matter if we think we're not doing any good. But we are. You know, if there's one person who sees what we're doing and changes their mind, that makes it all worthwhile.
I am sick of hearing about this anti American leftist.
I support your point. But the Cindy Shaheen story has run its course and she's already yesterday's news. If she's lucky, she'll get to appear in one of those silly reality shows. Otherwise, her fifteen minutes are already up.
She's been a monkey on a leash for Communist organ grinders since the Kerry Kampaign.
Nothing but a jester with a cup for donations.
Looks like Crazy Cindy has been at this for quite a while now.
She should go under investigation by the FBI and CIA for domestic terrorism and the IRS for tax evasion.
I said 'Should'. Probably won't.
I do respect her devotion, for it is seemingly a total commitment. But then, so it is for a terrorist as well. To hell with the family they leave behind or the damage they do to the innocents all in the name of their cause. What a selfish way of life. And for her, such a hedonistic one. Did Casey enlist just to get away from her?
We'll see her again on Sept 24th at the D.C. anti-war fest....and the company she keeps. I suggest we get as many pics of her and her surroundings as possible. It makes for great art around election time...We'll remember this one when it matters.
Note the grammar differences between the two articles. Her writing is terrible.
The screeching nutcase has been at this for awhile, hasn't she? I wish Rumsfeld had met with her, because he would have withered her with one look.
This is interested. I'll bet she's mad about the hurricane ... but only because she's not the top story.
I posted this on the 24th, but I'm glad to see it highlighted again..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1468929/posts?page=302#302
Apparently she's going after other politicians now, too, on her "bus tour".
It will be nice if they are all conveniently out of the office when she shows up!
I sincerely hope you both are right, but I have a feeling the left isn't finished milking this cow. That they will bring her back with avengeance in DC and the MSM will run with it. If they do, we may need this background info.
Yeap and I think the folks who are going to try to deal with this unending nightmare should have all the ammo they need!
| arrive | depart | Location/event | Link | Speech/column Title |
| 04/04/2004 | Casey died | |||
| 06/17/2004 | Fort Lewis, Met with President Bush | |||
| 10/19/2004 | 11/07/2004 | Florida- Kerry campaign verify departure date | http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views04/1027-31.htm | |
| 10/27/2004 | Guarded "mock coffins" at Cheney rally | |||
| 01/06/2005 | House of Blues - LA Words and Music F911 | http://www.wireimage.com/ | ||
| 01/20/2005 | DC-Good Morning America Interview - protesting inauguration | http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/05_01_16_corner-archive.asp | ||
| 01/22/2005 | 01/23/2005 | DC- Attempted to gate crash pentagon | http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0124-20.htm | |
| 01/24/2005 | Pub column | http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0124-20.htm | Dangerous Gold Star Families" | |
| Note - In January she was stalking Donald Rumsfield with MFSO | ||||
| 02/07/2005 | Pub. letter 1 at Lew Rockwell.com | http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan1.html | Not Worth My Son's Sacrifice | |
| 03/04/2004 | Dallas, TX AFSC "Eyes Wide Open" coffin exhibit | http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan2.html | ||
| 03/04/2005 | Pub. letter 2 at Lew Rockwell.com | http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan2.html | Empty Boots | |
| 03/23/2005 | Pub. letter 3 at Lew Rockwell.com rant against Terri Schiavo | http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan3.html | The Amazing Hypocrites | |
| 04/11/2005 | Published letter4 at Lew Rockwell.com | http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan4.html | Dear George and Dick | |
| 04/27/2005 | San Francisco State Univ - Profanity Laden speech | http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1465527/posts | THE BIGGEST TERRORIST IN THE WORLD IS GEORGE W. BUSH | |
| 06/06/2005 | Published Bush/Terrorist rant - Common Dreams | http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0606-29.htm | A Lie of Historic Proportions | |
| 06/16/2005 | Addressed Downing Street Memo Hearing-Capitol Basement | |||
| 07/08/2005 | 07/11/2005 | San Francisco - Address from steps of city hall verify date | http://blog.lewrockwell.com/lewrw/archives/008438.html | |
| Sponsored by "This is for College Not Combat" | ||||
| 07/21/2005 | Manchester, NH, NH Institute of Art, 7pm | http://www.lewrockwell.com/speakers/jul2005.html | ||
| 07/23/2005 | Blue Hill, ME - WERU Full Circle Fair. 3-4pm | http://www.lewrockwell.com/speakers/jul2005.html | ||
| 07/25/2005 | Kingston, RI - Arlene Violet Show, WHJJ 920 AM,3:30pm | http://www.lewrockwell.com/speakers/jul2005.html | ||
| 07/25/2005 | Kingston, RI - 7pm at Christ the King Church | http://www.lewrockwell.com/speakers/jul2005.html | speech | |
| 07/26/2005 | Providence, RI- Beneficent Congregational Church 7 pm | http://www.lewrockwell.com/speakers/jul2005.html | ||
| 07/28/2005 | Hyannis, MA-7Tilden Auditorium,7pm, Cape Cod CC | C:\HTML Pages and pdf files\050728KellyFlyer.pdf | Families Stand for Peace: The Truth About Iraq | |
I wonder how SINdy is faring now that she's not the lead story, in fact I haven't heard her mentioned since Sunday, she must be bumming.
CRAWFORD, Texas — A woman who led an anti-war protest for nearly a month near President Bush's ranch said Tuesday that she's glad Bush never showed up to discuss her son's death in Iraq, saying the president's absence "galvanized the peace movement."
"I look back on it, and I am very, very, very grateful he did not meet with me, because we have sparked and galvanized the peace movement," Sheehan told The Associated Press. "If he'd met with me, then I would have gone home, and it would have ended there."
Their playbook hasn't changed in 35 years!
Great timeline!!! You need to add the above February 01, 2005, Jeeni Criscenzo interview of sheehan to this.
You got that right! They figure they have a winning formula and are running with it!
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