Jakub Mosur, AP
Posted on 03/06/2006 5:31:43 AM PST by yankeedame
Updated: 07:49 AM EST
AOL Welcome page headine: "It started with her son's death. See how Cindy Sheen became a force."
Acutal article headline: 'Peace Mom' Still Campaigning Against War
By MICHELLE LOCKE, AP
As the nation's best-known anti-war campaigner, Cindy Sheehan has drawn praise for her efforts, but others believe she has become a tool of liberal groups.
That doesn't deter a man who stops at her table to ask for a snapshot and give a word of encouragement as a fellow war protester. "I remember people calling me a leftist," he tells her. "You got to ignore that."
In the months since she captured national attention with her August vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch, Sheehan has gone from grieving mother to widely recognized anti-war campaigner.
"She somehow managed to step out of the shadows and make her voice heard," says Michael Nagler, a University of California, Berkeley, professor and founder of the campus' Peace and Conflict Studies program.
She also has her share of critics, some charging she's been co-opted by the liberal groups that have helped her.
Her recent meeting with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's leftist president, raised eyebrows, as have her postings on liberal Web sites like that run by "Fahrenheit 911" filmmaker Michael Moore.
"Cindy Sheehan had one glorious shining moment and she took advantage of it and the peace movement took advantage of her as it created the attention that the movement hadn't had previously," says Stephen Hess, a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University.
Sheehan, 48, seems to be just about everywhere on her campaign that started with the death of her 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq two years ago this April.
She was arrested during Bush's State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt that referred to the number of troops killed in Iraq then: "2245 Dead. How many more?" Weeks later, she held a San Francisco news conference to announce that she wouldn't challenge Sen. Dianne Feinstein. This month she and REM singer Michael Stipe will headline a New York concert, "Bring 'Em Home Now!" and at Easter it's off to Texas for another vigil outside the Bush ranch.
"She's been a kind of a lightning rod for the anti-war effort and it's because of the essential truth of her position: She's an aggrieved mother; that gives her tremendous power," says Nagler.
Some think Sheehan's overstayed her time in the spotlight.
"If she had just gone home I think she would have been remembered importantly, but she didn't just go home," says Hess.
Her mission has come at a cost. She and her husband, Patrick, split up in the aftermath of their son's death. He has made no public comment
Sheehan insists that no one is exploiting her, saying she has her own agenda.
"I really have to stay focused every day on my mission. That's bringing the troops home. This war's illegal and immoral and my son should be alive and nobody else should be dying," she says.
And she says she doesn't spend time thinking about her critics. "It's the people who say I'm their hero who respect me and what I'm doing - they're the ones who I feel so much pressure to not disappoint."
Still liable to tear up when talking about her son, she says her issue is right and wrong, not left and right. She points out that she has criticized Democrats, including Feinstein, for their war stance and has no problem supporting Republicans who oppose the war.
She is co-founder of the nonprofit Gold Star Families for Peace, wrote a book "Not One More Mother's Child," and is working on another.
She gets help from groups including CODEPINK, a national woman's peace group, and Veterans for Peace. Her own operation is small - herself, her sister and someone who helps out from time to time answering e-mail.
Bill Mitchell, co-founder of Gold Star Families and a fellow war protester, understands better than most where Sheehan is coming from. His son Mike, an Army sergeant, was killed on the same day as Casey Sheehan.
"I'm amazed at what she has done and how she's taken her position and how she's been out there and making contacts and how she go, go, goes," he says. "Cindy is real. I read some of this stuff that people write about her and they really don't know anything about Cindy."
Mitchell describes himself and Sheehan as "just common, average Americans."
"What we do is keep our pain out there in front of the American public," he says. "I think our lives are very comfortable here; most Americans are not affected by the war. But there are some of us who have been affected, dramatically affected."
Force? More like farce.
Did I fall into a time machine and return to August 2005??? First the media brings back Katrina and now I see sheehan fruitloop back in the news..what is up with that?
Just wait, next week is the MSM "Abu Graib Anniversary Retrospective."
The liberal media love three things Brokeback Mountin',Cindy Sheehan and Bashing Bush.
Make that "Average Ugly Un-American"Anybody that snuggles up to third world commie dictators that daily trash our country in a time of war needs to considered a traitor and treated as such.
Not a word about her hate-filled rhetoric about America, the troops, Israel, the Jews, Gold Star Moms, etc...
She is most definitely a tool.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
We are becoming lax in our "Barf Alerts". This article calls for a "Projectile Vomit Alert" (especially reading it right after breakfast).
Cry me a river Mssssssssss.Sheeee Ham. Who gives a F****.
What is an alternative to AOL? I tried Earthlink; it didn't work.
bttt
Yikes. ! You shudda prepared me first.
Never let that picture be the first thing one sees when clicking on the thread.
AOL really is yesterday's news!
Good points!
More "drive-by" journalism.
I have heard that this "person" didn't even have custody of her children.
Sounds like she came to her mommism kinda late in life.
What's up with that?
Of course she didn't! Her son was 24 years old, attained the rank of SGT, and had reenlisted knowing he would be going to Iraq. She defecates on his grave and provides comfort to her son's enemy.
That doesn't deter a man who stops at her table to ask for a snapshot and give a word of encouragement as a fellow war protester. "I remember people calling me a leftist," he tells her. "You got to ignore that."
"Then he shook a chipped styrofoam cup in front of her and asked if she had any spare change."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.