Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the Pr

[UpInArms]

Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/politics/08crawford.html

(free registration or try www.bugmenot.com)

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 7 - President Bush draws antiwar protesters just about wherever he goes, but few generate the kind of attention that Cindy Sheehan has since she drove down the winding road toward his ranch here this weekend and sought to tell him face to face that he must pull all Americans troops out of Iraq now.

<snip>

But when she was blocked by the police a few miles from Mr. Bush's 1,600-acre spread on Saturday, the 48-year-old Ms. Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., was transformed into a news media phenomenon, the new face of opposition to the Iraq conflict at a moment when public opinion is in flux and the politics of the war have grown more complicated for the president and the Republican Party.

<snip>

Seeking to head off exactly the situation that now seems to be unfolding, the administration sent two senior officials out from the ranch on Saturday afternoon to meet with her. But Ms. Sheehan said after talking to the officials - Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and Joe Hagin, a deputy White House chief of staff - that she would not back down in her demand to see the president.

Her success in drawing so much attention to her message - and leaving the White House in a face-off with an opponent who had to be treated very gently even as she aggressively attacked the president and his policies - seemed to stem from the confluence of several forces.

The deaths last week of 20 Marines from a single battalion has focused public attention on the unremitting pace of casualties in Iraq, providing her an opening to deliver her message that no more lives should be given to the war. At the same time, polls that show falling approval for Mr. Bush's handling of the war have left him open to challenge in a way that he was not when the nation appeared to be more strongly behind him.

<snip>

The White House has released few details of such sessions, which Mr. Bush holds regularly as he travels the country, but generally portrays them as emotional and an opportunity for the president to share the grief of the families. In Ms. Sheehan's telling, though, Mr. Bush did not know her son's name when she and her family met with him in June 2004 at Fort Lewis. Mr. Bush, she said, acted as if he were at a party and behaved disrespectfully toward her by referring to her as "Mom" throughout the meeting.

...more...

Go Cindy! :yourock:

[wakeme2008]

1. Poor Bushie is Cindy upsetting your 5 week vacation

:evilgrin:

[Demeter]

2. A True Gold Star Mother

As long as there are women like Cindy, there is an America--now where is the father of our young hero?

[bluestateguy]

3. Prediction: He meets with her Friday before Labor Day

Assuming she holds out that long. What better time for a Friday news dump, before a summer holiday weekend? And he'll do it late in the afternoon. Maybe he'll be back in Washington by then, but I think Sheehan has vowed to follow him to DC.

[jarnocan]

4. petition to support

her right and ours to know the truth! http://www.radioleft.us/petitions/cindysheehan/

[rodeodance]

5. grand to see this story in NYTimes.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. but buried deep inside, not in the first four pages

NYT still has a problem. Between Miller and Bumiller, they have lost a lot of credibility.

it's their own fault.

[wildwww2]

14. I signed the petition. Hopefully all DUers will do the same and support

Cindy`s moral cause.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[MeDeMax]

29. Signing the petition needs to be easier

They are asking way too much info (street address) that not everyone wants to give out.

The confirmation email is yet to show up in my inbox, 5 mins after.

They should take a page from the Kerry campaign on petition signing;

Kerry campaign asked for - Name, email & Zipcode; a phone number if you choose to give it out.

[amber dog democrat]

6. This will become more frequent

Even if the Chimp does not have a conscience, he knows how to hide from people who hold him accountable for his actions.

This will become an ever increasing problem for his handlers and core supporters.
Does not say much for their credibility and its hard to go after a gold star mom and question her patriotism.

God bless her.

[rodeodance]

7. says the WH press core has little to do--and eager for a story.

....It did not hurt her cause that she staged her protest, which she said was more or less spontaneous, at the doorstep of the White House press corps, which spends each August in Crawford with little to do, minimal access to Mr. Bush and his aides, and an eagerness for any new story.

[rodeodance]

8. says Bush may have to pass her on the road this week. te he.

......It is not clear how the White House will handle Ms. Sheehan. Mr. Bush usually comes and goes from the ranch by helicopter, but he might have to drive by her on Friday, when he is scheduled to attend a Republican fund-raiser at a ranch just down the road from where Ms. Sheehan is camped out. She will no doubt get another wave of publicity on Thursday, when Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice join Mr. Bush at the ranch to discuss the war.

[rodeodance]

10. unless he takes an helicopter to 'down the road"--which will be so so

obvious that he is trying to avoid her.

[TroglodyteScholar]

9. Use the NYTimes site to email this story around

Get it on the most-emailed list... A lot of people just check there for the "best" news.

Much respect to Cindy S. Imagine if 1826 mothers showed up in Crawford.....

[radfringe]

11. "Power is being president."

meanwhile -- did you catch this article? arrogance and hubris extraordinarie

Bush says it's no vacation at his Crawford ranch
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3298735
By JULIE MASON -- Aug. 6, 2005, 9:52PM
Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

---snip (last paragraph) ----
Last week, Bush again brushed off polls showing his public approval ratings are the lowest of his presidency, saying a politician who made decisions based on polls would be "a miserable leader."

Reminded that power is perception, Bush scoffed, "Power is being president."

[UpInArms]

12. here's a really good editorial in the Miami Herald

We say nothing as our troops die in Iraq

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12322636.htm

These losses are on you.

Fourteen Marines died in Iraq last week when a roadside bomb exploded near their AAVP7A1 troop carrier. Designed to travel through surf, traverse, hit the beach and carry troops inland at maybe 20 mph, it was definitely not designed to withstand the most-effective weapon in the insurgency's arsenal.

And that's on you.

U.S. Marines, 500 miles from the Persian Gulf, are being bused around in lightly armored amphibious landing vehicles. And you won't get off your ass and raise hell.

These troops were among 34 killed by roadside bombs in the past two weeks. In May and June, 73 American soldiers died in Iraq from explosions near their inadequately armored troop carriers. Mostly Humvees. Some outfitted with Army-supplied bolt-on armor kits that don't protect the undercarriage. Others rigged by soldiers themselves with scrap metal and sandbag carpeting. ''Hillbilly armor,'' they call it.

<snip>

You allowed the president to remain oblivious. You didn't protest when your congressmen, from both parties, snatched money out of the military budget to pay for pork-barrel projects. You let them protect well-connected contractors even after it was obvious that they weren't up to fixing the problem.

Of course, Rummy, when he visited Iraq, didn't run the 10-mile terror gantlet from the airport to Baghdad in a tinny Humvee. Nope. He was snug inside a Rhino Runner, a reinforced steel bus manufactured by Weston-based Labock Technologies. The Pentagon VIPs and private contractors in Iraq know the Rhino, as opposed to the Humvee, will ward off bombs. The Pentagon brass may ride Rhinos. But they won't certify them. Not for our soldiers.

...more...

Our fellow citizens have no shame - they wave their flags and paste those nasty made in China magnetic yellow ribbons (or those even grosser "patriotic" flags ribbons that state "These colors don't run") on their cars and ignore the LIES and DEATHS.

[leftchick]

17. the worst ribbon to me is....

"freedom isn't free"... Now what kind of freak would put that on their car? :banghead:

Thank you for the article. Sadly very true.

[SoCalDem]

21. someone should add "except for me" to that sticker

:)

[leftchick]

23. excatly SoCal

;)

[UpInArms]

22. my SO always confronts the bozos that have

that stupid "freedom isn't free" ribbon whenever possible.

He says:

If freedom isn't "free" why do they call it "free"dom?

Those folks that adorn themselves with that crap have rocks instead of brains in their craniums.

:banghead:

[Theres-a]

39. Wow, and from Florida

Hope brother jeb reads the papers and fills his brother in on what's brewing out in the real world.The natives are restless.Great article,thanks.

[xxqqqzme]

35. WTF???

'...Sparking international notice, Bush wiped out on his bike and skidded on wet pavement into a Scottish policeman on foot patrol, who ended up in the hospital with minor injuries.

Bush said he recently sent the injured officer a bunch of photographs....'

Photographs?? He sent him photographs? of what? his 'gnarly' knuckles. I despise this lame-ass excuse for a human.

[Enraged_Ape]

15. Is George W. Bush the biggest pussy in the United States?

Yes, I do believe he is.

What's the matter, little rocking-horse-cowboy man? Is the lady with the signs scaring you? Poor little baby...

[TerdlowSmedley]

32. YESSS! There's the angle!

George W. Bush IS the biggest pussy in the United States of America.

[Kablooie]

34. Of course!

He's just a big pussy! That's why his name is Bush!

[flamingpie2500]

16. She is very brave--another target for Karl Rove

[leftchick]

18. Great Photo with the story!

:yourock: Cindy!!!

[SoCalDem]

19. One mother, then another, then another..etc etc

These mothers should form a group like the mothers of the "disappeared" did in Chile.. Follow that bastard around everywhere..

[Karenina]

31. They did it in Russia...

http://www.csmonitor.com/atcsmonitor/specials/women/world/world022400.html

Russia's powerhouses of dissent: mothers

# The Soldiers' Mothers Committee takes on the military in ways others can't

Judith Matloff
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
MOSCOW | published 02.24.00


For five months, five days a week, Yelena Makarova telephoned the Ministry of Defense hotline seeking news of her nephew Andrei. She suspected the boy was missing in action in Chechnya. Each time, the reply was polite, but noncommittal. "We don't have any information," she was told.

Finally, Mrs. Makarova followed the path of thousands of Russian women before her. She contacted the Soldiers' Mothers Committee, a national group that boldly challenges, scolds, and cajoles Russia's male-dominated military bureaucracy into helping families find information about sons or relatives.

True to form, within a few hours, a committee member had located the youth. He was alive. And yes, he was in Chechnya.

[txindy]

48. Argentinean mothers of the 'disappeared' did it, too

They shamed the government into finally revealing what became of their loved ones.

[Cathyclysmic]

20. She was on the ABC news this AM

she looks tenacious. I am proud of her. Maybe we should start a DU care package for her.

[leftchick]

did she get to tell about that first meeting with bush**?

I saw that on CNN yesterday, She explained how he was a total asshole at the first meeting. It was wonderful to hear it on TV!

:)

[Cathyclysmic]

33. no, too racy for network new, I guess

they showed her camping out at the ranch.

[koopie57]

37. I wonder if there is a florist in the area with the nerve to

bring her out some roses and bottled water? It would be a great photo op and would only cost $100 or so I would imagine. I wish my vacation was this week cuz I would be down there too. My son is 16. And Bush should be worried, you lose your kids and you don't have much else to lose.

[Cathyclysmic]

42. oooooh!

excellent idea! It's down there in red country...it may be tough...or from what I've read, people are started to think for themselves again.

[MeDeMax]

24. you go Girl, thnx for telling it like it is -- n/t

[henslee]

25. And why not link to the Lone Star Iconoclast link....

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/2005/31-40/32news01.htm

[UpInArms]

27. and some text from your link

excerpt:

Even though two of the President’s aides later agreed to deliver her message to him, Sheehan said that she would remain in Crawford for the whole month, if need be, until she is granted a private audience with the commander-in-chief to ask him for what “noble cause” did her son die overseas.

“If he doesn’t come out to talk to me in Crawford, I’ll follow him to D.C., and I’ll camp out on his lawn,” she said, to a round of applause from her supporters. “I’ll go to prison. I don’t want to live in a country where people are treated this way.”

Sheehan’s actions, she said, were sparked by President Bush’s comments like those made last Wednesday in Grapevine to about 1,800 members of the American Legislative Exchange Council: “Our men and women who’ve lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and in this war on terror have died in a noble cause and a selfless cause.”

...more...

[henslee]

28. grazi, grazi.

[Theres-a]

40. Brave,brave soul

She's a real american hero.:patriot:

[bushisanidiot]

26. AWOL Bush is afraid of mothers.. especially his own!

what a pussy.. he won't even listen to what she has to say. he's a total jerk!

[SiouxJ]

36. Once a coward, always a coward

run away Georgie! Run away from all your problems. Maybe daddy will fix it for you.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Theres-a]

41. Vacationing coward.

[SiouxJ]

44. Shrub is.

Like I said before.

Sending out aides to meet with the mother of a soldier that his war killed, is cowardly. He's right there! What's the big deal? So much has happened since the last time she met with him and she wants answers. She has every right to want to talk to him again.

He always runs from his problems: wars, Vietnam, the press, funerals for fallen soldiers, mothers of fallen soldiers, questions about his traitorous staff, oh, and let's not forget Max Cleland http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/25/cleland.swiftboat/. Yeah, he was a threat.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[txindy]

47. Sigh right back

This wasn't just some flunky, it was the man responsible for the 16 words in the SOTU address. The 16 words telling the biggest lie of them all: that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa. And that non-flunky is still employed. And he's the one they sent out to meet with a grieving mother - the man responsible for persuading the country to enter an illegal war that killed her son. The biggest insult of them all. Of all the people to send and they chose him.

But, no, not a coward, right? Go figure. :eyes:

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[txindy]

50. Hadley

Do keep up.

"You guys," eh? Well, you've kept a low profile since post-election, but you've outed yourself, now. Enjoy your stay.

Junior's a coward and so are ALL his defenders. Bye.

[Theres-a]

56. Mel Gibson! Jesus Christ on a trailer hitch!!

:crazy: How could you even suggest such a thing!Leave Mad Max out of this you,you,you...*shakes fist*

[ninkasi]

51. Well, actually there is

I would approve of him stepping down as president, and bringing his whole corrupt staff with him. I would then approve of him being sent to the Hague to be tried for war crimes. He is the biggest wimp in the world.

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[txindy]

58. "You?!" Why are you on this site when you're obviously a republican?

Hmmmmm? You keep saying "you guys" and "you." Why are you here? Besides the obvious reason.

[Theres-a]

59. Thanks be to Diebold,Choice point,et al

Isn't that right,sweetie?

[txindy]

61. Wow, the mods were quick with this one! I'm impressed.

Won't miss his 'sparkling intellect', though, will you? :eyes: :rofl:

[Theres-a]

62. Zoinks!

[txindy]

46. Junior and his defenders are cowards

Did you even read about that meeting and how he insulted her family? Did you read about how he treated it like a party and they should be grateful he was there to honor "mom" and her "loved one?" He couldn't even bother to remember Casey's name and refused to even look at his picture. That was too much "hard work," apparently.

Now that it's been more than a year since Casey's death, Cindy has questions for the coward. Legitimate questions that the shock of her son's death prevented her from formulating until recently. That and all of the revelations about the lies and betrayals committed to start and sustain this illegal war having surfaced since the first meeting took place.

Junior's a coward and so are his defenders. ALL of them. Lift your head up and check out the real world, not the one created by WH propaganda.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[txindy]

53. Drudge Report?

What. A. Shock.

Type fast.

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[txindy]

57. Oh, my.

How droll.

Why doesn't Sludge go after Fred Phelps for protesting soldiers' funerals and saying they were justly killed by God? Oh, wait, I forgot - because he's one of "you guys."

Accusing a grieving mother of "flip-flopping." Going to start wearing purple heart bandaids next? Maybe putting them on the tombstones of the dead soldiers?

Keep typing fast, "sweetie." :eyes:

Adding: Maybe Sludge can't understand that all of the revelations about someone's lies and treachery over the past year can open many eyes. Like, say 61% of the country.

Deal with it.

[txindy]

60. The real RAW STORY headline about Sludge's lies

"RAW GETS ORIGINAL ARTICLE DRUDGE CITES QUOTING MOM WHOSE SON KILLED IN IRAQ; QUESTIONED WAR; TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT"

http://www.rawstory.com/

[Diamonique]

63. Yes she did already....

... meet with the president. But that was when she was still in shock from her son's death, and it was before the DSM was made public. Now she knows -- for sure -- that BushCo lied; and she wants him to look her in the eye and explain this "noble cause" he keeps talking about.

[Lochloosa]

30. Kick

[dooner]

43. they must realize they've blown it...

they need to nip this in the bud and have him meet with Cindy before
images of a grieving mother being dragged away by Crawford police hits every news report in the world.

(But I think it may be a bit too late... ) Ah shucks.