Cindy's "Flip-flop" is her chief strength...

[Junkdrawer]

She can't be dismissed as a "liberal mom who dishonors her son".

She's a Catholic woman whose alter boy son died in Iraq

.. and was hand picked to visit the President

.. and tried to accept his condolences

.. and was shocked to find a "hollow eyed" sociopath

.. and was pushed over the edge when she read the DSM and realized Bush lied to everyone the whole time.


She's the neighbor next door, that nice woman who works two cubes down from you.

In short, she's trouble for Bush because she's Genuine, 100% Middle America.




BTW: I was requested to post this on its own thread from here. In case you haven't heard, the RW is attacking Cindy Sheehan as a "flip-flopper" because of a selective misquote.

[etherealtruth]

1. It is not "flip-flopping" ....

... to change your views as you become aware of information. NOT changing your views as information comes to light IS the problem.
If she has changed her position (as I've stated in many posts to respond to this) it is because she has gained insight due to tragedy.

[frictionlessO]

3. Hence the OPs' quotes around "flip-flopping".... any way you cut it,

those are very succinct and well reasoned bullet points that counter all arguments made against her so far without over doing on the words to thought ratio.

[etherealtruth]

9. Wasn't arguing with OP ...

... was agreeing. I guess if it were an oral conversation my response would be indicative of reflective listening, with personal comment to indicate agreement.

[frictionlessO]

12. ahh ok, hope I didn't come off harshly or anything either.

I read to fast sometimes, and that can cause mistakes.

We're all human... and I think we are all very excited.

peace!

[etherealtruth]

14. : )

[tavalon]

38. Yep

You just described, in a nutshell, what is so damn hard about internet communication, even with little smilies to help out. Reflective listening beats it out every time.

OTOH, isn't it cool to have a conversation with over 70,000 like minded people? It's kind of mindboggling in a way.

[etherealtruth]

41. It is great ...

We do amazingly well, considering that all the subtle nuance present in "regular" conversation is absent ... I'm equally guilty of communicating poorly and misunderstanding what someone else meant.

I have learned to love smiley's ...

[tk2kewl]

2. Good post.

:kick:

[frictionlessO]

4. Thats your ammo against any Bushboners, short and to the point they

are quite hard to undermine.

Thanks JunkDrawer for the repost.

Hopefully another nom will come along so we can get these good memes out there.

[Junkdrawer]

5. Thanks. And BTW, this whole line of attack smacks of Rove...

-- attack your opponent's chief strength as if it were their chief weakness.

See: Kerry and the swiftboat attacks.

[frictionlessO]

7. It is very Rovian feeling but feels like it lacks his usual finesse...

Guess Cindy hit them with her own version of shock and awe.

Too many lies to keep straight eventually catches all liars in their own lies.

[Junkdrawer]

8. On short notice, Rush and Drudge are their "go to" guys...

But I'd bet money Rove approved the hit. Later, I'll check FreeRepublic and see who it was that "discovered" Cindy's hometown article. They've planted stories through FR before.

[frictionlessO]

10. Ahh thank you, I hate crawling FR and the other places... just makes me

freak out and become unbearable to be around.

I'd be very interested in seeing your backgrounding, we can run it up against with some of the Gannon investigation spin off sites. See if we pull any common names...

[Junkdrawer]

36. OK: It was posted tgslTakoma (D.C. FR Chapter) who paid for the article...

I had to pay to get the archived copy of this report - because I felt that it was important that a public record be kept (here, on FR) of this woman's earlier impressions of her meeting with the president in June of 2004.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458638/posts

Ok tgslTakoma...if you're not from her hometown, how did you know that paying to retrieve an archive article would be useful at all? Unless you're someone who follows up on all presidential visits in the press.

[tavalon]

39. Very good point Junkdrawer

Yeah, very interesting.

Edited to add: I hope the Rovester paid him back

[ClusterFreak]

6. Excellent post!

:kick:

[ClayZ]

11. It is about awakening.

Choosing truth over fear!

[Junkdrawer]

29. It's about helping Middle America see Bush and this War for what it is...

Hell, they don't even want to call it a War anymore.

[tsuki]

13. She "flip flops" because she has the ability to reason, think things

out. I cannot imagine moving through life without ever changing one single position.

[babsbunny]

15. She needs to keep mentioning the Downing Street Minutes

That way more and more people will learn how this administration lied to invade Iraq!

[Junkdrawer]

16. If and when the "Brave One" ever slithers out of his hidey-hole...

I guarantee Cindy will club him with that early and often.

[Pacifist Patriot]

17. We need to reframe "flip flop"

When someone is accused of flip flopping (I mean genuinely accused, not misquotes, misattributions or other such misunderstandings.) they should be lauded as critical thinkers who have the ability to reason and the courage to amend their stance when presented with evidence and logical argument.

The opposite of flip flop is what? Someone help me come up with a pithy term that conveys irretractable posturing even when times have changed and advocacy for a particular side is patently ridiculous.

[Junkdrawer]

18. Yeah, it's the new Catch 22...

If you're a died-in-the-wool liberal and you criticize Bush, you're dismissed as a political opportunist.

If you're a Bush supporter and you criticize Bush, you're dismissed as a flip-flopper.

[rman]

20. re-evaluation?

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. Trying to come up with a derogatory catchy phrase that

is the opposite of flip-flopper. But I'm drawing a blank. There has to be some sort of slick insult we can come up with for those who never ever flip flop. (Even those who do but insist they don't -- hypocrisy not withstanding)

[Junkdrawer]

26. Reactionary comes to mind...

http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Reactionary

[Kurovski]

27. A failure.

Someone who does not change in the face of what is necessary is doomed to failure.

Fearful. afraid to change.

the reality though, is that Bush chooses chaos in Iraq as it serves his purposes. He means it when he says Iraq is a success.

There is no money to be made in a withdrawal, at least not the obscene levels anticipated by those who paid for his installment into the WH.

[tavalon]

40. Even though it isn't an opposite

I like the term, critical thinker.

[rman]

19. The REASON for the 'flip-flop': Downing Street Memos

"And to remind everybody, a few things have happened since June of 2004: The 9/11 commission report; the Senate Intelligence report; the Duelfer WMD report; and most damaging and criminal: the Downing Street Memos."
-- Cindy Sheehan
http://meetwithcindy.org/

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. This is what drives me insane.

"Flip flopping" is a good thing! Anyone who digs their feet in and persists with an idiotic belief in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary is a imbecile. If there is anything we can depend on it is that things change.

[Kurovski]

28. And that is exactly why Right-wingers have used that attack

for decades.

Everyone does it, because everyone changes with changing situations.
It's a handy attack for every human being who ever lived.

The real question should always be, why, and what are the motives for change?

Are they sincere? Are they dissembling?

[Solly Mack]

21. and I'd like to just vouch for the validity of her being hand picked

Not that Ms Sheehan needs me to vouch for her.

But dealing with army brass on a daily basis, and having to be the one that hand picked women to attend a FORSCOM "town hall" type forum, I can say , as one who knows exactly how these things go down, she was definitely hand picked and deemed "safe" to meet the President.
Otherwise, she would not have been in the room with him...and I don't mean safe as in not physically dangerous...I mean safe as in someone who would not rock the boat and ask questions .....in short, Ms Sheehan was seen as someone who was not "anti-war", someone who was not angry or bitter...she was most definitely not judged to be "liberal"... However,she was seen as someone they were hoping to use in her grief. They thought they could make her a political tool.

They thought wrong. Ms Sheehan is someone who stands for courage and integrity. It's not about political parties, it's not about flying the flag or not...it's about doing what's right in the face of great wrong.

It's about honor and all things decent.

I was given a strong suggestion from my husband's Col - he was polite about his request...however the CSM made no bones about it...pick women who would not put the visiting FORSCOM General on the spot (about the Iraq invasion/addressing concerns of the families)

So I didn't pick anyone and the leaders just attended.. and I did ask the General about the bad treatment of National Guard and Reserves.(regarding benefits and such)...even though I was told not to...

I refused to play along and that made me very unpopular...


You're 100% correct,Junkdrawer....Cindy Sheehan is bona fide - the real thing...Middle America all the way - with a conscience that transcends her own personal loss...and that's why right wingers fear her....that's why they attack her....she dispels the myths and exposes them all as cowards and liars.

[Junkdrawer]

31. Thank you for a great post...

:hi:

[KarenInMA]

23. R's call it flip floping, everyone else calls it learning!

[Kurovski]

25. They can try all they want, but the anti-American Right-wingers

trying to discredit Sheehan are merely outing themselves for what they are.

They will not win this. There are hundreds of family members who lost someone in Iraq who feel as she does, and will be emboldened to speak out.

This is only the beginning.

We need to encourage the members of the press who have integrity to keep this alive, and to defend sheehan when necessary.

[Hubert Flottz]

30. NO>>>>>>

Flip Flopping is saying you're going to bring Osama in "Dead Or Alive" and then saying, "Osama isn't important!"

[NewJeffCT]

32. Local radio guy said she did NOT flip-flop

Colin McEnroe of WTIC AM 1080 in Hartford, CT said that if you read the full article, and not just the selected bits posted on Drudge, you will realize that Sheehan went to visit the president and decided NOT to express her reservations to him because she wanted to be polite for the ceremony and not ruin everybody else's day there. The article, according to McEnroe, makes it clear that Sheehan had strong reservations about the war even before her first meeting with Bush.

[Junkdrawer]

33. We don't disagree...she tried to accept his condolences...

and was shocked by his behavior.

In my original post, I said "the RW is attacking Cindy Sheehan as a "flip-flopper" because of a selective misquote." I also linked to a RawStory article that lays out just what you said.

[NewJeffCT]

35. thanks

didn't read the link.

I'm waiting for a call from a headhunter about a job & also trying to watch a 2 1/2 year old.

I will check it later.

[nofurylike]

34. thank you for putting this in words, and so well. important! eom

[ignatius 2]

37. xactly right. She was still in shock when she met Bush, wanted to believe

that her son's death was for naught, then between the wee cowboy admitting there was no link between Iraq and Al Qaueda and no Iraq and 9-11 link, the really gut wrenching report was the DSM.

She,along with many Americans who had been blinded by the mendacity of this vile administration and the complicity of the media thumped very hard to the ground with those 3 revelations.

God bless her,I imagine the last year knowing that this was a totally illegal and unnecessary war has been pure hell for her.