In the matter of Cindy Sheehan and opponents of the Iraq War who support her, what evidence does Robert Day have that Michael Moore or any left-leaning politician or media celebrity is "actually helping to promote the terrorist cause"? If so, has he contacted the U.S. State Department or federal or local law enforcement agencies? How can he presume to know that Cindy Sheehan's son Casey, a fatality of the war, would disapprove of his mother's actions?And from supposedly-left-of-center media cipher Froma Harrop comes this mugging (in a fit because she didn't like a chick-friendly CNN newscast including Soledad O'Brien, though I'm glad the network doesn't have that Bill Hemmer or Hummer or Humjob or whatever the hell his name was - I think he went to Faux News, which is appropriate).
Why do Mr. Day and like-minded conservatives continually recycle the beyond-tired boilerplate of "dealing with the threat in Iraq rather than Philadelphia or New York"? How many times must it be proven that Iraq had no connection to 9/11 and terrorists can, unfortunately, strike pretty much wherever they want?
Also, Mr. Day states, "even (Sheehan's) family has been reported as saying they do not agree with her." What reporter or news agency reported this, and on what date?
Mr. Day would do well to base his argument in facts instead of supposition provided to him by the Republican National Committee. After all, demagoguery masquerading as intelligent dialogue can do more to "destroy our freedom and our culture" than the legal and peaceful acts of protestors exercising their Constitutional right.
(On CNN) There was the obligatory mention of Cindy Sheehan. She is the grieving Army mother who sat outside the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and protested the Iraq war.I didn't hear the quote from Sheehan about America and Israel, but would Harrop or anyone else honestly deny that the el nutso right-wing Repug master plan was to turn Iraq into something like a Bushco proxy state so that it could wield the desired influence and take some heat off Israel (not advocating one way or the other for Israel with that comment)?
Sheehan is unaware that her 15 minutes of fame are up. She scored an extra minute or two for recently remarking that "my son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel." That got the notice of pro- and anti-Israel camps, but hastened her ongoing transformation from sad figure to attention-seeking nut. It was over for Cindy, but then her husband filed for a divorce.
The girls (the other newscasters) zeroed in on the divorce. In a kind of news summary, the seriously blond Kelly Wallace read, "A military mother whose son was killed in Iraq appears to be staying strong, despite some more trouble at home." She looks up, and adds, "So some tough news for her." Sighs all around.
Soledad O'Brien raises the possibility that the husband's political opinions might differ from Cindy's, not that any of these newshounds have bothered to ask him. And there's no speculation, much less reporting, on what Casey Sheehan, the son who died, might have thought. At this point, someone at the hair salon would have put down the straightening wand and opined that Casey was, after all, a grownup who had volunteered for duty.
Of course, I took exception to Harrop's snide derision of Cindy Sheehan. Does Harrop honestly think that, somehow, this is all some kind of ego trip for Sheehan? I'm quite sure Sheehan would rather have her son, husband, and (generally) her life back than be the center of media attention. And of course, as far as Harrop is concerned, I guess Sheehan is supposed to just sit down, shut up, and not bother anyone with what must be her overwhelming grief.
I don't know if Harrop is the parent of a son, but I am (I imagine that she isn't, because if she were, she would have realized how inappropriate it would be to speculate on what she thought Casey Sheehan would have thought of all of this, whether we are talking about a legitimate newscast or a pay-per-view broadcast of the Psychic Friends Network). And I can guarantee you that, if I were in her shoes by some God-forbid horrible turn of events, I'd want to maintain a continuous vigil in the face of the murderer responsible and exact anything I could from this person, and I wouldn't give a damn what any smartass columnist had to say about it.
1 comment:
I, too, have a son, who recently graduated from High School.
It had gotten so bad that he was hiding from Recruiters in the bathroom. I kid you not.
A pity these patriotic, magnet-wearing, flag-waving war lovers cannot take some time out from their character assassinations to go down, sign up, and give the Army and Marines they bodies they need to get the job done. Just the lowered biovation stateside would probably drop the temperature 4 or 5 degrees.
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