"Bill & George's Big Adventure"
# Russmo.com -
Bill & George's Big
Adventure - cartoon commentary on NAFTA and CAFTA's affect on the U.S.
Constitution. Would be funny if it weren't so true.
http://billstclair.com/blog/050811.html
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Bush, Sheehans share moments (The Story Before Cindy Sheehan Became a Tool for the Left)
The Reporter (Vacaville, CA) ^ | June 24, 2004 | David Henson
Posted on 08/07/2005 8:17:19 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1458638/posts
Since learning in April that their son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, had been killed in Iraq, life has been everything but normal for the Sheehan family of Vacaville. Casey's parents, Cindy and Patrick, as well as their three children, have attended event after event honoring the soldier both locally and abroad, received countless letters of support and fielded questions from reporters across the country.
"That's the way our whole lives have been since April 4," Patrick said. "It's been surreal."
But none of that prepared the family for the message left on their answering machine last week, inviting them to have a face-to-face meeting with President George W. Bush at Fort Lewis near Seattle.
Surreal soon seemed like an understatement, as the Sheehans - one of 17 families who met Thursday with Bush - were whisked in a matter of days to the Army post and given the VIP treatment from the military. But as their meeting with the president approached, the family was faced with a dilemma as to what to say when faced with Casey's commander-in-chief.
"We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled," Cindy said. "The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached."
The 10 minutes of face time with the president could have given the family a chance to vent their frustrations or ask Bush some of the difficult questions they have been asking themselves, such as whether Casey's sacrifice would make the world a safer place.
But in the end, the family decided against such talk, deferring to how they believed Casey would have wanted them to act. In addition, Pat noted that Bush wasn't stumping for votes or trying to gain a political edge for the upcoming election.
"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said.
Sincerity was something Cindy had hoped to find in the meeting. Shortly after Casey died, Bush sent the family a form letter expressing his condolences, and Cindy said she felt it was an impersonal gesture.
"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."
The meeting didn't last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son's sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.
While meeting with Bush, as well as Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, was an honor, it was almost a tangent benefit of the trip. The Sheehans said they enjoyed meeting the other families of fallen soldiers, sharing stories, contact information, grief and support.
For some, grief was still visceral and raw, while for others it had melted into the background of their lives, the pain as common as breathing. Cindy said she saw her reflection in the troubled eyes of each.
"It's hard to lose a son," she said. "But we (all) lost a son in the Iraqi war."
The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected.
For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.
For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.
"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.
TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California; US: Texas; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ANTIWAR; CASEYSHEEHAN; CINDYSHEEHAN; IRAQ; PROPAGANDA; PROTEST; SUBVERSIVES; VIPS; WAR Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
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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.
The AP reporter who did the story on Sheehan in Crawford this weekend, Deb Riechmann, has updated her story, including Sheehan's spin on this article. Sheehan says that, at her meeting with the president, she was still in shock after her son's death; but now she says, after all the reports that Saddam didn't have WMDs, she is angry that her son died "needlessly."
This spin still doesn't answer her wildly differing accounts of the president's demeanor and sincerity during that meeting.
Additionally, her spin today of "I was still grieving" is not really backed up by her comment in the article above (in bold) that she witheld "venting her frustrations" then, instead "deferring to how they believed Casey would have wanted them to act."
1 posted on 08/07/2005 8:17:19 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
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To: tgslTakoma
The Left is using this woman. They are "working" her, and keeping her stuck in the anger stage of the grief process.
They have no conscience at all to use this woman for their political purposes; and they are no doubt actively searching for another grieving parent to take Cindy Sheehan's place when she falls apart emotionally.
2 posted on 08/07/2005 8:21:56 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
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Cindy Sheehan Won't Back Down
Morons.org - 52 minutes ago
... anybody's mother. I can imagine my own mother doing something like Cindy Sheehan if I were killed in an unjustified war. She is ..
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