First and Last Words on Cindy Sheehan

The estimable LeShawn Barber is “embarrassed by what I’ve been reading on the conservative side and the way bloggers have castigated Cindy Sheehan”. Since I’ve written not a syllable about Mrs. Sheehan’s anti-Bush protest until now, I can’t be one of those who has embarrassed her, but it’s never to late to start.

Virtually all of the anti-Sheehan commentary that I’ve seen has consisted of little more than reprinting her own words, such as these in a letter that she sent last week to ABC –

Then Gen. Chiarelli said the thing that upset me the most. He said that the loss of life was terrible, but at least Iraqis had elections on 01/30/05. With the continuing insurgency and with Iraqis and Americans losing their lives everyday there, how can he be proud of that? . . . If the president in his lying and betraying in the lead up and rush to this insane invasion had told the world that we were going over there to give Iraqi’s elections, would we the people have gone along with the invasion? Would we as compassionate Americans have thought that it would have been worth billions and billions of dollars; hundreds of our amazing children dead; tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi women and children dead: a country lying in ruins? I don’t think so. I certainly didn’t raise my son to be an outstanding citizen of the world to go and die so some people could have ink-stained fingers!!! If anyone reading this has children, would you think it was worth it?? Instead of some Congress leaders showing ink-stained fingers at the SOTU address they should have held up blood soaked hands.

[My son] was killed for lies and for a PNAC [Project for the New American Century] Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were betrayed by George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda after 9/11.

Or these from a speech that she delivered last April in a tribute to a lawyer convicted of aiding the World Trade Center bombers:

We are not waging a war on terror in this country. We’re waging a war of terror. The biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush.

How many more people are we going to let him kill before we stop him? . . . I know that we’re in a war and I know that George Bush and his band of neo-cons and their neo-con agenda killed my son. . . .

I was raised in a country by a public school system that taught us that America was good, that America was just. America has been killing people . . . since we first stepped on this continent, we have been responsible for death and destruction. I passed on that [expletive deleted] to my son and my son enlisted. I’m going all over the country telling moms: “This country is not worth dying for.”

Or these from a speech that she gave last week:

I’m gonna tell them, “You get that evil maniac [the president] out here, cuz a Gold Star Mother, somebody whose blood is on his hands, has some questions for him.” . . .

You tell me the truth. You tell me that my son died for oil. You tell me that my son died to make your friends rich. You tell me my son died to spread the cancer of Pax Americana, imperialism in the Middle East. You tell me that, you don't tell me my son died for freedom and democracy.

Cuz, we’re not freer. You’re taking away our freedoms. The Iraqi people aren’t freer, they’re much worse off than before you meddled in their country.

You get America out of Iraq, you get Israel out of Palestine.

Or these from a comment that she posted on an Angry Left Web site:

I do this for all of our brave souls (American or Iraqi) who have been murdered by the Bush crime family.

I told my Congressman that he needs to speak out against the lies and murder, because I am going to...when George Bush killed my son, they finally killed the wrong person.

If anything I do can shorten the war by one minute or save one life, or bring discredit to the evil bastards in the administration, my life will have been worthwhile..and Casey's sacrifice meaningful... [ellipses in original]

I don’t know whether she welcomes backing from David Duke, but it ought not to surprise her.

Mrs. Sheehan uttered all of those words in public. Presumably she wants people to hear them. What’s wrong with granting her wish?

What is truly appalling in this episode is that the Left has no qualms about putting forward a hard-core anti-American antisemite to represent its views. It’s possible, even likely, that she doesn’t in her heart believe what she says, that grief has overwhelmed her reason. But her left-wing cheerleaders have no such excuse.

Comments

[Peter Hodges]

I have to take exception to your characterization of Cindy Sheehan as “a hard-core anti-American antisemite”. Based on the excerpts quoted in your August 15, 2005 blog, I don’t see how you can reach that conclusion. In my view, it is not anti-American to observe that the President lied and continues to lie about his reasons for the war in Iraq. Nor should it be anti-American to observe that the nation has a history of violence which has often been in service of something other than self defense. Finally, it is certainly not anti-Semitic to deplore the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Specifically, that view would be anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic.

Ms. Sheehan is obviously hurt by her loss and angry at the callous indifference of those who sent her son and others to their death. Her statements may be passionate, her language may be heated, but she is in no way dishonest, something which cannot be said of the Bush administration.

pbh