The Real Reason Why Cindy Sheehan Is A Threat To The GOP

[ailsagirl]

The Sheehan attacks are...directly related to her status as a mother and a non-public figure. Any Democratic figure can be easily attacked as being partisan as opposed to being patriotic.

It is much harder to counter a non-partisan mother. That explains the heightened viciousness against Sheehan, and the nature of the attacks against her. The war-hawks say she is just grandstanding to get attention (and become a public figure).

The possibility that a large group of mothers would band together against Bush is too frightening to allow that to come together, so they must destroy Sheehan as an example to others of what they could expect if they get out of line.

If even a quarter or half of the mothers of Iraq war dead (and/or disabled) would join together, Bush would be in real trouble. Imagine them demanding investigations (like the 9/11 families). Or demanding impeachment, marching through the halls of Congress.

Posted by JimPortlandOR at August 14, 2005 01:04 PM

From The Left Coaster comments to this story:
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005180.php#more

[HardWorkingDem]

1. Something to consider...

I don't know for sure, but for many people to become involved like C. Sheehan might make them consider that their loved one died in vain. think it would be very hard for a parent to consider their child died for a worthless thing.

Don't mistake what I mean - I think the Iraq War has been a terrible waste of our military men and women but it might be very hard for a family to admit that their loved one died for a meaningless cause.

[jazzjunkysue]

3. Exactly. The loss is more than enough to make anyone irrational.

This explains most of the support Bush enjoys, in my opinion.

[ailsagirl]

6. Good point-- but perhaps Cindy has ignited a spark in all those

who have lost loved ones but who (up until now) were
unable to admit their deaths were unnecessary.

But think of it-- most people oppose the war in Iraq.
Isn't that tantamount to saying it's wasting our soldiers'
lives and killing innocent Iraqis? There are no WMD--
isn't that why we went there (supposedly) in the first
place? Why are we still there? The reasons keep changing,
all according to bushco's agenda.

There must be that terrible, unspoken fear in families'
minds that maybe their child died in vain. That's a bitter,
bitter pill to swallow.

But Cindy said it right-- it's all for oil, for chimp's buddies.

It really is a modern-day version of "The Emperor's New
Clothes."

And it's so damn sad because it didn't need to happen.

[Skittles]

7. they need to swallow that pill to prevent more of the disease

that keeps on killing and killing; ENOUGH already

[Lindacooks]

8. Well, of course that's hard to consider.

But they CAN make the deaths mean something if they stand up and stop the Bush Family Evil Empire (BFEE).

[Tesla]

2. Man, the power of angry women in numbers.....

especially when they lose one of their babies.....

[Karenina]

9. Losing babies is one thing

Having them put in harm's way and MURDERED to advance the economic goals of an avaricious *ruling class is quite another.

[AtLiberty]

4. The real reason is simple. She's right.

[bemildred]

5. Cindy Sheehan and the Madres de La Plaza de Mayo

This is why.

Between 1976 and 1983, the Argentine military waged a Dirty War against its own people.

The beginning of the end of the period that saw the disappearance of thousands of Argentine citizens started with one unequivocal universal truth: the love that a mother feels for her child.

Cindy Sheehan, the mother of slain Iraq war soldier, Casey Sheehan, has tapped into that truth in Crawford, Texas.

During the seven-year campaign of government-sponsored terror in Argentina, the country was ruled by a three-member military junta. Their purported goal was to restore order following prolonged civil strife, riots and violence.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_george_h_050812_cindy_sheehan_and_th.htm

[Gretwards]

10. Cindy Sheehan & Rosa Parks

One of my favorite radio guys wrote this on the Huffington Post over the weekend, I think he nailed it...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/cenk-uygur/what-fox-news-channel-wou_5514.html

Cenk Uygur
What Fox News Channel Would Have Done to Rosa Parks
Cindy Sheehan – in case you’ve been living in a box or you only watch the mainstream media – is the mom of slain Iraq War veteran Casey Sheehan. She is protesting in front of George Bush’s Crawford ranch this month. This grieving mom has been characterized as a flip-flopper, accused of putting on a public circus, lambasted as a publicity seeking grandstander and criticized for not truly speaking for her family since an aunt and a godmother Matt Drudge found somewhere in the Sheehan family disagrees with her. The conservative attack machine is in high gear in the efforts to tear this woman down.

That made me think of how it would have been in the Civil Rights era if Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and the rest of the gang were around back then.

O’Reilly: “Rosa Parks claims she speaks for all of the African-Americans in the South, but in fact, we have found two African-Americans who say they disagree with her. They say she’s just trying to gain publicity and doesn’t speak for anyone in her race. They would know, they’re black.”

Hannity: “Could Rosa Parks be angling for a Senate run? What does she have to gain from her public stand? Coming up next, the incredible story of how this woman might be deceiving the whole country!”

Drudge: “We have found three members of the Parks family who say that Rosa doesn’t speak for them. That, in fact, they are very happy with the government of the state of Alabama. The uncle, step-brother-in-law and niece three-times removed all agree that the better route is a dignified, respectful silent deference to authority. Developing …”

Limbaugh: “We have just found information that before Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus, there were numerous times, she sat in the back of the bus! Ah ha! A flip-flopper!"

Drudge: “More stories on Rosa Parks scandalous history of consistently sitting in the back of the bus before she changed her position and insisted she would only sit in the front of the bus. Developing …”

Malkin: “I think I speak for the entire Parks family, and especially her children, when I say that they are so embarrassed by their mother who is making a public spectacle of herself.”

Hannity: “Rosa Parks has turned this whole so-called civil rights issue into a public circus. We have information that Ted Kennedy might have put her up to this. That amazing story when we come back!”

Colmes: “You’re right, Sean. I’m sorry.”

O’Reilly: “To question the government of Alabama and implicitly the entire United States government by defying the political order like this has to be considered treasonous. Civil disobedience is a code word for I hate America. These people are criminals, simple criminals. It's ridiculous that they think they don't have to live by the same rules as the rest of us.”

Scarborough: “Yeah, whatever they just said on Fox News Channel! Well … I mostly agree with it.”

Kaplan: “Can we hire Shep Smith to cover this? Maybe give him his own show?”

Limbaugh: “What did I tell you folks? These libs like Parks would rather live in France where they can sit anywhere they want on the bus. They hate America. They want special privileges to be able to sit anywhere they want. They hide behind the color of their skin to try to undermine this country.”

Coulter: “Rosa Parks is a dyke!”

Blitzer: “Dr. King, is it true that you support the liberal agitator Rosa Parks in her defiance of America? Can you confirm whether she has in fact sat in the back of the bus before? Do you think this makes her a flip-flopper? If she has been so inconsistent on this, how can we trust her on anything?”

Drudge: “MY SOURCES TELL ME THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE FIRST TIME ROSA PARKS HAS EVER SAT IN THE FRONT OF THE BUS. A whole life of sitting in the back of the bus and now this woman claims all of a sudden she wants to sit in the front of the bus. Developing …”

O’Reilly: “Unbelievable, just unbelievable. Ridiculous!”

Hannity: “Incredible!”

Scarborough: “What did they just say?”

In Unison: “Flip-flopper! Flip-flopper! Flip-flopper!”

Blitzer: “Ms. Parks left the bus in disgrace today after it was confirmed that some members of her family did not agree with her, she had ruined her credibility by working for the NAACP before the bus incident, and she had in fact sat in the back of the bus on previous occasions. Now back to the emotionally wrenching story of the girl missing in …”