Families Of War Dead: Cindy Wrong

[sabra]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/18/earlyshow/main784263.shtml

Families Of War Dead: Cindy Wrong

(CBS) While Cindy Sheehan continues her anti-war protests outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, there are many others personally affected by the fighting in Iraq who support the president, and the war.

....

"He's very sincere, he's very caring and very compassionate," observes Ellen Thornton. "You can tell that he struggles every day with the loss of life."

....

Linnie Blankenbecler took her daughter into the makeshift grieving room that same day, and was surprised at the reaction she got: "He's very touchy. He hugs. He hugged me. He hugged my daughter, and he cried. He cried for my husband, too."

....

Speaking of a cross in a field of hundreds honoring Iraq war dead, Blankenbecler told Cowan, "When she put that cross up, with my husband's name on it, that's when she crossed the line."

[mmonk]

1. Poor people,

delusional in their grief. I can understand it. I can't support those that had their children killed for a lie though.

[bpilgrim]

64. America Embraces Cindy while W hides on his PIG FARM ---- --- > IMAGES

more...
http://news.globalfreepress.com/gallery/index.php?cat=13

psst... pass the word ;->

peace

[ET Awful]

2. So why aren't they reporting about the Iraq veterans that are standing

with Cindy and the other families that have travelled to join her?

What a load of horseshit.

And Linnie, I hate to break it to you, but putting a cross up doesn't cross any line. . . . running it over most definitely crosses a line. I'd much rather someone remember your husband's sacrifice than desecrate it by running it over with their truck.

[redqueen]

54. Sickening, isn't it?

Operation Mockingbird is SO not over. :grr:

[quiet.american]

3. God bless them. I suppose they're safe in their gullibility. n/t

[LeighAnn]

22. Reality would be the road to madness for a lot of them

They have to keep telling themselves it's a noble cause and all that bullsh!t because facing the reality would really make their sacrifice empty. And it's the same with right-wingers in general, they can't face the truth because then they would catch on to all of the blood that's on their hands (all of it... every drop of blood spilled by a U S Serviceman is on the hands of right-wing Bush supporters). The only way to abate the guilt of the bloodshed is to call it "noble".

[I Have A Dream]

52. Also all of the blood of so many innocent Iraqis.

They are just viewed as being collateral damage. :cry:

[I concur]

31. Agree

[chomskysright]

39. Cognitive Dissonance would kick in and there'd they be:

stuck, unable to choose:
1. my son/ daughter died in vain and the president is wrong VERSUS
2. my president is right and my son/ daughter's life was worth 'freedom.'

This is REALLY what Shehan's brouhaha is about: challenging the MACHINE and this is why her vigil and all associated others (its the mothers) are iconic.

Mothers created end of IRA debacle in Ireland.
Mothers have called on accountability in Chile.

Mothers have a FUCKING LOT TO SAY about the loss of children that they birthed.

[OrwellwasRight]

45. I have never understood that phrase "died in vain." It is crap.

What does it mean? As someone who has lost half my immediate family before I was even 24, I have to say loss is loss, death is death.

I don't know that any death is any more or less "meaningful" than another. So someone who fights a lost cause "died in vain"? Why? They still did what they believed was right. Why can't families take heart in that?

Might doeasn't make right, and a winning a war doesn't mean all people who died on the winning side didn't "die in vain," but all people who died on the losing side did "die in vain."

I think the whole concept is ludricrous and looney.

If the person tried to do good while alive, that is what matters, not whether some megalomaniac President sent them off to some ridiculous war. That doesn't make the person's death any more or less painful or the person any more or less of a decent human being.

[I Have A Dream]

56. I think that the issue is that people are willing to sacrifice...

family members or themselves for causes that are just and when our nation really needs our sacrifice to survive. When one loses a family member because of a lie, this is "dying in vain".

It doesn't matter whether the person or the family believed the lie. The person didn't need to die. However, if it makes it easier to believe the lie, then that's their right. (I'd never tell anyone who's trying to cope with such a loss what they should think.)

[mmonk]

4. Wonder if the press

will attempt to discredit and slander them?

[Kingshakabobo]

48. Good point. I wonder how many are going through divorces? We NEED to know.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. "Many others"

Well, that's good enough for me. "Many" is, like, whole bunches. Probably 90%, or something.

I tell you, youngsters, it was much better back in the good old days when we had an independent and aggressive press.

[Vinnie From Indy]

19. LOL! The press has degenerated into grotesque form of kindergarten psyops

Pretty soon they will be using words like "Gobs" or "bunches" to describe support.

[Kurovski]

63. "A gazillion oodles."

Well, it takes something even beyond courage to face the horror of sacrificing a loved one to lies and avarice in what you believe to be the greatest, most free nation in the world.

I couldn't begin to imagine how I might react if I believed the things some do.

I imagine I'd be pretty angry at the protesters.

But just because I can understand why they feel as they do, that doesn't mean I turn a blind eye, or put blind trust in leaders who have revealed themselves to be corrupt.

[Bob3]

6. so if he's so caring why doesn't he talk to Cindy?

really why not? It sure as hell what Lincoln would do.

And also if he's so caring where does this have to get on with my life statement come from.

And if he as time to bike with Lance why not ride over and see Cindy?

Ah well you can't argue with stepford people.

[redqueen]

55. Forget Lincoln.. it's what NIXON did!

This guy is the worst president ever, and sooner or later these nutjobs are going to realize it, whether they consciously accept it or not.

[Coventina]

7. I was going to post something really snarky, but

I'm just too tired.

Why do I bother protesting this war? People apparently are okay with their loved ones dying in it. Why should I get involved?

I have enough of my own problems.

*sigh*

And we're all going to die from global warming anyway. What's the use?

[HughBeaumont]

11. You can only do so much when Kool-Aid-holism is at that point . . .

Not even their loved ones getting killed in a pointless lie-based occupation is enough to get them to forsake Der Fuhrer.

It's utterly DISGRACEFUL to put your love of a selected official on par or over the love of your own deceased family member.

[mikita]

37. I must admit that I have to agree with you....

There are so many days when I ask myself, what IS the point? I have no children and my pets have died, so why do I worry about the future which looks dismal based on environmentals anyway, when most people seem content to have their children die in immoral wars, or if they live, to live in a world soon without water, clean air, and un-modified food?

I cannot wrap my mind around their denial.... and it starts with my brother, and a nephew stationed in Kuwait for who knows what next illegal adventure.

ditto *sigh*

All this said, I SO admire Cindy and what she's trying to do...

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Blankenbecler also claims to have given Bush an earful

when he visited Fort Hood, but after he got all touchy feely, that she felt better.

The comments quoted above are the same exact comments she made after meeting with Bush last April. I guess she's got her script and she's sticking to it.

http://www.patrickruffini.com/archives/2005/04/three_hours_wel.php

[Skittles]

9. "he struggles every day with the loss of life" "he hugs"

with all due respect, these people are either extremely ignorant or in a an extreme state of denial - or both

[nine30]

10. For some its a natural reaction..

Like the mother who lost her son and continues to support the war.
Its inconceivable to them that such a huge price was paid for nothing.
Example-- you go to a store pay an enormous amount for a designer item, that you know deep down wasn't worth it but you convince yourself that its the best.

(Some people make that argument for Bose speakers.)

[sleipnir]

12. Cognitive Dissonance. A perfect example.

It's hard to live with the fact that your loved ones died for lies and corporate greed. Many can't deal with this fact, thus Ms. Blankenbecler's behavior is quite commonplace. It will take some time, but most of the families of the Vietnam dead have since come to recognize the real reasons behind the deaths and have accepted it for what it is.

[goforit]

40. Yes, these families need to give value to their son's needless death.

[lebkuchen]

13. That should read "some families"

What is their tolerance threshold for loss of US life in this mess? We already know they don't care about the Iraqi people's lives, whom they purport to be saving. WH spokesperson on the CNN Sheehan special last night said that the Iraqis were of like-mind with "those" who leveled 9-11. That comment doesn't bode well for any Iraqi, as the WH spokesperson has purposely placed a target on each Iraqi backs, simply for being Iraqi.

[sniffa]

14. quick, Let's go after these mothers

how dare they disagree!!! i'm gonna smear the shit out of them.

[endarkenment]

17. please include :sarcasm: 'kay? nt.

[sniffa]

33. no thanks

[qanda]

15. That's NOT the point!!!!!!

Of course there will be some who hold a different view, it's pretty much all we've heard up to this point. Every single time you see a grieving family on the news, 9 times out of 10 they are saying that their child died for a noble cause or else their comments are chopped down so that's what you're made to believe. We've heard that side of things already.

The point now is that there are families who don't think their children died for a noble cause and they have the guts to call Bush on his lies. They have had to deal with the grief of losing a child and they want Bush and this country to have an accountability moment. Why exactly did "we" go to war? They want America to wake up to the fact that there really is a war and although Bush has only offered tax cuts as a sacrifice for the majority of Americans, there really is a "we", a group of families who are suffering everyday with the sacrifice of their loved-ones on an altar of lies and war profiteering.

The other point is that Bush is able to go on vacation and act as if this war does not exist and Cindy Sheehan is making it so the world remembers that while Iraq burns and families grieve, Bush fiddles.

[LibDemAlways]

28. The corporate media have done a

piss poor job of covering Cindy. They've reported that she's camping out until the chimp agrees to meet with her and they've shown a few snippets of her asking what the "Noble cause" is that her son died for. What they haven't done and won't do is sit down with her for a lengthy one-on-one allowing her to go into detail about what brought her to this point - what she's learned independently about PNAC and the real reasons the US is in Iraq. The truth is apparently too dangerous and off limits, so they content themselves to discuss her marital troubles while they march out kool-aid drinking families who don't know and don't want to know the truth.

Cindy Sheehan has single-handedly put a face on the anti-war movement and made people sit up and take notice. Much as the media is working overtime to slime her, she's still done an amazing job of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

[qanda]

32. That's the other part of this that I don't understand

Where are the Democratic leaders to hold rightwingers accountable for slandering a grieving mother? Cindy should be off-limits. Could you imagine us delving into the background of all the grieving families mentioned in this article? Why has it become okay for the right to demean Cindy? And why aren't Democrats out, in full force, defending her?

[Seabiscuit]

36. The corporate media has Casey Sheehan's blood on its hands.

And the blood of every other person, including civilians, who have died in Iraq since March 2003. History will judge them harshly.

[StrafingMoose]

16. What people don't seem to realize...

Is that they pleaded incompetence and "lack of imagination" for the 9/11 "flop".

Now, they're telling all of the world that they know how to handle terror threats, they know they have to go in Iraq, they have to run things like Gitmo, Abu Grahib, Baghram, etc.

Wake up! They can't flip flop from "We're sorry we fecked up against terror" (9/11) to "Hell, we know what we're doing against terror!" (Iraq).

[Deep13]

18. "...crossed the line..."

Little pun there.

What is she doing wrong? She is camping on a public road hoping to ask the president of a republic to end the war. What is so damn wrong with that. Even if people disagree, how is it remotely immoral? The widow who's bitching about her husband's name being on one of Sheehan's cross; was or was not he one of the war dead? Second question, why is that widow not one of the protesters?

[Solly Mack]

20. hypocrites

I've seen memorials where spouses, who thought as she does, put the names of dead soldiers on t-shirts, crosses and other assorted items - and no one complained.


I'm sorry these people lost loved ones - I'm even sorrier that they are too stupid to realize that the crosses in Crawford do honor the dead.

I see that woman's attitude all the time and I'm sick of the ignorance it stems from...

[kitkat65]

21. Hey! Did CBS steal this article from Newsweek? n/t

Colton was quoted in the Newsweek article

On edit: I know they didn't but it's they both say almost the exact same thing.

[KansDem]

23. "I do not at all feel that he is at fault for the death of my husband."

Really, Linnie? How about lying to him about the need for this war? Ever thought of that? Your husband was lied to and sent to his death for oil.

"When she put that cross up, with my husband's name on it, that's when she crossed the line."--Really? See above...


Linnie, if you don't mind sending your loved one to his death for a Bush Family lie, that's your prerogative. But don't chatise Cindy for reminding the rest of us that there are questions to be answered.

[bluestateguy]

24. Well I see that the war crowd is rolling out the heavy artillery

I expect to see more of this too.

Karl Rove must have made a few phone calls.

These people are as protective of Bush as they would be if he were a little child.

Well, they have earned the right to their opinions, and they sure have paid the price for the political choices they made, didn't they?

[wtmusic]

29. but they're more than happy to send other mothers' sons over

to kill more Iraqis.

Fuck 'em all.

[jahyarain]

25. baby, if the bitch was crying it was

because he realized he is a murderer

(edit because i can't spell)

[Lerkfish]

26. mark my words: Bush will visit this type of widow

I can see it happening.
then he will say he doesn't need to visit Cindy because of it.

[Cha]

27. They are poor souls..

they can't wrap their brains around helping other peoples' children the way Cindy Sheehan and her supporters can. Since that would mean it wasn't a noble cause and their kids died for a lie.

I'm thankful there is this unique person named Cindy Sheehan who did what needed to be done.

[jokerman93]

30. Proof positive of cult thinking in America

"He's very sincere, he's very caring and very compassionate," observes Ellen Thornton. "You can tell that he struggles every day with the loss of life."

This poor woman is projecting her anguish onto the media generated blank screen of Bush's public mask. In this situation, I can understand how thoroughly one might cling to the fiction of George Bush's noble war and godliness. To wake up and see reality after such a loss might be devastating.

The cult of personality: Moloch - God of War - devourer of children.

[Dogmudgeon]

34. Expect to see a LOT more of this

Over the next few weeks, expect the MSM to trot out dozens of pro-war, pro-Bush parents and spouses and relatives of dead soldiers.

The first problem they'll face will be just how callous the "patriot parade" is.

Second, some of the people they are counting on for a pro-Bush sound bite will go off-script and extemporaneously make a better argument against the war than any scriptwriter could hope to come up with.

Some of the members of the Press are starting to see through the lies. The people, in general, have seen through it for several months now. Even the conservatives are questioning the boy-king. he war may not be over, but the Neo-Con civil war has already been decided.

--p!

[0007]

35. These folks have booked a loser all the way a around.

They bought into junior's lies and believe their child died for a noble cause, 'eh? These are the types of people that let FAUX, CNN & MSNBC News do their thinking.

What a bunch of losers.

[Pachamama]

51. I heard an interview on the news yesterday where the father of a dead

soldier and another son over there said "if all my children have to die to protect our way of life and democracy, then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make".

WTF? Ofcourse, why isn't his ass over there while he sacrifices his children was the first thought but then my husband piped up and said "Darwinism in action"....

Ugh...these people believe Junior and the garbage that is shoveled to them...

So so sad...

[yorkiemommie1]

53. wow

he's willing to sacrifice all his kids? has he told them that?

[Pachamama]

58. Wow is right! I couldn't believe my ears as I heard this "father" saying

this! I pictured in my mind's eye an image of his son who is currentely in Iraq, who already lost a bro, is being shot at, bombed w/ suicide bombs and IED's and barely surviving in the atrocious heat and knowing good ole Dad will sacrifice him and another surviving son.....

Unbelievable! People willing to sacrifice their children for lies....

They find accepting the lies and dying for them, easier to take than accepting the truth of what they were sent there to die for....

Someone summarized the so-called "noble cause" and reason for this war:

G-R-E-E-D

[MODemocrat]

60. I'm so thankful for having such a strong and loving Father

who let his kids make their own decisions as to whether they wanted to be sacrified or not. I think that Father is blinded and sightless by Bush's horrific lies.

[Martin Eden]

61. "protect our way of life and democracy"???

If the war in Iraq is truly necessary to protect our way of life and democracy, then that father's willingness to sacrifice both his sons wouldn't seem so outrageous. Maybe he should ask himself exactly how our way of life and democracy would be endangered by NOT invading and occupying Iraq.

The man obviously believes what he wants/needs to believe, which is much easier than dealing with losing a son to imperial corporate greed and lies.

[EC]

38. Isn't this the same Linnie Blankenbeclker?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53070-2005Apr14.html
<snip>

"I just told him it was very wrong," one of the widows, Linnie Blankenbecler, 47, told me yesterday. "I was not intimidated by the president. My hardest reality was the death of my husband."

<snip>

"I told him I was very disappointed that he would sign something like that," she said. "I know that he doesn't understand everything that he signs, completely. So he asked one of his aides if he knew which bill I was talking about, and he told the guy to check into that.

"And he said he was sorry that I was disappointed, and that there's so many bills out there. I just got the impression that he didn't know which one I was talking about, and he probably didn't realize what he had done."

<snip>


This article just shows how idiotic and myopic these people are, she complains about what they are doing with survivor benefits etc, then says she doesn't blame the President. Doesn't she know that Tom Delay and Frist, answer to him? That ultimately what is brought before the House and Senate is what he choses to get brought forth for a vote? He's the one who signed the bills she's complaining about. She acknowledges that she knows ** is stupid, since "she knows" he "doesn't understand everything he signs" (how can one accept the fact that the President is so stupid he doesn't understand what he is signing?) So you tell me what's wrong with these people that they still support the SOURCE of their problems?

[Gregorian]

41. These people will do anything to validate their love for bush.

They'll twist logic. They'll stomp on people's spirits. They'll drive over crosses at a site where people are grieving. They'll believe any lie that comes out of his mouth or the media. It's beyond incredible. It's quite frightening. To me, it points directly to a civil war. Stupid people who are arrogant. Not a good combination.
This woman says bush was comforting with his hugs. Sheehan says he was gross. Anyone with a brain can tell that bush's comforting facade is thin. That's not even it. It's phoney. Giggling murderer kind of sums it up.

[trogdor]

42. This is the Early Show

Puff Piece Central. No hard news allowed.

Producer calls reporter: "Hey Cohan, how's about you go call the White House and get us, oh, two or three war widows who are sympathetic to the war and interview them for tomorrow's program. Have them say some nice things about the President, how compassionate he is and so on."

Reporter: "Sure thing, boss." (dials phone) "Hi, is this Scott McClellan's office? I need a favor..."

Programs like this are the TV equivalent of Reader's Digest, and should be taken about as seriously. If I want news, I watch CNN Headline News. If I want to be lulled back to sleep with puff pieces, I watch the morning infotainment shows.

[goforit]

43. Brainwashed nomes?.....a possibility?

[daleo]

44. Sometimes young people join the army to get away from their parents

That may explain some of these peculiar reactions - i.e. the relationship may not have been close.

[Sparkly]

46. "You can tell that he struggles every day with the loss of life."

How can you tell? Is it the bike-riding, the fishing, or the sheer number and length of his vacations?

Is it the way he chuckles when he talks about the war?

Is it the respect he shows to a Gold Star Mother who asks for one hour out of a five-week vacation?

[Pachamama]

47. So, this is how the Bush Cabal is going to counter the growing sentiment

around the country!

So, so sad....

Well, just as I have said with Cindy Sheehan, no one should question how any member of family grieves the loss of their loved one, and that holds true for even those who agree with the war.

However, what isn't off limits is criticizing the obvious use of the right wing media and the Bush Cabal to now exploit these people's feelings for their own propaganda.

So sad to see a sociopathic administration and its blind followers ignore the facts....the fact that their children, siblings, parents and friends are dead because of a President and administration that LIED in order to start an ILLEGAL war.

These people are going to have a really hard time someday psychologically when the truth finally hits them....

So, so sad.... :cry:

[Javaman]

49. Last night I overheard a conversation by an Iraq vet to the organizor...

It was very brief but it went something like this..

Vet: I was in Iraq for 6 months.

Organizer: thank you for your service.

Vet: Thanks, I just want to let you know, that the guys in my company write me everyday to tell me how much they appreciate the support Cindy and all the other protesters are giving them.

Organizer: Thank you, I'll pass that on to Cindy.

Vet: Thanks again, I'll let the guys back in my company what's going on here, they'll like the good news.

It's growing folks, last night, was vastly different than when I went to a vigil when we reached 1000 dead soldiers. Bigger, more organized and I could see that there were many people who had changed their mind and are now against the war.

Last night was the tipping moment. Things are different now.

[sakabatou]

50. They've been brainwashed by the RW and MSM

[Raster]

57. I don't care if * blubered or not. The point remains: Iraq was based

on lies. Lies. No weapons of mass destruction. NO CONNECTION TO 9/11. No biological weapons. NO CONNECTION TO 9/11. No mushroom clouds. NO CONNECTION TO 9/11. No connection Al Queada. No imminent threat to the United States. No connection to Usama Bin Laden. NO CONNECTION TO 9/11. Each and EVERY--EVERY--reason for the invasion of Iraq was a lie. We invaded Iraq because of a specific set of circumstances, which we now know were ALL LIES.

[MODemocrat]

59. Why is Bush running away if Cindy is wrong?

He's afraid of his shadow, yet has an ego bigger than Iraq itself!
How dare these people say Cindy is wrong for having an opinion that happens to be different from theirs. Maybe, if they used their brain, they'd quit worshipping Bush and his mess and call it what it is; a disaster with no way out. :spank:
Apparently, they can't admit their mistakes either. They voted for him and support him, and they want him to be right. What a pity.

[neuvocat]

62. Good point.

One may counter with rhetoric such as: "He wouldn't dignify her with a response." but unfortunately he's given the same sort of treatment to other mothers who simply want a cogent explanation as to why their children have died.

[klyon]

65. response

To Ellen,
No I do not see his compassion or struggles. I see him on vacation riding his bike.

To Linnie,
You lost a husband, I am so sorry, but our country also lost a soldier. Everyone should be in mourning also. You should be proud that your husband is remembered. The people of this country have been lied to, it is time to speak out so no more good sons, daughters, husbands and wives will be lost.

Sincerely,
Kerry Lyon