Email exchange between Seattle PI reporter and me over Cindy

[Generic Other]

I read this article and sent the guy and email. He responded.

Mothers War Protest veers onto Wrong Path

President Bush could end the shenanigans of the military mom turned antiwar poster child who is camped outside his Texas vacation ranch.

All he has to do is meet with the grieving woman.

If the president spoke with Cindy Sheehan for a few minutes behind ranch doors, he could field her questions about why her soldier son made the ultimate sacrifice.

He could show the world he does have a heart, contrary to public perception. A brief tête-à-tête also would douse the blaze of media that threatens to make the cowpoke town the site of a whoopee-ti-yi-yo showdown.

Mom versus the Prez.

Trouble is Sheehan is not sincerely interested in meeting Bush for a private, heartfelt chat about her understandable anguish and lingering questions"

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/236483_robert13.html


I wrote to him:
"Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks called Cindy to lend support."

And he answered!
"your point being what? all blacks think alike?"

Oh my. Wow. My reply:

"No. That's not at all what I meant. I meant to point out that Cindy is following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King."

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. He is very sensitve about the race card. NOTED peace vigilists

and rights activists have sided with her. That was your point.

[Thtwudbeme]

2. omg. What a smarmy jerk

How sad...what the HELL difference does it make what "race" (I personally don't believe in races, but that's a whole different story, and an earned "a" in anthropology) people are???

What a creep.

[Darth_Kitten]

3. He doesn't "get" Mrs. King and Rosa Parks?

What a moron! :eyes:

I'm speechless. :(

[BlueStateGirl]

4. Just read his article. How does he preume to know what is in a

greiving mother's heart?

What an arrogant prick.

[GetTheRightVote]

5. what a jerk, really to bad

:kick:

[koopie57]

6. ask him

if he is so confident in bush, why is he so threatened by Cindy? What harm can she do?

[Generic Other]

8. I'm still shaking over the last exchange

Poor Cindy. She is dealing with this sort of stuff non-stop!!

[nofurylike]

13. and poor you, too. and all who really care so much!! eom

[koopie57]

21. ahhh I understand

everyone here seems so confident and able that I forgot that most of us are like me. When we open our mouths or fight back, it is scary and frustrating and makes us angry. Good for you for doing what you can. I understand how much character it took for you to do so.

[Alamom]

14. I wrote also...

as I have been doing all week to every address that has been provided and I thank you all for these addresses.


I mentioned Rosa Parks amd Mrs. King.
Race is not an issue here. Gender may be. Many woman think alike.

I'm not new to DU. I have been a reader for a very long time.
I am an old hand at writing letters. Writing works when nothing else does. I assume this is ok for my first post.

I haven't heard back.....he may realize he has opened Pandora's Box and stop replies.

[nofurylike]

17. welcome to (posting at) DU, Alamom! well said! eom

[annabanana]

18. Welcome to DU Alamom

Good first post. I suspect there are a lot of "lurkers" who participate in polls and write letters.

We DO like to hear from you, though!
:toast:

[Generic Other]

20. Welcome Alamom to DU

I think we are experiencing a mother's revolution here.

Pandora's box indeed!

[senseandsensibility]

24. OK?

It's more than ok, and welcome to DU!!! We're happy to have you here, either as a reader or a poster. Keep writing letters!:hi:

[gademocrat7]

7. How ignorant this so called journalist is

stupidity is rampant among rethugs.

[nofurylike]

9. well, and so calmly, spoken. i wish i could have your cool when

furious.

thank you for posting this, Generic Other.


peace!

[bahrbearian]

10. He hasn't responded to mine Yet. I'm waiting.

[sakabatou]

11. Asshat

[Cassandra]

12. Ah, the touchiness of a black conservative.

I was wondering if he was black, given the response, "all blacks think alike?"" Then I went and hit the link and sure enough, he's black. His response suggests that he's conservative and a bit defensive. His column is merely churlish.

[nofurylike]

15. how interesting that he is projecting his own exploitation by

the right.
trying to restore his own dignity by stepping on that of another daring to be powerful.

so sad.


peace

[glitch]

16. Jackasses come in all colors and sexes and classes.

Thank him for proving that point, and doing his part to take down the barriers of prejudice and discrimination.

[opusprime]

19. I wrote him as well...

From your article today:

"There are hundreds of soldiers' families -- several in the Seattle area -- in as much grief as Sheehan is over the death of her son, Casey, last year in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

They haven't found the need to shack up near the president's vacation pad to shame him into a confrontation under the guise of seeking sincere dialogue.

Some of these families believe the war is wrong, too.

They just choose to deal with their feelings in a way that doesn't cheapen the memory of their loved ones or turn a grave matter into a media circus standoff that generates more heat than light."

So a mother standing up to the lies of our government in the hope that someone else's child might be saved from an unnecessary death will "cheapen the memory of their loved ones"??

I think you and your PATHETIC apathy to this President flushing this country down the toilet is what is cheapening the memory of our lost loved ones.

Put yourself in her shoes, if your tiny little brain can handle the cognitive experience. If my son or daughter was killed in Bush's illegal, and unnecessary war, the insurgents would be the least of his worries.

You seem to freely admit that this war is a farce... but you dont have the time to be bothered to stand up for what is right and the people who are.

Cindy Sheehan is not pathetic. Apathetic Americans, such as yourself, who are only willing to stand up if it wont affect their ability to watch the next episode of American Idol are the truly pathetic amongst us.

Your a disgrace, and a coward.

XXX
Olympia, WA

[fortyfeetunder]

22. Looks more like a Devils' Advocate piece

I think his issue is Ms. Sheehan's change of position on her meeting with Bush.

IMHO, I think the visit was probably as bad as she said it was, but she couldn't convey that immediately because of being still in mourning over her son's recent death.

Appears the Mr. Jamieson article suggests Ms. Sheehan should have been kicking butt right after she left her meeting with the POTUS.

[Iris]

23. Off topic - but WOW!

I didn't know these great ladies called her.

This is getting better and better.

[matt819]

25. You ought to submit that exchange as a LTTE

That response strikes me as particularly childish and racist, maybe a bit of both. I think framing this exchange into an LTTE for the paper might give the Seattle PI readers an idea of what its reporters are like.

Edit to add: At the ver least, you need to bring this exchange to the attention of the ombudsman at the paper. This crap is just that, crap, and it has no place on a responsible paper.

[Generic Other]

27. Good idea

Wonder if they'd run it?

[John Q. Citizen]

26. Have you read any of this guys other stuff? His style seems geared

towards calculatedly pissing people off.

In his Cindy piece he's sure to piss off the kool-aid drinkers by his calling the war a mess and by underlying message about unnecessary blood being shed by American soldiers hits the mark.

But he kind of glosses over these points in a wierd attempt to smear using the rightwing talking points plus a couple of his own, like it's going to mess up Crawford to have a bunch of people in town spending money. This pisses us off.

I wouldn't write him back directly but instead a letter to the editor. You can use his column to help Cindy and peace.

I would point out that:

"unnecessary blood being shed" is usually officially called murder.

When Megan (of Megan's law) was murdered her father PUBLICALLY organized and faught to change the system to prevent further murder from occuring to others. he did this to honer his daughters memory.

Cindy is especially courageous because she is seeking out the murderer of her son, who also happens to be the Pres. (and call him the Pres) and organizing to stop further murder.

You as an apathetic American, and many others, have been inspired by Cindy to help prevent more murder, and if nothing more, that's totally worth it.

If some groups are using Cindy to prevent more murder then please tell who these groups are. I would like to thank them and to offer them whatever assistence I can. I am opposed to murder and there is strengh in numbers.

Lastly, Cindy has inspired Robert L. JaimensonJr. to write about her, her son, and murder, in his column even though the only connection between Cindy and RLJ Jr. is that Cindy once met the Pres at Fort Lewis, WA. which is in the heart of RLJ JR's news beat. He didn't bother covering her, her son's death, bush, or murder (unnecessary bloodshed shed as RLJ Jr likes to call it) at that time, but she's sure got his attention now.

That's how (I don't know his name ) got Megans' law passed, by bringing public attention to the problem and forcing the often distracted - by- big-buck,s lawmakers and opinion shapers to pay attention to the real problems faced by everyday people in this country, as well as in Iraq. Such as murder.

if RLJ Jr. believes that victims and the familes of "unnessesary bloodshed" should stay home and shut up,that his right, certainly. I don't agree with him, though.


This is a very rough draft, Generic Other. No spell check, lot's of conjegation confusion etc. but I beleive your fight (and mine) is for the hearts and minds of the nation. We need to go farther than Cindy (Cindy says, "Mr. Pres why did you kill..." we need to use the term "murder" to put Cindy in the mainstream, the more rational side of us, we can take the left flank, particularly in a letter to the editor. Our farther left flank pushes Cindy towards the middle and makes her more effective. think hamburger a and hanbuger b.....as in the Black Panthers (and others) allowed MLK to take the middle ground.

Anyway, good luck and don't waste your time on this asshole. Use him.

[Generic Other]

28. I will work on a LTTE

Thanks for the encouragement.