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August 15, 2005
Monday musings
Well, that was fun! Woke up about an hour a go to a very active thunderstorm (which is not the norm in So Cal, especially in August). Watched from our bedroom window across the valley as lightening flashed and thunder rumbled in continuous disharmony. Now it has settled down to a steady rain.
Saturday we had a great deal of fun with the twins. My 10 y/o stepson has been with us this month and each time the twins have been over they just love playing with him. They follow him around like puppies and enjoy shouting for him if he leaves the room. Sunday was dedicated chores and puttering as the trip to install Siobhan in her dorm next week looms.
Which is one of those amusing things I learned from the cultists that decided my pity for Ms. Sheehan, their marionette, is nothing but a hatefilled screed attacking her imminent sainthood -- my daughter(s) have no rights to make their own decisions about their own lives. If Ms. Sheehan can disrespect the decision of her own adult son,Casey Sheehan, who am I to respect the decisions of mine?
Like Tom Cruise's mindbending Scientology rant against Brooke Shields and psychiatry, the Leftist cult members ramble in logic defying patterns where it concerns anyone anywhere supporting the military outside of the We support the military when they shoot their officers Lefty meme.
The attack goes something like this:
A person is not allowed to support the US military if none of their family has ever served -- HOWEVER
if there are veterans in the family, the goal post is moved to CURRENT service -- HOWEVER
if there are family members in current service they have to actually be in Iraq right now -- HOWEVER
if they are in Iraq right now they have to be an immediate family member -- HOWEVER
if they are an immediate family member they must have been wounded or dead -- HOWEVER
if they have been wounded or dead and you are still sympathetic and/or supportive of their mission in Iraq YOUR VIEWS ARE STILL INAUTHENTIC.
Like Cruise's screed that Brooke Shields never needed anything but vitamins and exercise, the Leftist cultists believe anyone not adhering to their beliefs about the US military is either brainwashed or evil.
Funny, when looking over the cultists' meme one is amused to find they don't seem to understand their own argument is essentially that no one should be allowed to hold an elected federal office unless they are a combat veteran. Is a complete militarization of Congress and the Exec. Branches what they really want??
I'm amused. You?
I've actually been rather kind to Ms. Sheehan in not holding her 100% responsible for her statements but holding the cults around her that are exploiting her grief and using her much more culpable. I'm not allowed to comment on Ms. Sheehan's "private" life? Now just when has she kept it private? Cindy's OWN WORDS
I have lost almost every friend that I had before Casey died. My husband and I are separated, because he doesn't support my activities, although he knows the war is a lie.As I said before, the tactic of a cult is to separate the target member from their "old" life. Cut them off from family and friends. Looks like the cults have succeeded infamously with Ms. Sheehan. And who put these words in Ms. Sheehan's mouth?
My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel.Rhetorical question really. Crawford "Peace" House (Solomonia has the low-down on this anti-Semitic group that has pulled their info off their main site... Solomon has it via Google cache) was pulling the marionette string on that one. For them, the state of Israel has no right to exist at all.You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine.
Of course, Ms. Sheehan's judanhass statements are gathering her increased support from like-minded people -- David Duke:
Courageously she has gone to Texas near the ranch of President Bush and braved the elements and a hostile Jewish supremacist media to demand a meeting with him and a good explanation why her son and other’s sons and daughters must die and be disfigured in a war for Israel rather than for America.(h/t LGF)Recently, she had the courage to state the obvious that her son signed up in the military to protect America not to die for Israel.
More proof that Ms. Sheehan has ceased to be a real person to the cultists can be readily found from the KosKiddies strategy outline which includes points (excerpts):
- We should call her “Mother Sheehan”. We should never call her Cindy
- We should not use the name of her son.
- The right will try to INDIVIDUALIZE and SPECIALIZE her complaint. We must try to make her cry the UNIVERSAL and ETERNAL cry of all mothers
- If there are any persons who are theatre professionals at the Sheenan vigil, they should arrange things much more theatrically.
- I would not let Mother Sheehan talk to the press, but I would have her talk only through a spokesperson. In particular, I would not allow her to argue with critics, and would allow no critics to approach her.
Pity her.
Posted by Darleen at August 15, 2005 05:24 AM
Comments
Just a couple of responses to clarify the offensiveness of your Sheehan comments, Darleen. Misrepresenting others' opinions is the favorite tool of political bloggers who don't want to think things through, so sorry for the long comment--I want to make these points unmistakeably clear.
1. The all-to-frequently-employed argument that supporters of the war should enlist or ask their children to has a metaphorical significance: if you are a middle-or-upper-class American mindlessly bragging about the "patriotism"/Republican voting record/pro-war stance of soldiers in Iraq, you are taking advantage of class differences and issues you can't understand because you've never had to. As we all should know from our real-life experience , most young men and women do NOT join the army because they love the government or even because they love war--they join because the army is the best or the only choice available to them to pay for college or career training. This is my brother's situation, my cousin's, and most people I know who have joined up. These young people deserve our respect as people, as professionals, as soldiers, and NOT as tools of a conservative agenda. Most middle-class families do not want their children to become tools of anyone's agenda, and we have that choice. So rather than bitch about how the left is ignoring your daughter's freedom of choice, be grateful she HAS a choice, and lay off women who are experiencing the pain of losing their children to a war machine that doesn't benefit them or their families at all.
2. I have been to Crawford, and to call the multi-generational, multi-ethnic, politically diverse atmosphere at Camp Casey and the Crawford Peace House a "cult" is so laughable I almost forgot to be offended. The love that people there are expressing for each other, for their children, and for all American soldiers transcends the petty griping I am hearing on right and left wing blogs on the topic. As a left-wing member of a military family, I understand how threatening love can be when it comes from a direction where we don't expect it. But as people (rather than just pundits), we have the ability to respect love where we find it, and just freakin' leave intelligent grieving people alone, even when they don't support our favorite causes.
Posted by: Layne at August 15, 2005 02:23 PM
Layne
That's just so damned silly. No one has to join the military. Period.
And the fact remains that I do know quite a few young people who have recently joined who did not have to. Indeed, coming from some rather affluent households.
One and all they were drawn to the military out of a sense of giving back.
Some go into the military, some go into police work, some go into medicine for just those reasons.
Some do their best to raise their children to be contributing members of society and just plain good people.
To even attempt to say that only those who disgree with military/police/paramedics have "authentic" voices is perfidy at its finest.
A "cult" can be age/race/gender diverse, because it is ideology that defines a cult..be it Scientology, Islamism or the fringe anti-American/anti-Semitic Leftists surrounding and exploiting Ms. Sheehan. So you're little rant is pretty much a non-sequitor on that point.
If you're not anti-Semitic or anti-American then examine who you're hangin' with.
Posted by: Darleen at August 15, 2005 02:50 PM
Wow, what a strikingly dishonest post!
For all you kool aid drinkers who don't understand the mindset of the Darleens of the blogosphere, I'll give you a little perspective.
The Kos post Darleen has linked to is actually a link to Little Green Footballs, one of the wingiest of the wingnut sites out there. If you folllow it back to Kos, guess what you'll find? A post written by a random contributor (unlike most blogs, Kos allows any and all members to post at will - completely open and free)...followed by about 100 comments from other members DISAGREEING with the content of the diary!!
Now why didn't Darleen tell you that? Maybe she didn't know because she also swallows koolaid. Maybe she didn't care and knew that her readers would swallow the koolaid she gave them.
In any case, it's always amusing to read a criticism from one side of the political spectrum using exactly the tactics they deride the other side for using. It's all too common in the blogosphere. Just be aware, Darleen, that you really shouldn't be throwing those stones until you move out of your glass house.
Posted by: Hrubec at August 15, 2005 03:36 PM
Hrubec
Thanks for showing what little faith you have in anyone to follow links, right after I even labeled the bullet points "excerpts".
And I try whenever possible to NOT link to "Screw 'em" Markos' site.
And puh-leeze give the "free and open" crap a rest. Kos bans anyone that walks off the Leftist plantation.
Sheesh.
Funny how you keep avoiding the anti-Semitic statements that Ms. Sheehan keeps injecting.
Posted by: Darleen at August 15, 2005 03:46 PM
I'm not ignoring her comments against Israel. I wasn't aware that unquestioning loyalty to Israel was part of our sworn duty as Americans.
You can try all you like to condescend in your comments about this woman. Who the hell are you to read her mind and know what her honest feelings are? You have called her mentally ill. You have made snide links to nasty remarks on her personal life. Basically, you have joined in with your rightwing attack machine to slime a woman who is doing something you yourself do not have the courage to do - Take a stand for what she believes. How truly pathetic that those who crow so incessantly about "patriotism" have forgotten exactly what it is that once energized the brave soldiers who founded this nation.
Posted by: Hrubec at August 15, 2005 04:10 PM
Darleen, it is possible to be anti-Israeli government and not be anti-Semitic. Or do you not think in those more nuanced terms?
And as to this line of critique:
A person is not allowed to support the US military if none of their family has ever served
That's not at all what the anti-war movement is saying.
You obviously equate support for the military with support for the war, when Cindy Sheehan and her supporters are fully behind the troops AND ALSO criticizing the political leadership in this country (leadership which is largely composed of chickenhawks).
As an illustrative metaphor: let's say you were in a bus being driven by a drunk man, and that bus was taking you where you needed to go, but you knew if you allowed the drunken busdriver to do the driving that you and everyone else on the bus was going to get killed before you reached your destination. Would it not be the height of stupidity for your fellow riders to accuse you of being a traitor for speaking out against the bus driver, rather than joining you in trying to confront him?
Posted by: Brad at August 15, 2005 07:45 PM
Darleen--
Keep the hate coming. 'Cause it is sooo the way to live the 80 years ya got here.
And don't even give me (of all people) the "I know several young people" line--that kind of ignorant presumption is what inspires people to tell your daughter to join the damned army in the first place.
Sheesh is right. I'm out. If you want to blast your commenters for being racist, please stop linking to LGF, where the words "raghead" and "wetback" seem to enjoy a pretty frequent outing.
Posted by: Layne at August 15, 2005 08:53 PM
Yes, Layne, LGF is a model of civil respect, you're correct. It is always amusing to watch the conservatives try and hopscotch between their anti-Muslim hatred and their supposed desire to "liberate" these people they clearly could give less than a damn about. The new Repub game is to put women or blacks or Hispanics or Catholicis in some kind of position and then disallow any criticism of that person, on the grounds that the critic hates women or blacks or Hispanics or Catholics. Their attempts to manipulate the American public have crossed the line to deviance.
And Brad, I feel as you do about the drunk bus driver. I am not convinced that we have the right to abandon Iraq at this point, yet I can NOT conceive of trusting the lives of our American soldiers to this regime of incompetent liars and thieves for even one day longer. And apparently, the American people, by almost 7 to 3, agree with me.
Posted by: Hrubec at August 16, 2005 03:59 AM
Okay. For the sake of arguement, 'chickenhawks' are not allowed to lend any support, political or otherwise, to the Iraq war. After all, they have not served, they don't know what its like.
From now on it is resolved that no one who has not personally served in the military gets a voice in the decision to go to war or stay in Iraq....
Oooooops. I don't think that is what 'chickendoves' have in mind.
Posted by: BigDog at August 16, 2005 11:51 AM
“In a nut shell, ABC now says it talked to Sheehan and she said she did in fact write the letter in question after all and she did receive an e-mail from ABC confirming that ABC had received it. But she thinks the version on the web has been tampered with.” So let me get this straight, Cindy Sheehan first said a “former friend ” doctored the email and even said this persons gender by saying “he”.
Here is what Cindy sheehan originally stated and I quote ” A former friend who is anti-Israel and wants to use the spotlight on me to push his anti-Semitism is telling everyone who is listening that I believe that Casey died for Israel and has gone so far as to apparently doctor an email from me. People have to know that he doesn’t speak for me. ABC Nightline can’t confirm his email is real and therefore any reporting on it is irresponsible.”
Now that it has been confirmed that she herself sent the email she totally changes her story once again. Now instead of asserting that ABC can’t confirm this mystery persons email and therefore its irresponsible to even report on this particular email, she now says she did send it, but she “thinks” it was tampered with. Im just curious how she could have written it and not really know if its been tampered with , she says now she thinks the web version was tampered with. There is absolutely no evidence what-so- ever that anyone tampered with her email, sent to ABC Nightline in the first place, and how would anyone even know she was sending it? And what is meant by she thinks the web version was tampered with , she doesnt know what she herself wrote and sent? She did the same type of distortion once before when she stated that there was evidence that her son was killed by friendly fire. Later she said and I quote “I have some speculative evidence that he was actually killed by friendly fire.” I just wonder what she means by speculative evidence? I would bet there is no evidence at all that her son died by friendly fire, but it does create that distrust for the military and government that she sets out to accomplish, that is if your very gullible. I dont understand why reporters don’t challenge her on these off the wall statements she makes.
Posted by: Sharlene Morgan at August 20, 2005 04:14 PM