Sheehan: "When they start sliming my home life and my family..."

[sabra]

http://www.truthout.org/cindy.shtml

r u t h o u t | One Mother's Stand
By Cindy Sheehan

Monday 15 August 2005
3:44 AM

I apparently am the sacrificial lamb of the peace movement. I don't care about myself. Putting myself in the forefront and daring to challenge the president on his lies left myself open to the attacks. Which are, of course, half truths and distortions.

When they start sliming my home life and my family, that's where I draw the line. Yes, my husband has filed for divorce and yes he filed before I left for the VFP Convention and this trip to Crawford and yes IT IS BETWEEN MY HUSBAND AND I.

Having Casey murdered in Iraq by George Bush's reckless policies has been hard enough on my family, but me setting off on my holy war to bring the troops home, my constant absences, and all of the media attention has put additional stresses on my family.

I chose my path after Casey died. The rest of the family has chosen theirs. We all still love each other and support each other in anything that we do. We didn't want Casey to join the Army, but once he made that decision, we supported him and even encouraged him through boot camp.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. We love you, Cindy!

[wtmusic]

2. Cindy don't EVEN respond to that shit

Cindy needs a quick course in GOP smear tactics

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. She does need to respond. Being quiet only lets them smear her more.

She set the record straight. Now she can continue in her cause.

[wtmusic]

4. disagree

all she does is bring attention to it. Because some moron said so, does not make it part of the "record".

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Two words for you: Dukakis and Kerry.

'nuff said.

[wtmusic]

6. Hardly

Cindy's not running for office. She has nothing to prove. It doesn't matter if she's been divorced, was a drug addict, lied about her support for W.

The only thing that matters is W killed her kid and she has the guts to face him down on it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. She can be swiftboated like anybody else.

It doesn't take much for the right-wing to demonize someone. Their character assassinations get spread and repeated. If you don't stand up to them and correct their lies, by the end of the week, they'll be saying that Cindy's husband is divorcing her for infidelities and God knows what else.

Don't let the Republicans frame the debate. She should not only correct their misstatements, but point out that they are trying to swiftboat her because they're afraid of her message.

[emdee]

18. As soon as they ask her....

she could say "The focus here is the Downing Street Memo, let's discuss that." That's the way the Right Wing handles it.
emdee

[rman]

9. same principal

Cindy has become a public figure, so public opinion about her is relevant and it is based on what the media say about her. If what the media say about Cindy is disingenuous then it must not go unchallenged.

[wtmusic]

11. No No No

She only lends credence to it by responding to it. She allows them to frame the issue. She is on the defensive.

This is not a PR stunt. The whole attraction is the simplicity of her request, and the absurdity of W being unable to respond.

Look to people like King and Gandhi. They ignored that crap.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Go back and review the swiftboat incident. Go back and review

the Dukakis campaign. King and Gandhi had the help of a positive, objective media. That no longer exists today.

[wtmusic]

19. King and Gandhi had no such thing

Go back and review early press coverage of MLK:

"Not until many years later when the protests sparked violence and death was King's name mentioned and even then, it was used in negative way. In this paper, I will discuss how the news magazines Time, Newsweek, and the U.S. News went about distorting, neglecting, and eventually praising King and his events."

http://www.freeessays.cc/db/26/hmd38.shtml

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. That's not how I recall it at all.

I was on a military base overseas. An AMERICAN military base and all the PR on MLK was good, and so was Gandi's. The way the press painted it, the only people who were against MLK, were prejudiced bigots. Those prejudiced bigots were made out to be a small minority in America.

That's how I remember it. It was decades later where it was stated that MLK had an affair.

[rman]

24. they frame the issue anyway, question is should it be countered or not

[SemperEadem]

12. No

that would be dignifying the undignifiable. NO ONE is owed any explanation---they don't rate that high.

The only people who need to discuss Cindy's marriage is Cindy and her husband... if you didn't stand at the altar and take vows with them, then back up, s0n.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Then she'll be swiftboated.

Don't expect people to understand what's going on, and don't count on them to sift out the propaganda from the truth. The right-wingers only need a half truth to destroy this woman. She steps up, sets the record straight and calls their bluff, she'll be way ahead of the game.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

7. Cindy, you have more grace, humanity and courage

Than any thousand of these cowardly detractors. My prayers are for your strength and for those with you there in the heat and dust, doing a more honorable thing than they can comprehend.

Bless you. :loveya:

[steve2470]

10. God be with you Cindy, you are wonderful nt

[marions ghost]

13. Cindy is right

to meet this head-on.

And it makes me want to support her in her mission even more, knowing that she has family stress on top of it all. Is it any surprise to anybody that her marriage would suffer after Casey's death? It makes me sorry for both of them that her husband could not join Cindy in this, but that is between them, and NOT a basis for outside criticism.

Once again, I think Cindy met lies and innuendoes with truth, and that is better than being quiet about it, which indicates that you are equivocating. The lofty above-it-all stance doesn't work in the gladiators pit--which is the level to which American public and political debate has sunk.

[emdee]

14. Bless you, Cindy....

and, please, just learn to say "No Comment" - it's not our business nor is it the business of the Right Wing Smear Machine.

They, after all, refuse to comment on anything. Just say, "As with the Plame CIA outing investigation perpetrated by Rove, this is an "ongoing process" and shouldn't be commented on" when they ask about your personal life!

Blessings for you and yours,
emdee

[marions ghost]

23. 'No comment 'doesnt work

I agree that you don't need to give MUCH information, but someone who is a public figure needs to come back strong and direct against smear campaigns. That means you have to say more than the lofty "no comment." Cindy handled it very well. She said enough, and she called them at the game of invading her private life for their own ends. She can win with this perspective.

(read my post 13 where I said it better):)

[MojoXN]

17. Well, Cindy...

You might have seen this coming. Ad Hominem attacks are what they do best!

MojoXN

[ronnykmarshall]

21. I'm sorry to hear about the divorce.

The RW slugs will sure to be talking about this.

[BeTheChange]

22. I think alot of the confusion on all of this has to do with..

the fact that when her husband's side of the family released that statement last week, there were bunches and bunches of posts about how Cindy had said her husband completely supported her and that he was preparing a statement.

Now, divorce papers have been filed, Time magazine is exploiting the email of her son.. etc.

I guess I just think honesty is the best policy. What she is going through isnt shameful, it isnt her fault and it really isnt our business. That message should have been the one that was sent from the beginning because now the other side thinks they have caught her in a lie. And even though it really isnt anyone's business, when you gain notoriety your life gets put on display and people are going to discuss it. Sympathy and slack for every member of the Sheehan family are what is in order. She has said her peice, cleared up any confusion..