Why Sheehan Does Not Deserve a 2nd Audience with the President
To answer the question as to whether or not Cindy Sheehan is warranted a second audience with President Bush, it is necessary to examine who Cindy Sheehan really is. Let’s look first at who we think that she is today. We know that she lost Casey Sheehan, her 24-year-old son, to the fighting in Iraq. We know that she is an anti-war activist. We know that she is estranged in at least some manner from her family: her husband is divorcing her; and the extended family signed a public letter disavowing her anti-war activities. We know that she has stated that this country is not worth someone dying in its service. We know that she considers President Bush a murderer for causing the death of her son. We know that she has stated that had she known of what was to be that she would have taken her son out of this country to keep him from joining the military.
What was Cindy Sheehan prior to the death of her son? That’s a little harder to know. Relatives reported that she was anti-war, but we don’t know if she was an activist or not. Whatever her beliefs, she obviously was not able to persuade her son from joining the military. For that matter, she may not have even tried. Since her son had recently re-enlisted, it is likely that he joined the military while there were no U.S. conflicts.
So out of all of this, we know that Cindy Sheehan is at least two persons in regards to the question of whether or not she deserves a second audience with President Bush: she is the grieving mother of a lost serviceman; and she is an anti-war activist.
As a grieving mother she did meet with the President, and newspaper accounts relate that she was complimentary toward the President regarding his demeanor and empathy toward the family. Not every family losing a serviceman or woman has the privilege of meeting the President.
Despite the MSM and some bloggers depicting her as having made a sacrifice in the death of her son, she did not make a sacrifice. As I wrote previously “…Sheehan, is a victim of circumstances because her son was taken from her. She did not make a sacrifice. A sacrifice requires a deliberated giving, an offering. This woman gave nothing. Her son was an adult, and he made his own decision. He made the offering that became a sacrifice.” Read Mark Steyn on the infantilization of our service people.
Cindy Sheehan has no special status in expressing her First Amendment rights directly to the President. As an anti-war activist with no other credentials and nothing else to bring to the president’s table, Sheehan does not deserve any more attention from the President than does any other citizen. The fact that she is camping on his doorstep is irrelevant. She is exercising her First Amendment rights, just as I am doing in writing this blog.
Clearly Cindy Sheehan does not warrant a second visit with the President. What would be the purpose? To rant and rave and say the same irresponsible things that she has already stated?
Mr. President, do not succumb to the demands of someone who does not believe that this country is deserving of the sacrifice made by her son. To do so would compound the dishonor to both Casey Sheehan and the United States of America.
What was Cindy Sheehan prior to the death of her son? That’s a little harder to know. Relatives reported that she was anti-war, but we don’t know if she was an activist or not. Whatever her beliefs, she obviously was not able to persuade her son from joining the military. For that matter, she may not have even tried. Since her son had recently re-enlisted, it is likely that he joined the military while there were no U.S. conflicts.
So out of all of this, we know that Cindy Sheehan is at least two persons in regards to the question of whether or not she deserves a second audience with President Bush: she is the grieving mother of a lost serviceman; and she is an anti-war activist.
As a grieving mother she did meet with the President, and newspaper accounts relate that she was complimentary toward the President regarding his demeanor and empathy toward the family. Not every family losing a serviceman or woman has the privilege of meeting the President.
Despite the MSM and some bloggers depicting her as having made a sacrifice in the death of her son, she did not make a sacrifice. As I wrote previously “…Sheehan, is a victim of circumstances because her son was taken from her. She did not make a sacrifice. A sacrifice requires a deliberated giving, an offering. This woman gave nothing. Her son was an adult, and he made his own decision. He made the offering that became a sacrifice.” Read Mark Steyn on the infantilization of our service people.
Cindy Sheehan has no special status in expressing her First Amendment rights directly to the President. As an anti-war activist with no other credentials and nothing else to bring to the president’s table, Sheehan does not deserve any more attention from the President than does any other citizen. The fact that she is camping on his doorstep is irrelevant. She is exercising her First Amendment rights, just as I am doing in writing this blog.
Clearly Cindy Sheehan does not warrant a second visit with the President. What would be the purpose? To rant and rave and say the same irresponsible things that she has already stated?
Mr. President, do not succumb to the demands of someone who does not believe that this country is deserving of the sacrifice made by her son. To do so would compound the dishonor to both Casey Sheehan and the United States of America.
posted by Paul Coambs | 5:49 PM
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