Not a Very Good Move

It seems Cindy Sheehan doesn't like being out of the limelight for too long, so she's come up with a new ploy. She has written an open letter to Barbara Bush and it's a doozy! Here is the opening:

Dear Barbara,

On April 04, 2004, your oldest child killed my oldest child, Casey Austin Sheehan.

Unlike your oldest child, my son was a marvelous person who joined the military to serve his country and to try and make the world a better place. Casey didn't want to go to Iraq, but he knew his duty. Your son went AWOL from a glamour unit. George couldn't even handle the Alabama Air National Guard. Casey joined the Army before your son became commander in chief. We all know that your son was thinking of invading Iraq as early as 1999. Casey was a dead man before George even became president and before he even joined the Army in May of 2000.

Yup, that's just the beginning. I don't know what she hopes to accomplish, but I suppose making the letter as vitriolic and outlandish as possible will get her more air time. And regretfully, it probably will.

Did you teach George to use his words and not his violence to solve problems? It doesn't appear so. Did you teach him that killing other people for profits and oil is ALWAYS wrong? Obviously you did not. I also used to wash my children's mouth out with soap on the rare occasion that they lied...did you do that to George? Can you do it now? He has lied and he is still lying. Saddam did not have WMD's or ties with al-Qaeda and the Downing Street Memos prove that your son knew this before he invaded Iraq.

On August 3rd, 2005, your son said that he killed my son and the other brave and honorable Americans for a "noble cause." Well, Barbara, mother to mother, that angered me. I don't consider invading and occupying another country that was proven not to be a threat to the USA is a noble cause. I don't think invading a country, killing its innocent citizens, and ruining the infrastructure to make your family and your family-friendly war profiteers rich is a noble cause.

Cindy Sheehan is calling Barbara's son a liar, a murderer, a war profiteer, among other things. Oh, and let's not forget her repetitive use of the "killer" label. Now we've all heard about Barbara's pride in her family. I cannot imagine that this will make our former first lady very happy, but I have no doubt that if she even acknowledges this letter, she will certainly set Cindy straight on her lack of facts in the most concise and easily understandable terms because she will want to make sure that Cindy understands every word! And all the while she will act like a lady and not raise her voice or debase herself by using crass language. Here is more, but if you feel the need to read the whole thing you can find it here.

Casey came home in a flag draped coffin on April 10th. I used to have a beautiful mind, too. Now my mind is filled with images of seeing his beautiful body in his casket and memories of burying my brave and honest boy before his life really began. Casey's beautiful mind was ended by an insurgent's bullet to his brain, but your son might as well have pulled the trigger.

Besides encouraging your son to have some honesty and courage and to finally do the right thing, don't you think you owe me and every other Gold Star parent an apology for that cruel and careless remark you made? (*)

Your son's amazingly ignorant, arrogant, and reckless policies in Iraq are responsible for so much sorrow and trouble in this world.

Can you make him stop? Do it before more mothers' lives are needlessly and cruelly harmed. There have been too many worldwide already.

Sincerely,

Cindy Sheehan

Mother of Casey Sheehan
Founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace
Founder of Camp Casey Peace Foundation

(emphasis mine)
Yes, she is a real piece of work and I feel so badly for her son because he was a hero and he doesn't deserve to have his name and memory used in such a way. This is simply another pathetic attempt to keep herself in the spotlight when all she is really accomplishing is having people think that she is even more of a disingenuous publicity seeker who cares more for her "fame" than for the memory of her son.

(*) Refers to this comment quoted in the letter that Barbara made "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" (Good Morning America, March 18, 2003)
But that is not the full quote and when taken out of context (a novel idea for Cindy, I know), it sounds horrid. Here is the full quote and the actual questioning which brought it about:(Snopes)

An additional query about whether the senior Bushes, who do not normally watch a great deal of television, found themselves watching more TV during this period than was their usual custom fetched from Mrs. Bush the quote that has since earned a measure of notoriety:

"I watch none. He [former President Bush] sits and listens and I read books, because I know perfectly well that, don't take offense, that 90 percent of what I hear on television is supposition, when we're talking about the news. And he's not, not as understanding of my pettiness about that. But why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's, it's not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that? And watch him suffer."

Read within the context of the full interview, it is a tiny bit more clear that Mrs. Bush's "beautiful mind" statement referred to her desire not to become mesmerized by the pre-war media speculation of what such an invasion would mean, what sorts of weaponry and defenses U.S. troops might well be walking into, which troops would be committed and when they'd be deployed, how long the war would last, and how high the body count might be. Prior to the commencement of hostilities, such matters were the subject of endless supposition by various news pundits. While maybe not "90 percent" of what was filling the air waves was guesswork rather than hard news, Mrs. Bush's point that news of that moment was much more about what could or might happen rather than what was happening was valid. Her comment was not meant as a dismissal of actual deaths or suffering (troops had not yet been engaged at the time of her remark), but of news coverage that amounted to one expert after another making predictions