Update (8/16): Please see Sheehan Redux.
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Cindy Sheehan is a woman whose son was killed in the war, and she and her family met with George Bush shortly after. Apparently there were some discrepancies between what she told a newspaper reporter about the meeting and what she told Wolf Blitzer on CNN.
Last week Drudge reported that Sheehan praised Bush in one story, but later accused him of indifference. She’s also said that Bush “killed” her son. What she actually said and how she said it has never been of interest to me, but I’d like to comment now.
Last week one of my black liberal readers (Cobra), someone I hardly ever agree with, and vice versa, wrote the following in a comment thread:
As an African American liberal, I SUPPORT people like LaShawn Barber, even though we rarely agree, and here’s why. I know that LaShawn will call things as she sees it, based upon her strong principles, and she does occasionally rebuke Republicans and conservatives when she feels they’re out of line (albeit, not as frequently as I would like her to.) That’s more than I can say for the boiler-plate, peroxide blonde, aryan-cheerleader types that infest conservative radio and cable news lately.
In other words, if LaShawn turns on a right winger, you best believe her words will carry a lot more weight.
Let’s see how “heavy” these words are. I’m appalled by the blog swarm surrounding Sheehan. The left is using her plight to espouse more anti-Bush rhetoric, and the right is demonizing a woman grieving over the loss of her child. Her grief doesn’t excuse slander, if that’s case, but it does explain her ambivalence about her meeting with Bush and opposition to the war in Iraq.
Mostly all the top political bloggers on both sides of the aisle have blogged about Sheehan. Search Technorati to find out who and where. I make it my business NOT to tell bloggers how and what to blog, but I’m embarrassed by what I’ve been reading on the conservative side and the way bloggers have castigated Cindy Sheehan.
That’s my comment on the Sheehan “scandal.”
Update (10:45 a.m.): I know my position on this is unpopular with conservatives the same way my position was on Tom Tancredo (who, thankfully, refuses to apologize). I don’t march in lockstep behind anyone. For those who think I’m “excusing” Sheehan for whatever she’s done wrong, get your head out of the sand, put on your glasses, and read the post again. If she’s slandering people, her grief doesn’t excuse it, and I’m inclined to delete comments that claim I said otherwise.
The whole Sheehan controversy is overblown, even if leftists are using her to their advantage. The right wing uses people and circumstances the same way. If you don’t agree, fine. That’s the point of this post. I don’t agree with you, either.
By the way, I realize how popular this topic is, but you might be interested in today’s posts about Tamika Huston and JFK.
Update II (12:50 p.m.): This post generated over 100 comments in four hours. Thanks for your participation.
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