Cindy Sheehan

New York Sun editorialized Cindy Sheehan's Crowd

t's easy to see why Cindy Sheehan

Who is whinning that Bush won't take an hour out of his facation to meet with her, when he did meet with her in June, and when she had a very different attitude since the Left Wing anti-war groups had not gotten ahold of her then

, the 48-year-old mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, has become the new face of the anti-war movement, featured in a New York Times editorial on Tuesday and a Maureen Dowd column yesterday morning. Camped out in Crawford, Texas, near President Bush's ranch, she's a more sympathetic face than a lot of the alternatives. But as sad as Ms. Sheehan's loss is - and we don't belittle it - she has put herself in league with some extreme groups and individuals.

For starters, Ms. Sheehan has been posting on Michael Moore's Web site, writing, "We have such a strong coalition of groups. GSFP, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and the Crawford Peace House. I talked with John Conyers today and he wrote a letter to George signed by about 18 other Congress members to request that he meet with me. I also talked to Maxine Waters tonight and she is probably going to be here tomorrow."

It turns out that the Crawford Peace House Web site includes a photo depicting the entire state of Israel as "Palestine," and it carries a link to a report that when Prime Minister Sharon visited Crawford, the "peace house" greeted him with an "800-foot-long banner containing all of the United Nations resolutions that Israel is in violation of." The Crawford Peace House site also features a photo of Eugene Bird, who has suggested that Israeli intelligence was responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out all have representatives on the steering committee of United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war umbrella group. They share that distinction with the Communist Party USA. UPJ organized the march during the 2004 Republican Convention in New York, at which a New York Sun poll of 253 of the protesters found that fully 67% of those surveyed said they agreed with the statement "Iraqi attacks on American troops occupying Iraq are legitimate resistance." In other words, Ms. Sheehan's "coalition" includes a lot of people who think the persons who killed her son were justified.

Does she know that, and would she care if she did know it.

United for Peace is nonetheless flogging Ms. Sheehan's story in the run-up to its big weekend of "civil disobedience" and "direct action" next month in Washington. That protest is timed to coincide with the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, so that the people who were throwing rocks at Starbucks in Seattle to protest free trade back during the Clinton administration can now make common cause with the anti-war movement.

This story, among others, is being followed on the new blog of The New York Sun, Itshinesforall.com, where our Ira Stoll noted that news of Mr. Conyers and Ms. Waters's involvement with Ms. Sheehan fits with the rest of the picture. Mr. Conyers was the host of a Democratic "hearing" in June on the Iraq war that his fellow Democrat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, protested was a forum for "people motivated by anti-Semitic or anti-Israel animus." Ms. Waters is still best known for having endorsed the conspiracy theory that the CIA caused the crack epidemic in American cities. The whole crowd gains more from its association with Ms. Sheehan than she gains from her association with it.

TheAnchoress blogged My son Buster says he does not understand my concerns for Mrs. Sheehan, that she is being used and exploited. “Mom, she likes it,” he said last night. “When she met with the president the first time, she got into the papers with it - how many people meet him and parlay it into a news story? Now she’s in the papers again, people are paying attention to her, she has people petting her and telling her she is a hero. She loves this. She loves it more than she loves her husband, who separated from her because of what she is doing. She might be grieving, as you say, but she’s exploiting her own grief and allowing others to exploit her, too.

Drudge Report said The family of American soldier Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004, has broken its silence and spoken out against his mother Cindy Sheehan's anti-war vigil against George Bush held outside the president's Crawford, Texas ranch.

The following email was received by the DRUDGE REPORT from Casey's aunt and godmother:

Our family has been so distressed by the recent activities of Cindy we are breaking our silence and we have collectively written a statement for release. Feel free to distribute it as you wish. Thanks Ð Cherie

In response to questions regarding the Cindy Sheehan/Crawford Texas issue: Sheehan Family Statement:

The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.

Sincerely,
Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins.

Angry in T.O. blogged Directly from Casey Sheehan's aunt and godmother, Cherie Quartarolo.

I felt uncomfortable doing this, but I got in touch with Cherie Quartarolo with regards to her family's statement criticizing Cindy Sheehan, using the email address from the original Melanie Morgan email trail that Ms. Morgan was kind enough to send me. The questions being raised about the legitimacy of the email is valid, I suppose, if a bit paranoid.

First, Ms. Morgan, a legitimate journalist, is vouching for the legitimacy of the email from Cherie Quartarolo.

Second, Cherie Quartarolo responded from the email indicated.

Third, she has provided some additional detail, but would prefer to protect the privacy of her family:

I can verify that Casey's family listed below have contributed to and approved the Sheehan Family Statement:
Paternal Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins
This will be our only statement, Thank you for respecting our privacy.
Cherie Quartarolo, Casey's aunt and godmother

I don't expect we'll be seeing any more on this, one way or the other, unless I receive permission to print the email trail (for what it's worth, it adds little to the debate). The family has spoken.

Ken Summers has a confirmation on the above email from Cherie Quartarolo.