Drduge and Fox News both are running headlines that Cindy Sheehan is leaving has left Crawford, supposidly due to a heath issue (stroke) with her mother.

**UPDATE**

Something funny appears to be going on as Fox News has pulled their headline all together and I can’t find the story listed anywhere on the site now.

**UPDATE**

I’m blind, obviously. She’s outta there.

Well folks, I am disbanding the FOW blogroll. I will leave it active until the word gets out to the few members that there are, but I am removing it from the site.

Mostly because Michael Rogers has lost any shred of credibility he may have once had but also because I am really sick of looking at that mug on my blog every day. We should all still keep an eye out for more of Rogers’ antics, but the guy is nothing more than a caricature of the bitter old spiteful queen and any support he may have once garnered has likely run its course. Hell, Avarosis and the rest of that crowd don’t even want anything to do with him any more.

So says Ronald Griffin in his Opinion Journal op-ed today (h/t Gay Patriot).

I lost a son in Iraq and Cindy Sheehan does not speak for me.

I grieve with Mrs. Sheehan, for all too well I know the full measure of the agony she is forever going to endure. I honor her son for his service and sacrifice. However, I abhor all that she represents and those who would cast her as the symbol for parents of our fallen soldiers.

The fallen heroes, until now, have enjoyed virtually no individuality. They have been treated as a monolith, a mere number. Now Mrs. Sheehan, with adept public relations tactics, has succeeded in elevating herself above the rest of us. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida declared that Mrs. Sheehan is now the symbol for all parents who have lost children in Iraq. Sorry, senator. Not for me.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times portrays Mrs. Sheehan as a distraught mom standing heroically outside the guarded gates of the most powerful and inhumane man on earth, President Bush. Ms. Dowd is so moved by Mrs. Sheehan’s plight that she bestowed upon her and all grieving parents the title of “absolute moral authority.” That characterization epitomizes the arrogance and condescension of anyone who would presume to understand and speak for all of us. How can we all possess “absolute moral authority” when we hold so many different perspectives?

I don’t want that title. I haven’t earned that title.

Read Ronald Griffin’s entire op-ed.

Many of you may not have heard (mostly because it is somewhat local to the Bay Area - and likely because the MSM is going to ignore it until it is forced not to), Move America Forward has started the You Don’t Speak for Me, Cindy! bus tour.

Main caravan leaves from San Francisco, California on Monday, August 22nd. Other caravans will depart from around the country. If you want to be part of a caravan, email us with your name and location you will depart from and we will include in our caravan coverage so people in your area can depart with you.

Everyone arrives in Crawford, Texas for a giant “We Support Our Troops AND Their Mission” Rally on Saturday, August 27, 2005.

We need your support - either joining our caravan or meeting us for the giant rally on August 28th. If you cannot attend, please support the cost of this project with a financial contribution - contribute online here.

As Greg said as a response to a commentor yesterday:

Despite her horrific loss, when Ms. Sheehan decided to make a public spectacle of herself in Crawford, including publicly and repeatedly attaching herself to an activist political platform and granting interviews to the press, she knowingly and willingly forfeited her right to privacy.

So long as Ms. Sheehan decides to be a public activist, a public discussion on her actions – including motivations – is more than appropriate.

Everyone in this country sympathizes with a grieving mother who has lost her son. But that does not give anyone carte blanche to make themselves the center of a publicity stunt without opposing viewpoints and analysis being expressed.

Of course, the anti-war leftists would likely disagree, because you know, she’s a grieving mother with absolute moral authority. Well, a lot of other mothers and fathers are on their way to exercise their absolute moral authority. I wonder what Maureen Dowd will have to say about that?

Drudge is running this now:

Sheehan unleashed a foul-mouth tirade on April 27, 2005:

“They’re a bunch of fucking hypocrites! And we need to, we just need to rise up…” Sheehan said of the Bush administration.

“If George Bush believes his rhetoric and his bullshit, that this is a war for freedom and democracy, that he is spreading freedom and democracy, does he think every person he kills makes Iraq more free?”

“The whole world is damaged. Our humanity is damaged. If he thinks that it’s so important for Iraq to have a U.S.-imposed sense of freedom and democracy, then he needs to sign up his two little party-animal girls. They need to go to this war.”

Lest Don call Drudge a liar and me one for posting it, here is the transcript of that event.

I don’t think Drudge quoted the most telling part. Take a look at this little screed:

I take responsibility partly for my son’s death, too. I was raised in a country by a public school system that taught us that America was good, that America was just. America has been killing people, like my sister over here says, since we first stepped on this continent, we have been responsible for death and destruction. I passed on that bullshit to my son and my son enlisted. I’m going all over the country telling moms: “This country is not worth dying for. If we’re attacked, we would all go out. We’d all take whatever we had. I’d take my rolling pin and I’d beat the attackers over the head with it. But we were not attacked by Iraq. {applause} We might not even have been attacked by Osama bin Laden if {applause}. 9/11 was their Pearl Harbor to get their neo-con agenda through and, if I would have known that before my son was killed, I would have taken him to Canada. I would never have let him go and try and defend this morally repugnant system we have. The people are good, the system is morally repugnant. {applause} (emphasis mine)

Cindy Sheehan is an anti-war activist using her dead, heroic son as a prop in her own private little war and now she is being exposed for what she is. The woman is unhinged and I am becoming more convinced she was that way before her son was killed. The woman is completely nuts.

Big news on the Take Back the Memorial front. This could finally be the beginning of the end for the IFC.

Once again, people show just how stupid they can be. Disagree with Cindy Sheehan if you want, but don’t be a dumbass. Those crosses have the names of fallen soldiers on them and no matter who put them up or why, pulling a stunt like this is disgusting and stupid.

I am no shrink and this is just personal speculation on my part but think about this for a moment.

Cindy Sheehan, by her own admission, was anti-war when her Casey Sheehan joined the Army. He joined with the intention of going to Iraq. We (Greg and I) are wondering if maybe Cindy Sheehan isn’t pissed at George W. Bush so much as he is the convenient focus of her anger - at Casey, for joining the Army in the first place.

I don’t hear Cindy talking about all the things CASEY will miss out on, she is constantly focused on herself and what SHE is going through. It is not at all beyond the realm of reason, given her selfish behavior thus far, that Cindy Sheehan is mad as hell at her son ‘for doing this to her’.

It is also quite possible that Casey Sheehan may have joined the Army to get away from his mother.

Like I said, this is all just thinking outloud speculation, but it strikes me as more than plausible.

**UPDATE**

This from Drudge this moring:

“My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don’t owe you a penny…you give my son back and I’ll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we’ll put this war on trial.”

[...]

TIME mag reports in new editions on Monday: Sheehan gets support from her surviving son, Andy, in principle, but he recently sent her a long e-mail imploring her, “to come home because you need to support us at home.”

Cindy Sheehan is no longer a grieving mother - she is an anti-war protester that is pursuing her activism at the expense of her own grieving family.

Yeah, I am WAY out there when speculating that Casey Sheehan would have some choice words for his mother.

**UPDATE**

Michelle Malkin: “The wheels just came off the Cindy Sheehan bandwagon.”

Here’s why.

I have to say I agree. The left’s continuing attempts to paint the president as an unfeeling war monger simply don’t have legs - blatant lies and distortions usually fall apart when exposed to sunlight. Of course, if you are a Vampire, you are never blessed with sunlight of truth.

I also think we can expect to see more people like Linda Ryan, wife of Marine Cpl. Marc T. Ryan, of Gloucester City, who was killed in an explosion in Iraq in November, to begin speaking out:

“George Bush didn’t kill her son, it’s the evildoers who have no value of life who killed her son. Her son made a decision to join the Armed Forces and defend our country, knowing that, at any time, war could come about,” Ryan said.

Exactly. But that is the leftist way, isn’t it? Blame everyone except the guy that pulled the trigger - absolve everyone of personal responsibility because it is always someone else’s fault.

**UPDATE**

This about sums it up. The “peace” activists don’t give a crap about Cindy Sheehan or her son or the other 1,854 brave men and women that gave their lives for their country. This is all just another game to further their agenda and the dead are just their playing pieces.

Mohammed at Iraq The Model addresses a post to Cindy Sheehan:

Ma’am, we asked for your nation’s help and we asked you to stand with us in our war and your nation’s act was (and still is) an act of ultimate courage and unmatched sense of humanity.

Our request is justified, death was our daily bread and a million Iraqi mothers were expecting death to knock on their doors at any second to claim someone from their families.

Your face doesn’t look strange to me at all; I see it everyday on endless numbers of Iraqi women who were struck by losses like yours.

[...]

Your son sacrificed his life for a very noble cause…No, he sacrificed himself for the most precious value in this existence; that is freedom.

His blood didn’t go in vain; your son and our brethren are drawing a great example of selflessness.
God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil.
God bless the souls of Iraqis who suffered and died for the sake of freedom.
God bless all the freedom lovers on earth.

You want to know what your son died for, Cindy? Here is your answer. Read the whole thing.

Well, they are all coming out of the woodwork now. Haven’t these idiots learned anything from the last election?

I hope Cindy Sheehan brought lube to Crawford because every anti-war moonbat in this country looks to be jockeying for a chance to ride her ass.

Looks like the Sheehan side of Cindy Sheehan’s family is none too happy about Cindy’s “crusade.” They wrote a note to Melanie Morgan (local KSFO radio morning host here in the Bay Area) explaining their position and taking issue with Cindy:

Hello again Melanie,

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 – 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.

Casey Sheehan was an American patriot that voluntarily served his country. Not only did he serve in Iraq with honor, but he re-upped to serve again. His mother is all-to-willingly playing the role the leftists that hate this country have carved out for her and, in the process, she is dishonoring the great sacrifice her son made for his country and she is dishonoring his memory.

Shame on you, Cindy Sheehan. I imagine your son would be deeply disappointed in your selfishness and in you.