With all due respect to your family,

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.

If privacy for Ms. Sheehan and your family is what you seek, Ms. Sheehan herself is the one you should be asking to back off.

Greg

I sympathize with Cindy – I honestly do – but ask yourself this question. What would Casey say to her now? I also wonder where you gleen your insight from as you state you have not seen Patrick since you were children – did you know Casey Sheehan? Have you ever met Cindy Sheehan? That seems unlikely given your statement.

While you write a very compelling case for Cindy and her grief, it doesn’t change facts.

Casey volunteered for the Army. He re-enlisted to go to Iraq. He volunteered for the misson in which he lost his life. It is quite obvious, given these facts, that Casey Sheehan believed in what he was doing, even if his mother did not. Is Cindy simply allowed to disregard that to pursue the public spectacle she has become? How does it serve Casey’s memory? I believe, as do a growing number of other people, that what she is doing is dishonoring the memory of her son, plain and simple. I also personally believe she is hurting this country with her anti-war rhetoric – just how much destruction is a grieving mother allowed to level while she works out her grief on the public stage?

Enough is enough. If you and the rest of your family care about Cindy, you will go down to Crawford and bring her home to take care of the rest of her family. Haven’t they suffered enough too?

I respect your opinion, but I do not agree with it and I have no intention of not speaking out on this subject – unlike Maureen Dowd, I do not believe Cindy Sheehan has unrestricted moral authority – especially since I believe her son would be very upset by what she is doing.

My brother was killed at the age of 23 and my daughter-in-law died suddenly at 33. Both of these deaths devastated our family. It took a decade for the pain to become bearable.

Casey Sheehan’s family is trying to deal with the worst imaginable loss. Each one has to deal with it in there own way. Cindy has decided to make it public. I can only hope that she is not being manipulated by any activist groups, that she is striking out in anger and truly believes in what she is doing.

Many people have stated how her perception of the meeting with the President has changed dramatically over the course of a year. I do not find that unusual at all.

Being removed from the situation and having the opportunity to re-evaluate it, commonly allows a person to see things that were not evident at the actual meeting. When you are in pain you want to believe in the sincerity and compassion that people show you. Sometimes, when removed from the situation subleties of a person demeanor become more apparent. Things that you barely noticed are evaluated and new opinions can form based on this new evaluation. This happens in everyday life, so why should it be unusual for someone who’s whole being is consumed by grief?

I am joining this discussion to ask you to back off. None of you (nor myself) understand what the Sheehan family is going through. Anger is part of the recovery process in dealing with devastating pain. There is no avoiding it and each person will deal with it in their own way.

Many of you have said Cindy Sheehan is selfish, that she only talks about what she has lost. What you don’t realize is what she lost is all there is. Casey is in her heart and yes, she is probably angry at him as well as the President. Casey not being here is what takes up most of her energy.

With time she will get past the anger, but that will not necessarily change her perception of the President.

We should be looking at Cindy with compassion and sorrow for her loss. Public sorrow (for some people) is an open invitation to cruelty and should be not tolerated. We should be showing compassion for a familys loss, practicing patience and understanding as they go through the stages of recovery.

Please keep your speculations and cruelty to yourself. You don’t have to agree with her, expressing your disagreement with compassion can be more effective and maybe she will be able to respond and answer some of your questions. Or not.

Jacine

It must feel good to know more about Casey Sheehan, what he wanted and how he felt, than his own mother. After all, she only gave birth to him and raised him—obviously, y’all know him far better than that!

Well…either you can infallibly communicate with the dead, or you’re full of shit. I wonder which one it could be?