There is no doubt that Cindy Sheehan has become the latest hero to the anti-Bush, left lib mainstream media. Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed while serving in Iraq last year has been camped outside of Bush’s ranch in Crawford Texas and is vowing to stay there (or follow him to Washington) until he meets with her again. Sheehan wants to ask Bush what noble cause her son died for.
Sheehan is not without her supporters. The media usually describe these supporters as either "anti-war activists" or simply "activists". They want the public to believe that all these people are just ordinary folks who just happen to disagree with the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. While no doubt many of these people are the typical people next door, some of them are hardcore america-haters and Israel-bashers but their names are hardly ever mentioned in the mainstream media along with the grieving mother. Here is a short sampling.
Michael Moore — The poster boy for why the United States should never declare war on obesity let alone terrorists, Moore, because he is so prominent, is mentioned on occasion. He has allowed Cindy Sheehan to blog on his website and like some other people that surround her, Sheehan has begun to mimic Moore. Taking a line from Michael Moore, Sheehan has asked that if the war is so noble, why hasn’t Bush persuaded his daughters to enlist. They probably don’t want to join the military is probably the answer. The mainstream media likes to downplay this fact but Casey Sheehan not only voluntarily enlisted in the armed Forces, he re-enlisted knowing that he would be going to Iraq.
Medea Benjamin — Benjamin, who is with Global Exchange, a group that she founded in 1988 is another of Sheehan’s supporters. according to FrontPage Magazine, after September 11, 2001, Benjamin took some people who had lost family members in the 9/11 attacks to afghanistan to meet with relatives of those who had been killed in the american invasion of that country, taking the concept of moral equivalence to new levels. Upon her return, Benjamin lobbied for reparations to be paid to these afghanis. The thought that the remnants of the Taliban or Saudi arabia, where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from, should pay reparations to the families of americans who were killed on September 11 apparently never crossed her mind.
Eugene Bird — Until very recently, Bird displayed a prominent place on the website of the Crawford Peace House located in Crawford Texas. Bird was pictured speaking out against Israel on the website that also displayed a map of Israel, coloured green and labelled "Palestine".
Bird, who is described as a former U.S. diplomat, became known to Canadians after being interviewed by the CBC’s Israel-hater, Neil Macdonald. During the interview, Bird strongly implied that the "torture" that took place in Iraq’s abu Ghraib prison was masterminded by Israel’s Mossad. Lately, Sheehan has come out with a strong anti-Israel stance. Sheehan blames Israel and the american neo cons (read, Jews) for the war in Iraq and wants Israel out of "Palestine".
although the mainstream media wants to portray Cindy Sheehan as simply a poor distraught mother whose son died because "Bush lied", she is going further and further away from this message and expressing her true hatred of the United States and Israel.
Her most poignant statement came when she was interviewed by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. Sheehan agreed with Olbermann that it would be bad if George Bush did come out to meet her because it would "diffuse the momentum".
There is much more to Cindy Sheehan; how and what she thinks, than simply being a mother who is grieving for her dead son. But don’t expect the mainstream media to deviate from the image that they have created of her. It serves their purposes.