Talking with Cindy

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all" Cindy Sheehan

This morning she woke up in the tent at 3 am -- thunder. lightening, rain--she went back into Crawford and she has a small fever and a sore throat.

If she see Bush, she will ask what the noble cause was that took Casey's life? Does he enocurage his daughters to enlist?

He has no idea what the mission is--they are building bases the size of Sacramaneto CA

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all" Cindy Sheehan

This morning she woke up in the tent at 3 am -- thunder. lightening, rain--she went back into Crawford and she has a small fever and a sore throat.

If she see Bush, she will ask what the noble cause was that took Casey's life? Does he enocurage his daughters to enlist?

He has no idea what the mission is--they are building bases the size of Sacramento CA

The media is not reporting this...Four networks asked to interview--two cancelled and two did not show.

Posted by Karen at August 10, 2005 02:17 PM

YAH Karen!!! Tell her we're here for her!!!

(Notice that Karen, who is also on vacation -- and one that's not 5 weeks long -- can find time to talk to Cindy.)

Ann Wright is the Camp Casey Concierge. The Secret Service tried to intimidate them at first. Someone just told her there is not much they can do if she simply sits down and does not move.

She has decided not to appear on the O'Reilly Factor--she will not dignify his show--it is an obscenity to the truth and humanity.

meetwithcindy.org

OK, call over--

Let's go blog at Cindy's site for a while, OK?

And anyone in Texas--can you get to Crawford? Cindy needs more support...

Well, I can't go on over there--on dialup and the traffic must be high!

But PLEASE support her efforts--there ar emany suggestions at afterdowningstreet.org as well. And I am sure the other blogs have links as well.

She needs support--write to the White House--contact Members of Congress--send donations so the contingent there can grow--and tell your local media to cover this!

Karen,

Way to go! I am so glad you were able to speak with Cindy.

Pooling resources is a very good idea. There is strength in unity.

It is very easy to financially contribute to the effort. Crawford Peace House has a PayPal account.

Contact information for calling and emailing your Congressman

How to reach your Congressman in
Washington, D.C.

The toll free phone number for the U.S. Capitol switchboard is is:

1-800-361-5222. When you call the number, follow the prompts.

When asked for your 5 letter zip code, enter the number 90001. You will be connected to the main capitol switchboard. Just ask for the congressman
or the senator you wish to speak to.

If you enter your home zip code, you will be connected directly to your Congressman or Senator.

You can also call your senators for free, courtesy of this toll-free number set up by the tobacco industry. Just dial 1-800-343-3222, punch in any valid zip code, and you will be connected to your senator; call twice to reach both.

Online Directory for the 109th Congress

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

"Contacting the Congress" is a very up-to-date database of congressional contact information for the 109th Congress. As of February 28, 2005 there are 505 email addresses (of which 436 are Web-based email homepages), and 537 WWW homepages known for the 540 members of the 109th Congress. More traditional ground mail addresses are available for all Congressmembers.

Ed Schultz is reporting that a radio station in Crawford is organizing an anti-Cindy Sheehan protest in Crawford on Saturday. I think I heard this right - a caller said that Ft. Hood will be sending some people there too. Will report more if/when I hear/find it.

Here's the transcript of the phone call with Cindy Sheehan that Karen was on...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4305926

Thanks everyone here--it all helps!

Now let's make those calls!

Co-founder of Code Pink Diane Wilson On Hunger Strike To Support Cindy Sheehan's Efforts

Diane Wilson: an interivew by Gayle Brandeis

Diane Wilson, commercial fisherwoman, environmentalist, and co-founder of CODEPINK: Women For Peace, launched a hunger strike August 7, 2005 to support Cindy Sheehan's roadside vigil at President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch (or, as she likes to call it, "White House West.") Sheehan has said she won't leave the fire ant infested, 100 degree temperature site until Bush speaks to her about why her son was killed in Iraq. Members of CODEPINK are launching vigilant fasts around the world to express their solidarity.

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=454

Found this on DailyKos about the Anti-Sheehan rally.

Cindy Needs Your Help; ClearChannel Stations to Host Anti-Sheehan BBQ

The Anti-Sheehan BBQ will be in the lot NEXT TO THE Crawford Bank, free burgers, soft drinks ("Coca Cola"), and everything Saturday at noon. They are inviting soldiers from the Fort Hood area to come down and say that they would be ashamed of their mother if she did what Mrs. Sheehan is doing. Protest to KLFX! Their number is 1-254-699-5000, and YES, I'm keeping that number here. It's also publicly accessible here ==> http://www.ontheradio.net/radiostations/klfxfm.aspx .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/8/10/104739/859

Cindy
and much of America wants to know "why"?
What is this "noble cause" that we are spending precious lives and tons of treasure on?
To force regime change in Iraq? (done)
To then enable US to build huge permanent bases in Iraq? (underway)
To then use those bases to force regime change in IraN? (next)

There are not enough boots on the ground to occupy IraQ, much less IraN...
so who needs boots on the ground, when we have nuk-cu-lar weapons, with neocons wanting to push buttons to then control the oil rich MiddleEast?
Will Cheney go nuclear on Iran...
... if he thinks he could "contain" the nuclear damage to the MiddleEast? The neocons have proven the "ends justify the means" in their exploits. Who's going to stop Cheney? Congress?? the generals??? anybody????

Remember right after the election when Sy Hersch and Scott Ritter predicted the US would be invading /bombing IraN by June '05....ok, so Sy was a couple of months off. (who could predict Cheney would lose a few months getting his guy Bolton into place?)
From quagmire in IraQ to nuking IraN.
The following article by Michael Schwartz covers this about as thoroughly as any I've seen.
If you're interested, please take time to read it:

The Ironies of Conquest
The Bush Administration's Iranian Nightmare

by Michael Schwartz
Published on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 by TomDispatch.com

In 1998, neo-conservative theorist Robert Kagan enunciated what would become a foundational belief of Bush Administration policy. He asserted that "a successful intervention in Iraq would revolutionize the strategic situation in the Middle East, in ways both tangible and intangible, and all to the benefit of American interests."

Now, over two years after Baghdad fell and the American occupation of Iraq began, Kagan's prediction appears to have been fulfilled -- in reverse. The chief beneficiary of the occupation and the chaos it produced has not been the Bush administration, but Iran, the most populous and powerful member of the "Axis of Evil," and the chief American competitor for dominance in the oil-rich region. As diplomatic historian Gabriel Kolko commented: "By destroying a united Iraq under [Saddam] Hussein…the U.S. removed the main barrier to Iran's eventual triumph."

excerpt~
Recently, former CIA official Philip Giraldi asserted in the American Conservative magazine that, as of late summer 2005, the Pentagon, "under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office," was "drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan mandates a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons…. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States." The breadth and depth of the assault, according to Giraldi's Air Force sources, would be quite striking: "Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option." Since many targets are in populated areas, the havoc and destruction following such an attack would, in all likelihood, be unrivaled by anything since Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After escaping the Cold War specter of nuclear holocaust, it seems unimaginable that the world would be forced to endure the horror of nuclear war in a regional dispute. However, the record of Bush administration belligerence makes it difficult to imagine America's top leadership giving up the ambition of toppling the Islamic regime in Iran. And yet, given that the conquest of Iraq led the administration unexpectedly down strange Iranian paths, who knows where future Washington plans and dreams are likely to lead -- perhaps to destruction, certainly to bitter ironies of every sort.

continue~
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0810-20.htm

Posted by: madame defarge at August 10, 2005 03:52 PM

Ft. Hoodlums complete with Purple Band-Aids

Keep Up The Uniting, King George

I made my calls to my Senators and Congressman.
Rep. Pomeroy's secretary was very nice, and asked me if I had any comments to add to my message about the war in Iraq. She thanked me warmly at the end of the call.

I could not use the toll free numbers in my above post, so I apologize to anyone who is trying to use them. I went into the Online Directory of Congress for the 109th Congress at:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

They have all the home office numbers of Congress listed (Congress is in recess) and along side the telephone numbers are their email addresses. It's very easy to use, just click on your state.

Mods - if you can erase those first two phone numbers on my above post it might be a good thing.
I could not get through on either of them.

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at August 10, 2005 04:26 PM

I had CNN on for a bit today to see if I could catch anything on about Cindy in Crawford.

Absolutely nothing.

What I did hear, however, was the same sickening talk about Iran and how President Bush is "suspicious" of their intentions.

Also across the screen there were words scrolling across about Iran developing the capabilities to make nuclear weapons "some day", and how Iran says they are interested in nuclear power, not nuclear weapons.

They have had program after program on for three days now about the situation with Iran.

I had to pinch myself (really really hard) to make sure I wasn't stuck in a time warp and this isn't still late 2002. The wording isn't even original.

Deja freakin' Vu.

From MoveOn.Org:

We're taking out an ad in President Bush's local newspaper in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. Cindy is camped outside Bush's ranch in Texas, asking for a meeting with the president. We'll publish the number of signers and the best comments in a full two-page spread in the Sunday newspaper nearest to Crawford. Can you sign and spread the word before the 3:00 PM Friday print deadline?

Tune into Air America's Morning Sedition for Cindy Sheehan updates every morning at 8:10 AM Eastern. Visit AirAmericaRadio.com to listen live or check for a local station.

Dear MoveOn member,
On April 4th last year, 24-year-old Army Specialist Casey Sheehan died in Iraq. This week, while President Bush vacations in Texas, Casey's mother, Cindy Sheehan, sits vigil outside the president's ranch. Cindy says that she won't leave until President Bush meets with her to discuss the war—even if it means spending all of August there.

Cindy Sheehan was not an anti-war activist, but the loss of her son and the mounting evidence of deception by the Bush administration pushed her to speak out. While Cindy camps roadside in Texas, dozens of other military moms are flying to Texas to join her. Her story is starting to grab national attention, but Cindy needs our support. We're asking moms (and dads, siblings, spouses and kids) from all across America to help send a message by signing our letter of support to Cindy. Will you sign?

http://political.moveon.org/meetwithcindy/?id=5886-5633489-2pKuhba3HdJ8P1Ky6QYC8w&t=3

To add to the pressure on President Bush, we'll publish the number of signers and the best comments in a full two-page spread in the newspaper nearest to Crawford. We want to be able to print that at least 200,000 people signed the letter to Cindy before the Friday print deadline.

Cindy simply wants to meet with the president to ask him to tell the truth about why her son died—and to stop using Casey's and other soldiers' deaths to justify continuing the war. But Cindy's reflections on the war are also a reminder to all of us about the importance of getting involved:

I shamefully and regretfully admit that before Casey was killed in Iraq I didn't publicly speak out against the war. I didn't shout out and say, "Stop. Stop this insane rush to an invasion that has no basis in reality. Don't invade a country based on cherry-picked intelligence and despicable scare tactics. You don't use our country's precious lifeblood unless its absolutely necessary to defend America." If I had broken the bonds of my slavery to silence sooner, would Casey still be alive? I don't know.

Cindy's story is starting to grab national and international attention, creating a public relations problem for the White House. If we can help Cindy capture the focus of the country for even a couple of days we will sear into the memory of the public the image of the grieving mother—a morally pure reminder of the ultimate reason to end the war: the lost sons and daughters of moms everywhere.

Cindy has appeared on ABC, CNN, and FOX, and yesterday the lead editorial in The New York Times entitled "One Mother in Crawford" noted that "many Americans are with her, at least figuratively, at that dusty roadside in Crawford, expecting better answers." With the White House press corps camped just a short distance away at Bush's ranch, our newspaper ad will help prod them to pay attention to her.

The more of us who sign on, the more impact we'll have. Please sign on now at:

http://political.moveon.org/meetwithcindy/?id=5886-5633489-2pKuhba3HdJ8P1Ky6QYC8w&t=4

In her grief and bravery, Cindy has become a symbol for millions of Americans who demand better answers about the Iraq war. Though right-wing pundits have attacked her personally, her honesty is unimpeachable. Now more and more mothers (and fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons and daughters) are standing up with Cindy. Please join us, and together, we'll make sure that President Bush can't escape the reality of this war—even in Crawford, Texas.

Thanks for all you do.

–Tom, MoveOn moms Carrie, Marika, and Joan, and the entire MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, August 10th, 2005

P.S. Help defray the cost of the print ads in Waco by making a contribution.
https://political.moveon.org/donate/meetwithcindy.html?id=5886-5633489-2pKuhba3HdJ8P1Ky6QYC8w&t=5

"One Mother in Crawford" Editorial, The New York Times, August 9, 2005.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/opinion/09tue1.html

Video Testimonial by Cindy Sheehan from our friends at TrueMajority.
http://www.truemajority.org/GoldStar_web.mov

P.P.S. After you add your name to the letter to Cindy the next most important thing you can do is to tell Cindy's story to other people. Please let your friends, family and colleagues know about one mother's brave stand in Texas by forwarding this e-mail.

I had CNN on for a bit today to see if I could catch anything on about Cindy in Crawford.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at August 10, 2005 04:52 PM

Reason why CNN won't say much/anything about Cindy Sheehan: she's not a runaway bride.

I wonder if CNN will cover the anti-Cindy rally...that would be so like them.

CNN is why I don't watch tv anymore.

We need to do what we can to help Cindy, and especially so on Saturday. Anyone in/near Texas that can get down there to support her in person?

I had to pinch myself (really really hard) to make sure I wasn't stuck in a time warp and this isn't still late 2002. The wording isn't even original.

Deja freakin' Vu.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at August 10, 2005 04:52 PM

If "the plan" was to use Iraq as a stepping stone to get to IraN....most Americans are not paying attention, because they're thinking, well, look how Iraq turned out, surely the Cheney administration won't go after Iran now that we're bogged down in Iraq...
but what if the crazies at the control switch of our nation think they don't need "troops", all they need are a few bombs, strategically placed, over Iran...
What if the 5 weeks at Prairie Chapel are cover for final strategic planning for what's coming in Sept / Oct to Iran? Rumsfeld & Rice, coming to the ranch tomorrow? Who's paying attention? The media & Congress are on vacation...I hope I'm wrong. But my ears too have been hearing an awful lot of war-talk, same phrases as in the run up to the war to invade Iraq...

Madame,

You would not be a happy camper to watch CNN today.

I hope they enjoy their paychecks and all of everything that money will buy. They will need it to fill the dark empty spot that was once their souls.

new thread--and I love it!!!!!

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at August 10, 2005 05:08 PM

I don't remember right now where I read it, but there was some mention that an air strike might possibly be being considered.

Look at the bright side. I have been telling my fundamentalist relatives for a year to be watching this possibility. Now I have just been telling them that the "end" might be closer than they think, because if the U.S. does attack Iran, we could very well get our butts kicked by a few countries in return.

Back to work.