I was on a conference call with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of Casey Sheehan KIA 4.4.04, about an hour ago. She's been camping out in front of W's vacation home [it's not a ranch, there no livestock is there last I heard, just a ton of brush he constantly has to buzz down in plaid shirts and jeans] trying to get a follow up meeting. She initially met with him, but it seems as W was his normal jovial, oblivious self calling her "Mom" and not knowing who Casey was.
The call was organized by Joe Trippi, Bob Fertik and Jodie Evans. Also on the call were tons of bloggers, journalists and even a member of Congress. As far as question askers went, I caught: Deb from Heart, Soul & Humor, Greg from American Free Press, Mike from Crooks and Liars, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Liza from Culture Kitchen, Dave Johnson from Seeing the Forest, Peter Daou from The Daou Report and even a caller from London.
Cindy's been sick lately and the nearly three inches of Texas rain she and the rest of the brave souls down in Crawford got last night didn't help. She cancelled her interviews this morning to rest up her ailing voice she told us. But her strength is coming back to her now which is good to hear. W's got another four weeks of vacation down there so she's got a long road ahead of her. She's been threatened by the Secret Service. They told her and others there that they should not be camping out there because they could get hit by a truck in the middle of the night. When the Secret Service officer was asked if that was a direct threat, s/he said that wasn't how s/he meant it, but I'm sure s/he wasn't just looking out for Cindy and Co. Cindy said that they were offered a large parking lot and the use of a local [high school?] stadium to hold large protests/gatherings that are not suitable for a ditch in the side of the road.
She mentioned that she was not getting any medical attention out there in the rain, it wouldn't be the best press for the administration if she caught pneumonia outside W's ranch and ended up in a hospital bed. I wonder if W would come visit her in a hospital.
In response to a question from Crooks and Liars, on a potential apperance on The O'Reilly Factor, she said that she's been contacted numerous times in the past few days. Initially, she said that she'd come on the show if O'Reilly apologized to her on air after all this horrible smearing, but she thought it over and said that she wouldn't dignify his show by appearing on it. She then said
His show is an obscenityRight on Cindy. Why even give him the chance to deride her.
Mike from Atlanta [didn't catch his publication/affiliation] asked her what she predicted would happen down the road. Cindy responded that she wouldn't stop until she got another meeting with W or she got arrested.
Cindy told us that she's been keeping a dairy on dKos which she's trying to keep up to date daily. Today's entry.
Dave from Seeing the Forest asked Cindy what she would ask W in a follow up meeting. Cindy said that she'd ask W exactly what was the noble cause her son Casey died for. If he had asked his daughters [both of whom are of age and unemployed] to enlist to give the boys and girls overseas a break to be able to come home and see their family after repeated extended tours. She'd also ask him to stop saying we should all honor our childrens' sacrifices — W knows little to nothing about sacrifice.
Peter Daou asked Cindy about the media coverage she's been recieving and how the Natalie Hollaway story is still, for the most part, #1 across the board. Cindy noted how four NBC/MSNBC interiews scheduled for yesterday all fell through, two cancelled and two just plain didn't show up. NBC is owned by General Electric, as in the Army. She said that the MSM doesn't really want her story to be the main story, but did point out that the war, in general, has slowly been creeping back to the forefront. One caller mentioned how Cindy's story was the lead editorial in yesterday's NY Times. Maureen Dowd also wrote about her today.
It was a pleasure being on the call and I urge anyone who ended up here to sign the petition and to keep this in the news. The audio of the call will be available on JoeTrippi.com around 4p EST.
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