The Road to Prarie Chapel: littered with gold stars

It looks like Cindy Sheehan's gotten some company, with more on the way. The additional folks belong to Gold Star Families for Peace and, unlike those in the 101st flying keyboarders and their fans, these folks know the sacrifices made by military personnel serving in Iraq and their families first hand. Sixteen Democratic leaders have sent a letter to the President urging him to meet with Sheehan and reminding hopw bad it would look were she to be arrested while exercising her constitutional right to petition the government. In an interview with Raw Story, Sheehan addressed multiple issues including the accusation she originally praised Bush as being wonderful and supportive after their first meeting and then suddenly changed her story because she was now against the war [emphasis added]

Sheehan's crusade to get Bush to answer questions echoes the famous line from Vietnam, "How do you ask someone to be the last man to die for a mistake?" Her vigil caught new attention Monday when the conservative Drudge Report accused Sheehan of changing her story.

But as RAW STORY later found, the Gold Star Mother questioned the war even before she got face time with Bush last summer.

"We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled," Sheehan told a paper last June. "The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached."

After the meeting, she lauded Bush, saying, "I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."

Today, she says her comments came at a time when she was still in shock at her son’s death. Casey, a Humvee mechanic, was in Iraq just five days before he was killed last April.

Sheehan recalls her meeting with Bush as "surreal."

"He didn't act like he was somebody who was consoling a grieving family, he acted like we were at a tea party, and we left feeling a lot worse," she recalls.

"At the end of the interview [with Bush] I said, "Why were we invited? We didn't vote for you in 2000, we're not going to vote for you this year, and he said, "Mom, this is not about politics. So when he said that—maybe because I was in shock—I believed him."

It was during the Republican National Convention, she says, that her feelings surrounding the meeting soured.

"He said at the RNC that he meets with families, he feels their pain, it's really hard work because he watches the news reports on TV, it's really hard work being a commander chief... and when he used it at the RNC, he used it for political gain, and that's when I thought I can use it too."

According to Sheehan, National Security Advisor Steven Hadley and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin met with her last Saturday. She was struck by them claiming the President believes there are WMDs in Iraq.

"At one point they said that George believes there are weapons of mass destruction," she continues, "and they said something else to me, and I said, I may be a grieving mother but I'm not stupid. I don't believe you even believe what you’re saying."

Jesus, has the man told so many lies he actually believes them?

Tags: politics; Iraq War; Bush Administration; Foreign Policy; BBA; Downing Street Memorandum; Honor; conservatism; Rumsfeld; Cindy Sheehan

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