I May Have Been Wrong About Cindy Sheehan

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpha, Mea Maxima Culpa

Published on August 22, 2005 By kingbee In Politics

NOTICE: i realize myrrander staked out a position on sheehan's protest and then did a near 180° reversal; now i'm finding myself in the same position. i'm sure some of yall are gonna see this as flip-flopping but...hey i gotta be true to myself and while i can't speak for him, i'm sure myrrander does too.

on at least 2 (perhaps more) threads discussing the cindy sheehan protest outside the president's prarie chapel ranch in crawford, texas, i did my best to repudiate claims that ms sheehan was, at best, a blatant publcity seeker who was using her son's death as an excuse to embarrass her president.

at the time i was convinced i correctly perceived her actions as those of someone who was doing all she could to help the president see the errors of his policies.

while working on my next-to-newest article about the stones' concert Link , in which i expressed my surprise about california governor schwarzenegger's willingness to share his vip booth with anyone who tossed $100k into his campaign chest, i suddenly realized ms sheehan could have easily approached her mission in a much more effective manner without any of the drama or antagonism.

i'd totally forgotten the bush pioneers (those who collect $100k for bush-related campaigns) and, especially, the rangers ($200,000). all rangers get invites to the ranch as a reward for their efforts. in fact, a number of them have visited the ranch while cindy was standing out in the sun making a fool of herself.

if she REALLY wanted to talk to the president--and this wasn't just some big hollywood production directed by soros or warren beatty--she could very easily have become a ranger and been driven in a huge air-conditioned suv right in thru the front gate.

for those of you who are bout to start flaming me about how she's just an ordinary soon-to-be-ex-wife who is highly unlikely to have a lotta money lying around (since she don't own any oil extraction equipment nor is she a government contractor or anything like that) please hold your mouse long enuff to face reality.

she has-or soon will have--collected a fairly large sum of money from the government which, i believe, owes her a death benefit as a result of her son being killed in iraq. while i'm not sure exactly of the amount, it will surely be more than sufficient to pay for her ranger badge.

there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. sadly, cindy chose the latter.

Comments (Page 2)

Ionolast

on Aug 22, 2005

the circus is in town

Who's the ringmaster, Bush or Sheehan?

Moderateman

on Aug 22, 2005

wow kingbee.. that's all.

Lee1776

on Aug 22, 2005

I think that Cindy could easily have raised the money, if she would have put her efforts into grass roots money rising. She could have managed to bring her problems out to the public and given the President a little black eye.

Someone is funding her stay in Texas; let’s get them to pony up. The Circus (and rented circus tent that is her headquarts) down there is not free. She has no job, which has been reported of. Her family and husband have left her, because of her antics.

As for the military "Survivors benefits"; she would receive the recently increased $100,000 death gratuity and $400,000 SGLI insurance. That would be a total of $500,000 or one half million dollars of tax free payments. In June of this year both the death gratuity and SGLI was increase retro actively for all combat continuing operations. But the SGLI is contingent on two things.

One: If her son had not requested to lower his SGLI payment below the normal level. Most likely he did not since all SGLI fees are waved in a combat zone. But it is not unheard of. I normally did not request over $50,000 when I was single, because I really did not think my mom would do anything other then gamble or drink it away. But now that I'm married, I max it out.

Two: Is she the beneficiary of the SGLI? Maybe his grandmother or other family member was named. It is also common for fiancées, girlfriends, illegitimate children or even complete strangers to be named by the soldier members.

But I would suspect that she would be the beneficiary though. If she was not, now that would a story in itself.

ParaTed2k

on Aug 22, 2005

Lee, Good points. Also, with all survivor's benefits being specifically listed on the divorce documentation, she wouldn't have access to any of it until the divorce is final. So, there is no money of her own to be finaning the circus.... and that also being true, she wouldn't have that money to join the Rangers yet either.

Code Pink must be doing something with their money other than donating it to the insurgents who they have stated they owe their allegiences to.

Lee1776

on Aug 22, 2005

Also, with all survivor's benefits being specifically listed on the divorce documentation

Not really, Ted. Remember (if I remember right you are prior service) only the Death gratuity is next of kin and would be tried up in a divorce. But the SGLI is broken down by name, so the check goes to the individuals and not the couple. My guess is that he would have placed her name only. I have had the unfortunate opportunity to spend time looking through my units SGLI forms. I had noticed that the majority of the single personnel just placed the mother, with both parents following at around 15% and fathers alone at around 10%. Must be a motherly thing, ya know. But I also had one year of my own SGLI, going to a niece that was preparing for Collage.

Daiwa

on Aug 22, 2005

Frankly, I do not take their decisions on faith alone, like some do.

You need to understand and accept that some people disagree with you on the basis of their independent judgment & arrive at positions based on something other than blind "faith", dabe. I can't take your arguments seriously or consider any substantive exchange with you on a topic until you acknowledge that someone could agree with President Bush about something without being a "sheeple" or a "Bushie". 'Course, I understand you may not give a rip, but just the same.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Moderateman

on Aug 22, 2005

YEH!!!

Myrrander

on Aug 22, 2005

I seem to remember Clinton

i don't care for billy much more than george (clinton, at least, isn't responsible for thousands of americans), but I've always found this argument "Clinton did it TOOOOOO" to be one of the stupidest, most idiotic and annoying in existance. I hear this one from school children a lot -- "so and so did it too, so that makes my doing it OK."

As for Sheehan, I can imgaine the Bushies sitting around saying "Now, how can we treat this bitch the same way with did John McCain in 2000 and Joe Wilson in 2003? Can we find her Willie Horton?" And when the rightie attack dogs swoop down on a parent of a dead soldier...well, that reverses my course pretty quick. I'd rather have a razor blade enema than go along with the likes of Bill O'Falafel and the rest of the party of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff.

dabe

on Aug 22, 2005

dabe. I can't take your arguments seriously or consider any substantive exchange with you on a topic until you acknowledge that someone could agree with President Bush about something without being a "sheeple" or a "Bushie".

No can do. I believe what I believe and I believe that bush is disgusting and I cannot understand why anyone backs this crook and his associates. If you cannot take my arguments seriously, then go do your own research instead of disagreeing with me on blind principle. But, I guess that's what blind patriotism is all about.

dabe

on Aug 22, 2005

That dog dont hunt, and it dont cut both ways.

I beg to differ.

bakerstreet

on Aug 22, 2005

" ...but I've always found this argument "Clinton did it TOOOOOO" to be one of the stupidest, most idiotic and annoying in existance. I hear this one from school children a lot -- "so and so did it too, so that makes my doing it OK.""

Children tend not to listen, too. Did I say it was okay?

"Anyhoo, they all do it. I despise it, I hate it when Bush does it, but it is reality."

I said I didn't like it, and that it wasn't right, but it is reality. Maybe with some medication you could stretch that attention span past the first sentence. Maybe someday they'll see the folly of allowing you near those school children, being permanently stuck in that faux-brooding, teen-angst mode yourself.

P.S. for someone who claims to be a nihilist, you have a shitload of moral values. Where do they come from, I wonder?

kingbee

on Aug 23, 2005

As for the military "Survivors benefits"; she would receive the recently increased $100,000 death gratuity and $400,000 SGLI insurance. That would be a total of $500,000 or one half million dollars of tax free payments. In June of this year both the death gratuity and SGLI was increase retro actively for all combat continuing operations.

i wasn't certain whether those increases had gone into effect yet but that's much closer to what i figured was gonna be paid out. to whom it'll be paid--and when--may never be revealed.

thanks for providing the info.

kingbee

on Aug 23, 2005

I have had the unfortunate opportunity to spend time looking through my units SGLI forms. I had noticed that the majority of the single personnel just placed the mother, with both parents following at around 15% and fathers alone at around 10%. Must be a motherly thing, ya know. But I also had one year of my own SGLI, going to a niece that was preparing for Collage.

interesting observation. i'm guessing this applies to single women as well.

kingbee

on Aug 23, 2005

when Sheehan started getting image consulting and organizational help from politicaly polarized activist organizations, she ceased to be apolitical.

you think she was getting advice from both sides? i must be misreading you.

ParaTed2k

on Aug 23, 2005

Lee

I had noticed that the majority of the single personnel just placed the mother, with both parents following at around 15% and fathers alone at around 10%. Must be a motherly thing, ya know.

Thanks for the insight, that is kind of interesting.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!