Cindy Sheehan Calls It Quits

Anti-War Activist And Mom Of Killed G.I. In Iraq Resigns Role As "Face" Of Movement

(CBS/AP)  Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan announced Monday she is giving up her role as the "face" of the American anti-war movement.

"I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush," Sheehan told The Associated Press by phone Tuesday while driving from her property in Crawford to the airport, where she planned to return to her native California.

"I'm going home for awhile to try and be normal," she said.

Sheehan, 49, of Vacaville, Calif., lost her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq on April 4, 2004. She has since emerged as one of the most vocal and high-profile opponents of the war, drawing international attention nearly two years ago when she camped outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch to protest the war.

"I am going to take whatever I have left and go home. I am going to go home and be a mother to my surviving children and try to regain some of what I have lost," Sheehan said.

"I am getting out before it totally consumes me or anymore people that I love and the rest of my resources," she said.

In announcing her decision in a statement released to the liberal blog Daily Kos, Sheehan said the protest had taken an enormous physical and emotional toll on her.

Sheehan said she had sacrificed a 29-year marriage and endured threats to put all her energy into stopping the war.

"I have used all my energy trying to stop this country from slaughtering innocent human beings. I have been called every despicable name that small minds can think of and have had my life threatened many times," Sheehan said.

But she said the most devastating conclusion she had reached "was that Casey did indeed die for nothing ... killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think".

Fueling Sheehan's decision to end her public protest was frustration with national politics as well her unsuccessful attempts to work "within a peace movement that often puts personal egos above peace and human life."

"It is hard to work for peace when the very movement that is named after it has so many divisions," Sheehan said.

Cindy Sheehan started her protest small in August 2005, but it quickly drew national attention. Over the following two years, she drew huge crowds as she spoke at protest events, but she also drew a great deal of criticism.

When she had first taken on Mr. Bush, Sheehan was a darling of the liberal left. "However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used," she wrote.

"I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of 'right or left', but 'right and wrong,"' the diary says.

Sheehan criticized "blind party loyalty" as a danger, no matter which side it involved, and said the current two-party system is "corrupt" and "rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland."

Sheehan paid for a 5-acre lot about 7 miles from Mr. Bush's ranch last month so protesters would have a place to gather while the president is at his ranch. Last year, she started out camped in ditches along the road leading to Mr. Bush's ranch, until county officials banned roadside parking and camping. A sympathetic landowner then let the group gather on his 1-acre lot near the ranch.

"Camp Casey has served its purpose," Sheehan said. "It’s for sale. Anyone want to buy five beautiful acres in Crawford, Texas? I will consider any reasonable offer. I hear George Bush will be moving out soon, too...which makes the property even more valuable."

[bareemperor]

Our brownbooted Bu$h thugs got to her.

Thank you, Cindy, for the good fight!!!!

[mike71067]

I suppose that after years of p-i-s-s-i-n-g on her son's grave, and the graves of all the other fallen soldiers, her bladder has finally emptied.

[maccar555]

Good work Cindy. You had the right to protest this war and the current administrations tactics.

[perception5]

Well CBS (Censoring Broadcasting Station) there you go again.
For all you liberals who "think" that CBS JUST reports the news..............well here's the most important part of Cindy's story.

Gee I wonder why CBS didn't print this???

Oh well we can all keep "pretending" that America doesn't have a "liberal bias" in our their reporting...........right?

Here you go what CBS didn't want Americans to read:


Sheehan, however, said she had become increasingly disillusioned with the Democratic Party. In an open letter to the Democratic members of Congress on Saturday, however, she announced that she was leaving the Party because she believed its leaders had failed to change the country's course in Iraq.

"I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a 'tool' of the Democratic Party." Sheehan wrote. "However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used."

[processor2]

Yawn

[processor2]

I suppose that after years of p-i-s-s-i-n-g on her son's grave, and the graves of all the other fallen soldiers, her bladder has finally emptied.
Posted by mike71067 at 09:37 AM : May 29, 2007



EXCELLENT POST

[ekucrew]

Faux Snooz & Friends are on CBS message board???
Bawhahahahahhaha

[pwrslm]

This is typical. A bamboozled bimbo on a bigoted brainless binge brandishing a bag full of bingo chips that bring absolutely nothing but boring bilgewater our of the hull of barges full of brinkmanship and braggards bilking big bucks from your breeches to push bad ideas at the burgeoning public.

[processor2]

America hates you Cindy, there may be a few whackos left out there who would be stupid enough to commit treason against the united states. Also, when you sign up for the United States Military, any branch of service, they tell you beforehand that you might be killed, it is not a pretend Army, it is real. Terrorists are not pretend, they are real. The twin Towers fell and innocent people died, because religious zealots want us dead, that was real.
What is unreal is people like you who take everything from your country and give nothing to it, you bash everything our government has to say, slander our elected leaders, but, I will bet my bottom dollar you are going to want your social security check and medicare.
You, cindy , are a common piece of trash, good riddance.
Posted by yurpallid at 09:38 AM : May 29, 2007


EXCELLENT POST

[gopack443]

Can't blame her for giving up. The democrats were voted into congress to finally get the president in check after 6 years of doing anything he wanted and they've done nothing! There as scared of Bush as the republicans! At least the republicans have the excuse of being in the same party although I can't tell the difference between the 2 major party's. No need to waste a vote on neither one of them next time.

[processor2]

I suppose that after years of p-i-s-s-i-n-g on her son's grave, and the graves of all the other fallen soldiers, her bladder has finally emptied.
Posted by mike71067 at 09:37 AM : May 29, 2007



EXCELLENT POST

[jasbek]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Her son can finally rest in peace and quit rolling over in his grave. So sad of her to disgrace his memory in the way she has.

[perception5]

CBS (Censoring Broadcasting Station)

Well there you go again CBS .......so here I go again.

What CBS left out of their liberal story:


Sheehan, however, said she had become increasingly disillusioned with the Democratic Party. In an open letter to the Democratic members of Congress on Saturday, however, she announced that she was leaving the Party because she believed its leaders had failed to change the country's course in Iraq.

"I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a 'tool' of the Democratic Party." Sheehan wrote. "However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the 'left' started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used."

[ralan40]

Good work Cindy. You had the right to protest this war and the current administrations tactics.
Posted by maccar555 at 09:38 AM : May 29, 2007

...yes but she now realizes that the problem rests with EVERYONE, Republican and Democrat.

So go ahead and blame the current Administration and leave out all those other people who are hiding from the blame.
Yeah, those Democrats sure got you snowed, Why don't you read her full text letter if you agree with her cause so much and you'll see where she found the REAL source and cause of the problems that finally prompted her to resign.

[processor2]

America hates you Cindy, there may be a few whackos left out there who would be stupid enough to commit treason against the united states. Also, when you sign up for the United States Military, any branch of service, they tell you beforehand that you might be killed, it is not a pretend Army, it is real. Terrorists are not pretend, they are real. The twin Towers fell and innocent people died, because religious zealots want us dead, that was real.
What is unreal is people like you who take everything from your country and give nothing to it, you bash everything our government has to say, slander our elected leaders, but, I will bet my bottom dollar you are going to want your social security check and medicare.
You, cindy , are a common piece of trash, good riddance.
Posted by yurpallid at 09:38 AM : May 29, 2007


EXCELLENT POST

[processor2]

America hates you Cindy, there may be a few whackos left out there who would be stupid enough to commit treason against the united states. Also, when you sign up for the United States Military, any branch of service, they tell you beforehand that you might be killed, it is not a pretend Army, it is real. Terrorists are not pretend, they are real. The twin Towers fell and innocent people died, because religious zealots want us dead, that was real.
What is unreal is people like you who take everything from your country and give nothing to it, you bash everything our government has to say, slander our elected leaders, but, I will bet my bottom dollar you are going to want your social security check and medicare.
You, cindy , are a common piece of trash, good riddance.
Posted by yurpallid at 09:38 AM : May 29, 2007


EXCELLENT POST

[rmsdm4]

The libs did to Cindy what they always do. Use it up till nothing left and toss to the side. I almost feel sorry for her.

[conplan6022]

EXCELLENT POST Posted by processor2

I second that

[processor2]

I suppose that after years of p-i-s-s-i-n-g on her son's grave, and the graves of all the other fallen soldiers, her bladder has finally emptied.
Posted by mike71067 at 09:37 AM : May 29, 2007



EXCELLENT POST

...

PS
.
.
maybe , some day some will punch your tickets out, then we can all take a pizz on you two clowns.
Posted by usadvisor101 at 09:56 AM : May 29, 2007


TYPICAL NeoCommie

...

[processor2]

I suppose that after years of p-i-s-s-i-n-g on her son's grave, and the graves of all the other fallen soldiers, her bladder has finally emptied.
Posted by mike71067 at 09:37 AM : May 29, 2007



EXCELLENT POST

...

PS
.
.
maybe , some day some will punch your tickets out, then we can all take a pizz on you two clowns.
Posted by usadvisor101 at 09:56 AM : May 29, 2007


TYPICAL NeoCommie

...

[anothermom-2009]

GOODBYE CINDY---YOU DISGRACED THE MEMORY AND HONOR OF YOUR SONS SACRIFICE AND THAT OF EVERY OTHER SERVICE PERSON IN HISTORY---YOU WERE USED BY THE DEMOCRATS--PITIFUL---ITS ABOUT TIME YOU SLINKED AWAY. MY SON AND MY HUSBAND WERE SICK OF YOUR INSULTS---

[laneykehel]

Her son DID die for nothing. We are not at war with the ones responsible for the World Trade Center attack. Demublicans/Republicrats are all the same greedy animal. I hate to see her spirit broken but under the current regime, she and anyone else that protest are truly spinning their wheels.

[antoniof123]

processor2, and conplan6022 if you have family in Iraq then know this if we wait and it looks like your moron boy and girls will till September 1, 2007, to start putting pressure on the President and his men, then about 450 more troops will die in a death trap that your boys have set.

I bet one thing is certain we will not forget them in November 2007, on super Tuesday.

Have a nice day tratiors.

[ralan40]

I knew she was just being used by the Democrats to get back into power. I'm sorry she was humiliated by her ignorance in thinking it was "Just the Bush Administration".
The Democrats do not need her anymore. Of course she is not fighting the Democrats, that is why she is leaving the public eye.

[garsong-2009]

Cindy, your 15 minutes of fame have drug on long enough. Just go away. You bore me. If your so down on the USA and it's way, just leave then. I'd be glad to buy you a one way ticket to where ever you want.

[impeachhim]

Cindy, you inspired a nation. you will be missed.

[ralan40]

""You had the right to protest this war and the current administrations tactics.""
Posted by maccar555 at 09:38 AM : May 29, 2007

...yes but she now realizes that the problem rests with EVERYONE, Republican and Democrat.

So go ahead and blame the current Administration and leave out all those other people who are hiding from the blame.
Yeah, those Democrats sure got you snowed, Why don't you read her full text letter if you agree with her cause so much and you'll see where she found the REAL source and cause of the problems that finally prompted her to resign.
Posted by ralan40 at 09:59 AM : May 29, 2007

[kaycay1]

Obviously, hating America was no longer profitable for you Cindy??

[ddnlj]

Cindy Sheehan had more guts than the rest of us. At least she had the gumption to do more than sit on her butt and complain. While billions of tax dollars are wasted in Iraq, while millions of illegal aliens cross the American border, while politicians lie, cheat and steal at every turn, most Americans are too passive to make any changes. Too bad we don't have more Cindy Sheehans in this country.

[mikec30x]

Finally, Adios... Now if only the rest of the ignorant people of this country could follow suit and go home and shut up. I mean how shameful she should feel to sell out her son like he did. Her son is a HERO and she wants to blame Bush for defending his people and Country. She is just like the Dumb Leadership in the democrat party. These people are pathetic and obviously don't understand the threats that we face. Do people Remember 9/11... Bush said it would be a long fight. Thank you to her son and the rest of the Brave men and women defending the great American people and the sorry ones too. I guess terrorism is a fake just like that Waste Rosie Odonnel. Why do we allow for the Ignorant people speek as if they have some type of light to shed on situations. I can not believe the Democratic party and the Americans that want us to Lose this War. I mean you can't win something when you have people trying to loose it for out Troops. Cindy, Pelosi, Reed, and all the other Traitors in this country.

GO USA.

[impeachhim]

garsong

I bet your from texas or some other backwards state. How does something get "drug" on? I hope you have not bred. The gene pool is polluted enough.

[DaveGress]

Does anyone have a job for processor2? He/she lives on this board. They've probalby that neighbor that EVERYONE in the neighborhood hates.

[bareemperor]

Cindy will always be hero material, she held the Bu$h administration responsible for an idiotic war over Halliburton greed.
Her image may be held up next to the student in Tiananmen Square, standing in front of a line of tanks.
Cindy shows how divided this great nation has become with Bu$h at the tiller. What does NOT show readily is that most of the nation stands firmly in opposition of George Bu$h.

[torocaca]

Eight more American soldiers killed on Memorial Day.

At least eight more families whose lives will never be the same.

All for a war against the wrong country.

All for a war that didn't need to happen.

And the neo-con cowards who never served a day in the military just sit and gloat.

[corvis777]

It is so sad to read the hatred and vitriol in the comments here. To say that this poor woman never sacrificed anything?!?! She sacrificed her son, as well as several years of her life, not to mention the fact that it's doubtful that she'll ever be truly happy again.

What is wrong with politics today is not just the Republicans and Democrats, the very problem itself lies with us. We hate and hate until we forget how to love. Where is all of this anger when it needs to be present the most: in the face of the idiocy of our unprovoked attack on Iraq and ineptitude in the prosecution of an unnecessary war?

Meanwhile Afghanistan is worse than ever and Osama and his Saudi supporters watch us all and laugh.

One day, though I fear it be a thousand years from now, we will realize that we are all ONE, and that our fortunes rise and fall together.

[rafterman1]

===These people are pathetic and obviously don't understand the threats that we face.===

Neither do you. If you feel that people should just "shut up" rather than express their constitutional right of of free speech, maybe you should move to a country more in tune with your political perspective, like North Korea or China. They love the "just shut up and do as we say" types over there.

[cathaleen]

My heart goes out to Cindy Sheehan. She gave the
ultimate for her country; her son. Whatever anyone thinks of her, agrees or disagrees, let it go.

[mbcsmith]

Neither do you. If you feel that people should just "shut up" rather than express their constitutional right of of free speech, maybe you should move to a country more in tune with your political perspective, like North Korea or China. They love the "just shut up and do as we say" types over there.

Posted by Rafterman1 at 10:19 AM : May 29, 2007

her RIGHT to tear down her own country was certainly protected.

[feral_nature]

First let me say that I have never served in the military , but I did have a grandfather that served in WW2 and War of Korea ..And he was fortunate enough to have made it through ..And there were of course many that didn't sadly .
I do not necessarily agree with Sheehan's politics or beliefs ..But having helped raise 7 children in my family ( I'm the oldest ) ; I can certainly get a remote idea of how horrible it would be to lose any 1 of them ..A parents grief is among the worse kind . Its basic simple empathy. Having said that though - if one of them were to join the military and be called to serve and die in battle ; the emotional angst that would befall me would be horriffic , but I could at least take some peace of mind knowing that they passed doing what they had wanted to do or ,answered the call of duty . Like I had said , I do not condone her publicly ( which is her legal right BTW - & all of ours too ) to speak out against the government during time of war ..but has anyone considered this from a basic
distraught parents point of view ?? Just throwing that thought out there . Thank U .
" May Light guide Us all in the Dark Places where we must sometimes Travel "

[heresmy2cent]

This woman is truly brave and an inspiration.

America needs many more like her.

[impeachhim]

Bottom line folks...
It is the imbicile Bush who has the blood of all our brave men and women along with tens of thousands innocent Iraqis on his hands.
We were lied to.
The neo-cons want to spread U.S. will through might. Don't let anybody fool you. America went into Iraq purely for self gain.
These brave soldiers did not have to die.

[jaw5623]

Mudrose couldn't have said it better.

Dingdong! The witch is dead!

[mudrose-2009]

When Duty whispers low, Thou must! The youth replies, I can! Emerson

To all our Brothers for their service to God and Country. Freedom is not Free.

[jmbridges2]

Its about time you go home.....People like that called our soldiers during the Vietnam era baby killers and spit on them.......Support our troops they are only doing their job.

[jimibear]

Mudrose, I have to say that I totally disagree with you. It is the sign of a healthy democracy that Sheehan is allowed to speak her piece. Sh eis not spittin gon anything; she says she's tired of the death threats and insults, and feels that the Democrats "caved in" to Bush, which they did.

And I am completely unable to see what is "extreme" about a mother protesting a war which she believes to be wrong and which killed her child. What could be more natural?

There is nothing fascist in her response. She hasn't "dispensed with" anyone. She clearly states that she thinks blind party loyalty is a bad idea, and she's right.

She's right about this too:

"Casey did indeed die for nothing ... killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think."

Every casualty in this horrendous, lying treachery of a war is a murder on the hands of the Bush administration. They are slaughtering innocents to make money, and are utterly worthless and despicable.

[jmulhearn1]

I am a Nam Vet and I sympathize with her loss, I too lost friends in Nam. She is right when she said there are too many egos and not enough people with integrity in her movement. But it is not a Demcratic or Republican issue, is is an American issue. It will only be solved when people remember that they are Americans first, last and always, and that the party they choose should be a reflection of how they believe. Too many people have spend their lives following the party line rather than choosing the party that reflects how they think. It is time for us to take the party back from those who have been telling us how to think and act in order to be good, loyal party members. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LOYAL TO US, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. WAKE UP AMERICA!!

[jimibear]

"Its about time you go home.....People like that called our soldiers during the Vietnam era baby killers and spit on them.......Support our troops they are only doing their job.
Posted by jmbridges2 at 10:45 AM : May 29, 2007
+ report abuse"


Dear Idiot,

How is she not "supporting the troops" by protesting the war? And since her son was a soldier, I highly doubt she would spit on one.

Supporting the troops and supporting the war are not the same thing. Clearer-minded people than you realize that the best way to support the troops is to get them out of where they are being uselessly murdered by the Bush administration.

The job of our troops is to defend out country, not to act as hired mercenaries to keep the middle east unstable so that an endless war can ensue which will further enrich the oil companies and Bush's fat cat contractor friends.

People like you don't get it. About the only useful support you could give the troops would be as a jockstrap. And that would be appropriate, as you're already damned near an a$$hole.

[huskerarmy]

"I really hope leftists tools like you experience something cataclysmic that will open your eyes to our enemy."
Posted by conplan6022
What an idiot. We are fighting terrorists in Iraq only because we invaded a soverign state in their own back yard and challenged them to a fight. Tools? Who are the real tools... Why do you support the war in Iraq? First because they had WMD's, but then they didn't; then they were tied to 9-11, then they weren't; then it was to fight Al Queda, then the CIA revealed that there were no Al Queda cells in Iraq prior to invasion; then it was to spread Democracy, but the Iraqi people see us as occupiers and want us out. The war has galvanized muslim extremists, wasted billions that could have been spent on real homeland security and become a "cause celeb" for recruiting terrorists, thus increased the threat worldwide... Who for Pete's sake are the real "tools?" ...Those who question the widom of invading a nation forno better reason than we don't like it's leader or those who assume a just cause, one that changes regularly, and blindly cheers for war?

[aaabee-2009]

Good riddance, I say, to a terribly tragic piece of rubbish. Posted by mudrose at 10:38 AM : May 29, 2007

Amazing how much more like Rush Limbaugh you sound every day, Mudrose.

This woman wasn't a tool for anyone, she tried standing up for needless death. She tried writing her congressmen, she tried the protests and the joining of peace organizations and the appealing to the NON-GOP'rs to get her point across about needless death. These courses of action are just about the only course of action left to the average citizen.

It didn't work. She is a lesson, mudrose, to how much power you, YOU, have as a single citizen on this ship bound for Bush hell. You don't ever try to change anything either, mudrose. For those who don't agree with you will treat you with the same contempt and scorn as you now dish out. You had better always toe the line and not ever rock the boat.

Cindy has taught us what happens to people who don't toe the party line.

[stevef007]

This sadly deranged broad should not swing from a high tree for treason;however, she should certainly be shunned by all decent people. Her husband was right to divorce her, and her noble son, who was a genuine hero, would be ashamed of her.