I'm So Sorry

[starsforu2]

" From Newsweek Aug. 22, 2005 issue - The grieving room was arranged like a doctor's office. The families and loved ones of 33 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan were summoned to a large waiting area at Fort Bragg, N.C. For three hours, they were rotated through five private rooms, where they met with President George W. Bush, accompanied by two Secret Service men and a photographer. Because the walls were thin, the families awaiting their turn could hear the crying inside."

Newsweek Article

I recommend that you read this. This dovetails with the Cindy Sheehan story.

 

[U2Girl1978]

That's sad.

 

[Se7en]

indeed.

 

[Teta040]

My God. One person protesting outside the ranch, and all other national issues are dropped. It inspires a frenzy of articles, several pages long, to shore up Bush's image, trying to convince us he cares aobut the suffering and sacrifice out soldiers are doing in silence in Iraq. Remember: protecting Bush's image is the most important issue facing the nation. Wow, I was right: one woman crying the truth really IS dangerous.

Like I said: what happens when the one mother turns to thousands?

 

[financeguy]

So is he a compassionative conservative or a caring draft-dodger?

 

[Se7en]

is it a little bit of image touch-up? sure.
are the white house photographers a little opportunistic? probably.
it's still sad. the families who complained of poor benefits, about trying to get their children through college, are what got to me. i'm sure that the white house got right on top of that...i imagine congress is voting on a new benefits package right now.

 

[melon]

i imagine congress is voting on a new benefits package right now.

Yeah. For themselves.

Congress is fucking useless.

Melon

 

[Liesje]

Like I said: what happens when the one mother turns to thousands?

I guess it has worked before...a little more extreme situation, but still ...

 

[starsforu2]

is it a little bit of image touch-up? sure.
are the white house photographers a little opportunistic? probably.
it's still sad. the families who complained of poor benefits, about trying to get their children through college, are what got to me. i'm sure that the white house got right on top of that...i imagine congress is voting on a new benefits package right now.

Do you think that the whitehouse photographers were for the whitehouse or for the families?

From what I've seen (which is nothing), the whitehouse hasn't released photos of him consoling the families.

This is pure conjecture on my part but I think that the photographers are for the families because in most parts of the country it's stlll a big deal to meet the president, even if the circumstances are grim.

 

[Se7en]

Do you think that the whitehouse photographers were for the whitehouse or for the families?

From what I've seen (which is nothing), the whitehouse hasn't released photos of him consoling the families.

This is pure conjecture on my part but I think that the photographers are for the families because in most parts of the country it's stlll a big deal to meet the president, even if the circumstances are grim.

you may well be right.

 

[Val]

"cough"

 

[Maggie1]

The question I keep asking myself is why won't he talk to Cindy Sheehan?
I personally think he is full of crap and meeting with those families is his way of making himself feel better. If he was really "so sorry" he would stop the war.

 

[verte76]

I think he should at least talk to Cindy Sheehan. I don't see what harm would be caused and it'd be a nice gesture.

 

[Dreadsox]

I think he should at least talk to Cindy Sheehan. I don't see what harm would be caused and it'd be a nice gesture.

He made the jesture a year ago. She had her meeting. Since then, her rhetoric indicates an adjenda. If I were President I would not meet with her. I am shocked he sent out two of his staffers to meet with her.

 

[Irvine511]

He made the jesture a year ago. She had her meeting. Since then, her rhetoric indicates an adjenda. If I were President I would not meet with her. I am shocked he sent out two of his staffers to meet with her.

when it comes to procedure, you might be right; when it comes to politics, this is making him look increasingly callous.

but don't worry -- Rove has already dispatched the right wing media storm troopers to smear her. take a look at Drudge today, and the writer from the National Review who was on Meet the Press on Sunday.

 

[Dreadsox]

Having done enough research on her myself, I do not need right wing media storm troopers to decide what I think about her. I read the reports and her comments, and have seen enough of the people she has spoken out for and with over the last year to make up my mind about her.

 

[Dreadsox]

Back to the topic at hand....

I can remember when people in this forum would hold the war dead saying he was not facing the families....

This article pretty much shows that is false.

 

[Irvine511]

Back to the topic at hand....

I can remember when people in this forum would hold the war dead saying he was not facing the families....

This article pretty much shows that is false.

sorry, but one sentimental article (in a magazine that the WH had the gall to blame for dead post-riot Afghanis in that whole Koran-toilet debacle) does not a compassionate man make. it really doesn't matter what the right wing media shock troops, or you, think of Cindy Sheehan. a greiving mother is way more compelling than a vacationing president who clears brush for fun (lost on him is the fact that, in the real world, people have to clear brush for paychecks).

why no post-war plan? what was victory supposed to look like anyway? why roadside bombs and not the roses to greet our troops like Cheney promised?

i cannot, for the life of me, understand people (not you, Dread) who might have had coherent reasons for supporting the invasion who are not bashing this adminsitration, and particularly Rumsfeld, for making essentially wrong decisions at each and every critical moment. it's a mess, the war is essentially over, new euphamisms ("global struggle against violent extremism") are being tossed out like Coca-Cola Classic after the 1985 New Coke bomb, expectations have been lowered, and recruiting goals are coming up so short that (gasp!) they're now ignoring the whole "don't ask/don't tell" clause.

it's over. i'm sorry it's over, i'm sorry we screwed it up, i'm sorry Iraq is now a haven for terrorists and increasingly religious, i'm sorry our leaders invaded for poorly supported reasons and then didn't have anything resembling a post-war plan.

seems as if everyone gets this but Mr. Bush and Mr. "last throes" Cheney.





sorry, a bit off topic, but needed to vent for a moment.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

That's a beautiful article, my first instinct is to wonder- why does he not show that level of emotion in public? Because it would be seen as "weak", contrary to his image? I would have so much more respect for him if he did. I am not questioning his sincerity w/ those families, I believe that is real emotion. You would have to be inhuman otherwise.

If it's true that Cindy Sheehan met w/ him shortly after her son's death, maybe her state of grief at the time didn't permit her to have coherent thoughts and questions about the war. Maybe she just sought comfort from President Bush and to honor her son's memory by meeting him. Things in Iraq have also certainly changed since then. That one parent in the article said to confront the President by questioning the war would disrespect their son, I can't remember the exact wording. However not everyone feels that way.

I just meant if it's true re how long it was after her son's death, I know it is true that she met w/ President Bush

 

[Dreadsox]

That's a beautiful article, my first instinct is to wonder- why does he not show that level of emotion in public? Because it would be seen as "weak", contrary to his image? I would have so much more respect for him if he did. I am not questioning his sincerity w/ those families, I believe that is real emotion. You would have to be inhuman otherwise.

I think he has shown that level of emotion twice that I can recall. I also remember people feeling it was not genuine.

 

[Irvine511]

but if he refuses to alter any strategies or admit any error or refuse to listen to any advisor who doesn't tell him what he wants to hear (witness the firing of Gen. Shinseki), just how geniune can his sorrow be?

people who are genuinely sorry make amends. they atone for their errors.

 

[verte76]

Oh, so she actually has met him..........OK.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I keep thinking about, who was it Al Gore who talked about Clinton putting things into "boxes"? I don't know, I can't remember

It's like that's what Bush does..families and sorrow, being sorry about that into one box..the war itself into another box.

Then again many people compartmentalize like that, it's a coping and defense mechanism. But they aren't running a country and making decisions that affect so many lives.

 

[yolland]

I find it puzzling that Cindy Sheehan gets tarred and feathered as an exploitative, agenda-driven hypocrite for simultaneously being an antiwar activist and a grieving mother, whereas Bush's own considerable vested interests in the matter apparently pose no threat at all to the perceived sincerity of his teary-eyed breastbeating at these carefully planned events.