Right Wing Press Sinks to New Low

Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother of a son lost in Iraq who has been keeping vigil in front of Bush's vacation ranch in an attempt to discover why, has become a target of the right wing media machine, complete with the distortions, outright lies and bile that it has become so well known for.

Conservative commentators and Web sites are taking aim at Sheehan with the same ferocity she has aimed at President Bush. In part, they are using her own words against her -- reciting such controversial comments as her vow to refuse to pay taxes to a government waging an "illegal" war and her desire to see Bush impeached.

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"It's obvious Cindy Sheehan has become a political player, whose primary concern is embarrassing the president," Fox Television personality Bill O'Reilly wrote Tuesday in an online column. "She is no longer just a protester."
No, I think the president is doing a perfectly good job of that himself. Like his explanation of why he chose to go bike riding instead of speaking with her.

"I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life ... I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy. And part of my being is to be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so.
So while the president continues his leisurely month long summer vacation, the earnest protesters baking in the sun in Crawford continue to be victimized by the conservative press.
Still, [Sheehan] said some of the statements attributed to her are distortions. Contrary to a letter attributed to her that is circulating widely on the Internet, she asserts that she has never said that the United States is waging the war in Iraq to protect Israel.

"I have said a lot of strong things, and I'll stand by everything I said," Sheehan said, adding that she thought the document had been altered. "But I didn't say that."

The scrutiny that has accompanied Sheehan's quick rise to prominence has extended to her family. Several in-laws have publicly criticized her protest -- announcing their displeasure in a release to the Drudge Report. News that Sheehan's husband, Patrick, has filed for divorce has been trumpeted by some bloggers as evidence of her extreme views.
What a surprise - being unable to find any fault in the message of a mother wanting to know why her son was killed thousands of miles from home, blowhards like Bill O'Reilly and Matt Drudge have found it appropriate to make questionable allegations and tear apart the private life of a woman who just wants an answer from her elected officials for why her son had to die. At this rate, the next issue of the Drudge report will likely be "Mother Teresa: Just a Flimsy Liberal or Communist Stooge?"

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