A PostWatch Review: Double Super-Secret Cindy Sheehan Quotes

Since the Post doesn't have an Outside the Tent feature, I'll do my own Patterico right here.

I've finally re-read every story that's mentioned Cindy Sheehan since Aug. 7, when Mother of Fallen Soldier Protests at Bush Ranch by Edward Chen debuted Sheehan's Crawford protest in the pages of the Washington Post.  And something's missing.

Cindy Sheehan.

Although the Post had no trouble reporting that Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, and that talk show host Michael Graham described Islam as a "terrorist organization," its editors and reporters fear the republic can't handle what Cindy Sheehan believes about President Bush, the United States, and the conduct of the war. 

Here's a startling example: Soldier's Mother Takes Protest to Bloggers by the Post's Brian Faler on Aug. 11 has a brief recap of a teleconference with liberal bloggers--

Sheehan, who earlier this week described her protest on the popular liberal blog Daily Kos, complained that the mainstream news media have not paid enough attention to her cause -- although she was interviewed Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition" -- and asked the bloggers for their support. "If we didn't have the Internet, none of us would really know what was truly going on," she said. "This is something that can't be ignored."

NRO columnist Byron York  provides a little more information:

Last week, Sheehan took part in a conference call with antiwar bloggers. She thanked them for their support and added, “Thank God for the Internet, or we wouldn’t know anything, and we would already be a fascist state.”

It's the same telecon, and that's what she said, and you can listen to it yourself at Radioblogger here, in a post that also includes a transcript of Sheehan's opening words, including the gem about fascism.

As I noted last week, here are some other things she's said that have escaped notice in the Post:

President Bush is an "evil maniac"  who should "sign up his two little party-animal girls"  for the war. 

Bush is the "biggest terrorist,"  and is promoting the "cancer of Pax Americana" and "imperialism in the Middle East" with the help of other "war criminals" in the executive branch and Congress.

And yet Bush will not meet with her. Again.

ViaInsta, David Kopel has a few more, including that Sheehan said she has "no animosity" for the "person who killed my son," while foreign insurgents are "freedom fighters" and last January the Iraqis held a "sham election."

None of these statements have appeared in the pages of the Washington Post.

Of  course, no leftist attack on Bush is complete without reference to the neocon cabal, and a call to get Israel out of Palestine.

There are hints. Mike Allen on Aug. 21 said Bush aides "knew she was a fierce partisan" because of her appearance at the mock Downing Street memo hearing. In another story, her positive reaction to Bush in her first meeting is contrasted with her current position, though it's followed by her explanation for the difference. And occasionally the Post has Sheehan refer to how Bush "killed" her son, though more often they quote her as saying he "died."

But how about "fascist state?"
Evil maniac?
Bush as the biggest terrorst?
The cancer of Pax Americana?
War criminals?
Neocon cabal?
And did I forget to mention "lying bastard?"

No, no, no, no, no, no, and yes, I forgot to mention that Sheehan has called Bush a lying bastard. It's okay, so did the Post.

By the way, according to Sheehan it's hypocritcal for the United States to oppose a nuclear-armed Iran and Syria. This observation received similar blanket coverage.

What liberal media?...

I'll post links to the stories later today and you can judge for yourself.

Update: Welcome, Newsbusters readers & thanks to Tim Graham for the link.

Update: Links below to most stories in the newspaper mentioning Cindy Sheehan. It does not include Op-Ed columns (though I think George Will may be the only person even on that page to cite some of the language I'm talking about). It doesn't include washingtonpost.com either, which includes everything from live chats to online-only columns to an ocean of wire copy that may, or may not, have been featured on the homepage at any time.

Last but not least, it doesn't include one or two early stories that have disappeared into the pay-only archives, including the Aug. 7 Mother of Fallen Soldier Protests at Bush Ranch, which as I say above appears to have been the first one. I do have a dead-tree copy of it, and it does not include any of the language cited above--not surprising by itself as the first story out of the gate.

So:

Sharpton Adds Voice to Antiwar Protest, Aug. 29
Near the President's Ranch, Protests Expand in the Heat, Aug. 28
Standoff Continues In Crawford, Aug. 26
Bush Says Activist Doesn't Speak For Kin, Aug. 24
Democrats Split Over Position on Iraq War, Aug.22
They Are Stardust, And In Texas, Aug. 22 (Style)
Refusal To See Shehan Is Second-Guessed, Aug. 21
Deploying Cindy'sAntiwar Army, Aug. 18 (Milbank opinion/reporting)
Sheehan Feeling Glare of Spotlight, Aug. 17
Ohioans Urge Escalation Or Pullout, Aug. 16
In Texas, A Time To Circle The Minivans, Aug. 14
Cindy Sheehan's Pitched Battle, Aug. 13
Bush Says He Sympathizes With Protester, Aug. 12
Soldier's Mother Takes Protest to Bloggers, Aug. 11
Mother of Fallen Soldier Protests at Bush Ranch, Aug. 7

That's all I have, except for one dead link. If I've missed anything signficant, email me at postwatcher - at - comcast.net

Comments

[Werner Hertz]

I wass so pleased to see you at the HAL CARLSTAD MEMORIAL WITH YOUR HUSBAND AND THE HUGE TURNOUT FOR THIS MAGNIFICANT HUMAN BEING. YOU ARE MY HEROINE LIKE Hal who struggled against injustice and
privilege. I sent you money and we are like the Zionist colonial people who ethnically cleansed the Palestinian people in 1948 like our native people.Iraq is about wealth of military contractors who are the only beneficiaries.Our elections are only about choosing the most wealthy supported candidates to benefit
the ruling wealthy for the benefit of the most privileged.
Our only choice is to involve all the rest of us to challenge this. We need a really democratic new Constitution like the people of Venezuela in 1999 Gerschonh@sbcglobal.net Love, Werner Hertz
Lets give the GANGSTERS the shaft

[Christopher Fotos]

Well. Nice to see this item still draws page views. Oh wait...

NICE TO SEE THIS ITEM STILL DRAWS PAGE VIEWS.