Guest blogged by Winter Patriot
Who are you gonna believe? A reporter who has been reporting from the scene — live on the ground at Camp Casey — or a bunch of talking heads who haven’t been anywhere near any of it? A short new column by Scott Galindez, published on the truthout.org website today, puts the question in a good clear perspective — in fact it’s so short, and so good, that it’s probably worth quoting in its entirety.
I am in Crawford and am spending a lot of time near Cindy. I promise you that Cindy is not the puppet in Crawford, but the puppet master. There is a media team working on her scheduling, but they are not telling her what to say.
The allegations that the left is exploiting Cindy couldn’t be further from the truth. I see millions of people following Cindy, not the other way around. I got an e-mail from Cindy that she was going to go to Crawford, not from MoveOn.
The real question here is who is behind these allegations? Who are the real puppets here?
The corporate media are the ones reporting the same false claims, so it appears to me that they are the ones being controlled. Who is the puppet master? Is it Karl Rove? The RNC?
It’s obvious that the media are speaking from the same script because while they accuse the left of exploiting Cindy, they present no evidence to back up their claims.
I have been at the Peace House during her breaks; she is not being ushered off to be coached, she is resting when away from the camp. She does meet with the family members and vets to discuss the message of Camp Casey, but that is how you build community and Camp Casey is a community.
I have not seen any professional handlers in Crawford. I have seen some excellent organizers putting together events after Cindy, the vets and other military families set the agenda.
So NBC, FOX, CBS, etc… Who is writing your script? Who is pulling your strings?
I don’t expect the mainstream news anchors to answer Scott’s questions anytime soon … at least not in so many words. But if you watch them closely you can see that they do answer these questions — very clearly, every day!
UPDATE: Cindy Sheehan has received some bad news today. As reported by Scott Galindez,
Now we see who pulls Cindy Sheehan’s strings! It’s her mother.
Best wishes to Cindy Sheehan, and her mother, and their family, and their many friends and supporters.
You know as well as I that Repukes have to think this
is an organized event, thats their modus operandi
they can’t get their pea brains around spontaniety
and people coming together for a common good.
They had a horseshit talk host bring a bunch of dittoheads to shout "we don’t care" and thas the truth about Puke’s, they don’t care about anybody but themselves, their world is dog eat dog
The more vile and disgusting they get, the better Cindy Sheehan looks to me, and the rest of the world.
She speaks from the heart, about her grief and anguish.
O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Colter, NBC, FOX, CBS, all speak from their wallets. These people would cut the throats of their own mothers for a dollar. They make me sick.
All "news people" would have to do is research a little of Cindy’s work prior to Camp Casey to see the error of their statements – as well as, of course, check it out on the ground.
But, of course, their function is to keep all the little balls in the air in the corporate/neocon juggling/distraction act – and not to let any light or life into the the silly story they are paid to inculcate.
All these one-dimensional functionaries pale to insignificance when compared to someone with moral fiber and a backbone, working in a noble cause.
As Arry mentioned above, anyone who has read or heard her heart-felt and articulate remarks since her son lost his life in this war based on lies, knows her stance has not wavered one iota, even prior to her son’s unnecessary death. The only back-peddling we have witnessed is when she chose to re-state something for clarity which was possibly misconstrued, or when she felt that the message detracted from her stated mission a bit more than she wanted. The person pulling her strings is that idiotic and immoral thug in la casa blanca, and those strings are her heart-strings.
And for any in the Media who shall utter the term "divider" with respect to Cindy Sheehan, that description rests on this administration and their cronies. The Vigils last night were the result of people knowing the truth when it is spoken and acting upon that truth with "unity".
She at one time referred to her son, when he was just a little boy, as an "old soul". However, Cindy is indeed an "old soul" with a clarity and purpose that is exceptional. Thank you Cindy for giving us a visible voice and a song. Our thoughts are with you, your mother and family.
Every time I hear Cindy being painted as a left-wing puppet, I wonder why no one bothers pointing out that there are many conservatives against the war. This is no longer a left/liberal movement, but O’Reilly and the like will continue to portray it as such. Ron Paul and a few others in congress, Pat Buchanan, every conservative third party presidential candidate in 2004… and more… all oppose the war.
Over 60% of americans disapproving of the war doesn’t come from the far-left alone. A good account of the people who still support this war comes from alex jones, who would be hard to paint as left-wing: http://www.infowars.com/article...x_crawford.htm
Because these talking heads are paid to say what they say, they must think the whole world lives by their morals or values. Anything for the buck.
We all know who is "backing" the administration and their talking heads, the drug cos., big business, lobbyist, anyone who needs a favor and can pay.
I bet it is impossible for them to believe that any person has a moral compass and follows it.
"So NBC, FOX, CBS, etc… Who is writing your script? Who is pulling your strings?"
EXACTLY! I couldn’t put it any better!
At least the local stations hers in Sacramento are giving Cindy some good coverage. Channel 3 an NBC affiliate has been reporting regularily on her protest as well as the local support. Their coverage has been neutral and seems to be pure reporting.
Channel 13 a CBS affiliate owned by Viacom (Formerly it was a Sinclair station and the news realy sucked) has been calling her the start of a new antiwar/peace movement. – Right-on
I can’t speak for the ABC affiltiate since I rarely watch their programming. "Lost" is about it for that network.
The Fox affiliate has actualy had more to say than I would have expected, but it has been low key.
Cindy – my best of wishes and hpoe that your mother is ok and you can return soon.
oops – here not hers – oh spell check wherefore art thou?
Truth out is a good blog. I like the video statements. I especially like it when Cindy calls Bush a lier.
Here’s the thing – while I don’t for a second believe that Cindy is a puppet (and she should most definitley be wary of those who would seek to exploit her for electoral ends) – and in fact I have no idea of her pesonal politics outside of that she is against this war and seems to have some measure of support for the Palestinians living under occupation – look at how this debate (if we can even call such slimeballing a debate) is being framed.
Lets assume for a moment that Cindy is a ‘radical leftist’.
Her protest is deemed ‘illegitimate’ because she has a political viewpoint!
Now what does that tell us about the talking (dick)heads and their telling us we’re* bringing ‘democracy’ to Iraq? Democracy is ABOUT POLITICAL EXPRESSION. You know? Thats like, the definition of democracy; competing political viewpoints vying for support among the masses.
But somehow, having a political opinion in a (alleged) democracy is ‘illegitimate’. It really is breathtaking that this is the line of attack.
Of course Cindy and those down in Camp Casey have a political agenda – they want the war to end. All these talking heads have a political agenda too – they want to war to continue. And if we want to talk shadowy backrrom manipulation – just look at NBC. They are owned by General Electric, who in turn are war profiteers – the longer the war goes on, the more money they make. Doesn’t take a genius to do the math there does it?
Someone asked "So NBC, FOX, CBS, etc… Who is writing your script? Who is pulling your strings?"
Well, I read somewhere the other day (Mediamatters maybe? Maybe PR Watch – some media watchdog anyway) that in total only about 120 people sit on the Boards of Directors for all the corporate media companies in the country. 120 people! Just let that figure sink in – 120 people essentially control what the US public (and I’d wager, a vast amount of the world’s population – through CNN International etc) see on their TV screens and in their major newspapers!
Also, I just read on MediaMatters that Limbaugh is now dening saying that Cindy was a fake – despite MediaMatters having the Mp3 online.
* I’m actually not an American, nor do I live in the US (as many of you probably know), but I think we’re all in teh same boat here, hence ‘we’, ‘we’re’ etc.