Well, sports fans, it appears the media have figured out a clever way to report the events surrounding antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan this weekend without insulting the political party they are shilling for.
Looking at the major media outlets that have begun to cover this story, the strategy appears to be to report Sheehan’s Daily Kos post from Monday, wherein she stated that she was resigning “as the ‘face’ of the American anti-war movement,” while totally ignoring her Saturday post when she defiantly declared, “I am leaving the Democratic Party.”
Pretty sneaky, wouldn’t you agree?
However, this certainly appears to be the modus operandi as demonstrated by the following articles on the subject published Tuesday which included absolutely no reference to her statements Saturday:
- CNN: Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan gives up her protest
- Fox News: Cindy Sheehan Quits as 'Face' of Anti-War Movement
- CBS/AP: Cindy Sheehan Calls It Quits
- Yahoo/The Nation: It's Up To You Now
In reality, the Associated Press piece covered by CBS is the most disingenuous, as it early on referred to Sheehan’s disappointment with Thursday’s Congressional vote to fund the war in Iraq:
"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.
It seems this would have been a perfect opportunity to share with readers just how disappointed Sheehan was in the Democrats by pointing out that just two days earlier she had decided to quit the Party.
I guess that would be too much like journalism.
That said, it’s going to be very interesting to see how this gets covered during the day, as CNBC just did a blurb about Sheehan’s statement Monday. Of course, there was no reference to her leaving the Democrats.
Color me unsurprised.
And, now that AP has a piece out there, it will be fascinating to watch which outlets cover it, or ignore it.
Stay tuned.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
The real question here is &qu
May 29, 2007 - 10:35 ET by GothampcThe real question here is "How will this affect Hillary's polling numbers"?
Has any one noticed that th
May 29, 2007 - 10:50 ET by MightyMouthHas any one noticed that the "face" of the antiwar movement always appears to be heavily sedated?
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
the face
May 29, 2007 - 11:32 ET by tejanodiablonot to mention plain old board-whacked ugly .. probably returned to the left coast to get free treatment of her std's .. socialistic, theatrical dim entia ..
never look a gift skunk in the tail ..
Bias? What bias?
May 29, 2007 - 10:50 ET by mattmBias? What bias?
LOL
May 29, 2007 - 11:04 ET by lostincyberspaceI read a Yehaa!! news article (AP) this morning and noticed exactly what Noel highlights here. And Mattm.. I agree completely. So predictable that they don't mention her resignation letter from the Dem party.
Noel, thank you for all your hard work, you're great. I for one really appreciate it.
Most Dem elites were well-adv
May 29, 2007 - 10:56 ET by GalvanicMost Dem elites were well-advised by their handlers not to get too close to Sheehan. Their 'spidey-sense' correctly discerned that she was a loose cannon. For instance, Hillary Clinton met privately with her, but would not be photographed with her.
Sheehan lost the bubble long ago, and I think her 'resignation' letter was a last desperate attempt to get some MSM attention just one last time.
Agree, seems like the best
May 29, 2007 - 11:08 ET by MightyMouthAgree, seems like the best she can do as far as photo ops is this...
You can't help but feel for her loss, but her delusional anti-american actions are inexcusable, even if they are the result of mental illness. Even Jackson seems to be thinking "How do I get this monkey off my back", and the reporters "think bubble" might be something like "Oh Gawd Cindy!! give us a break". Cindy snapped along time ago when her son died.
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
The bubble has burst
May 29, 2007 - 11:08 ET by goldenthroatGalvanic, I totally agree - this traitor's aura dimmed when she began schmoozing with world dictators. I think even some left wingers were beginning to be repulsed by her actions.
And what was she 'hired' to do that necessitated a 'resignation'? If she 'resigned', then was she getting paid? How did she finance all her junkets to visit Hugo Chavez and others?
THAT needs to be investigated - but don't expect it from the left-coast, bleeding-heart, 'do as we say, not as we do' liberal media.
And for her to blubber and boo-hoo that her marriage failed as a result of her actions and her children are now alienated from her - WELL, DUH! What did you expect to happen, Cindy? You have dishonored the memory of your son and their brother by acting the fool!
Never dance on an empty stomach unless it's a liberal.
This offends bubbles
May 29, 2007 - 11:13 ET by Cool ArrowThe pimple has popped.
Gore lied. Nobody fried
You're probably right. Cons
May 29, 2007 - 11:28 ET by GalvanicYou're probably right. Considering the impact her national/international campaign has had on her family, the inevitable realization that she was used as a poster child by people she trusted who have since abandoned her, may have left her emotionally adrift. Her son is KIA, her family has been alientated, and now, the Dems and liberals no longer sing her praises, or answer her phone calls. She now admits that her naivete has been replaced by cynisism (It's about time.), and she's had no impact at all. She's no more useful than an '06 election campaign banner.
Deeply wounded, she now declares her departure from the whole process with a self-assessment that she's done all she could, and now she's handing the baton off to us to carry to the finish line. Unfortunately for her, there don't seem to be any other members on the relay team to take the baton.
A good example of the media protecting the Democrats.
May 29, 2007 - 11:05 ET by RJThe story Drudge is featuring from AT&T/Yahoo (AFP) takes the same tack, Noel. Far down in the article, Sheehan is said to be disillusioned by the Democrats, but nowhere is it hinted that she has said she will leave the party.
In the big picture, this distortion isn't major...but it is a good example of how the media shows it's inbred bias. If it instinctively protects the Democrats over such a small thing, how far would it go over larger events?
"I've been wondering why
May 29, 2007 - 11:46 ET by Teamcheeser"I've been wondering why I'm killing myself..." - Cindy Shehan
Cindy, your SON is deceased. YOU are alive. I would gladly have you trade places.
He could restore the respect to the Shehan name that you stripped away in Crawford, Cuba, and the rest of the world!
Cindy was about a great “fa
May 29, 2007 - 11:55 ET by Airforce_5_OCindy was about a great “face” for the peace movement as Monica was a great “face” for safe sex.
(rim shot)
He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
Right on...
May 29, 2007 - 12:03 ET by goldenthroatBeautiful, Airforce_5_0, just beautiful! It is also like having a diet drink in a donut shop.
I can't help but notice how c
May 29, 2007 - 12:07 ET by Chris NormanI can't help but notice how critics of Sheehan pad their criticism with the sympathetic notion that she is being somehow "used" by the Left. I'm uncertain what that means exactly. If she is somehow being "used", then I think she was - and is - a more than willing - er - "victim". Maybe, at the start, I felt some sympathy for her as, I assume, a grieving mother. However, her words and actions made any sympathy I felt towards her drain away long ago. Like Ann Coulter said about the "Jersey Girls", I think she's reveling in all of this - whether she is being "used" or not. I do believe she has mental problems, and so the notoriety of camping out in a tent by a ditch or visting dictators makes her feel special. I just don't see how her being supposedly "used" by the left, is relevant or mitigating - except as some kind of innoculation against criticism that Conservatives are "mean" in condemning her actions.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
Cindy Sheehan's question to M
May 29, 2007 - 12:31 ET by TeamcheeserCindy Sheehan's question to Monster.com:
"Hello. I am currently updating my resume having resigned from my most recent position. Quick question... Is 'Former-Traitor' hyphenated?"
Cindy could get a job workin
May 29, 2007 - 12:34 ET by Clear thinkerCindy could get a job working with Hugo Chavez. She could be the new Information Minister for his open and honest government.
Help a wounded soldier here...
http://newsbusters.org/node/12877
My sentiments exactly, Ct. It
May 29, 2007 - 17:23 ET by QueenMumMy sentiments exactly, Ct. It makes me sick to see those photos of her cozying up to the likes of Chavez. How long does she think she would have lasted camping out in his front yard, protesting his policies? A moonbat indeed.
Monster.com reply to Sheehan
May 30, 2007 - 10:11 ET by Cool ArrowSorry Mrs Sheehan, but there's not much call for Bjorn Borg lookalikes lately.
Gore lied. Nobody fried
I'll bet 90% of the readers o
May 29, 2007 - 13:43 ET by TOEI'll bet 90% of the readers of this site knew the left would dump this useful idiot after they had their way with her.
"Sorry", mother Sheehan, they made you a screami'n Banshee. Why not settle down on your five acres in Crawford and take a pie over to Laura and say "howdie neighbor!" ?
Well, well, well….. Cindy t
May 29, 2007 - 13:44 ET by Dad GummitWell, well, well….. Cindy the She-hite wants to drop out of the “Peace” (read: “surrender-to-the-terrorists-and-let-them–rape-our-women-&-slit-all-our–throats-but-who-cares-as-long-as-we-get-a-democrat-in-the-whitehouse”) movement…. Looks like the Dim Rat candidates are having to distance themselves from Cindy. My take is that she is being dismissed. She served their purpose & they’re done with her. No more jet setting, wining, dining & rubbing shoulders with top elite & rich liberal snobs. If she were physically attractive they might keep her on a bit longer. She wouldn’t give up the limelight & high life on her own. Her backers cut her off & now she has to go back to work at the 7-11. She is going to sell her land in Crawford she uses for the “Peace” (read: “surrender-to-the-terrorists-and-let-them–rape-our-women-&-slit-all-our–throats-but-who-cares-as-long-as-we-get-a-democrat-in-the-whitehouse”) camp. I hope nobody buys it & they raise the appraised value of it and tax her off of it. Then name it the “George W. Bush Park”. Bet George Soros or Mikey Moore-on bought it for her anyway. They are letting her keep that as a payoff to shut up now and go away. Look for her to O.D. on sleeping pills in the near future….especially if she starts talking about who does what & what their real motivation is.
"Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
" . . . what their real
May 29, 2007 - 14:14 ET by Gat New York" . . . what their real motivation is."
She should first look at herself and how she trampled all over the memory and spirit of her own son who she never agreed with.
I think Cindy hit a number
May 29, 2007 - 14:19 ET by daveinbocaI think Cindy hit a number of what Gail Sheehy would call “passages”
all at once, a failing marriage was crushed by her son’s death and she rejected traditional spirituality to allow her unsophisticated anti-war sentiments to run away from her
own grief and pain. Sorry for the dimestore psych 101 take—-but she was
quickly parasitized by the loathesome America-Last crowd and
campus-based hate-America groups until she was posing with vicious
fascists like Chavez.
One more walk on the wild side for the post-feminist post-sanity Left.
Sheehan told The Associated
May 29, 2007 - 17:06 ET by Dave in TexasSheehan 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.
Awwww. And we will just miss her so much here. Oh well, congratulations California.
Speaking of Sheehan's Crawford Ranch
May 29, 2007 - 18:12 ET by RJSpeaking of Sheehan's Crawford property, I hear El Rancho Ditcho is up for sale.
rumor is---
May 29, 2007 - 18:18 ET by misterbillrumor is---she is selling to Ahmadinejad????!!!!
Bidding war?
May 29, 2007 - 18:21 ET by RJMaybe she could get her pal Hugo to get into a bidding war with dinnerjacket?
limerick--
May 29, 2007 - 18:28 ET by misterbill--
A traitorous lady named Cindy
With Chavez was doing the lindy
"She said,on the next dance I pass
Because of the gas"
And, whew, because it's not windy
--
bias or hate?
May 29, 2007 - 17:57 ET by BlameTheMediaIt is so sad that while this site is suppose to expose media bias, in reality half of these posts are put downs about cindy sheehan, not media bias.
ABC and NPR both reported that she is leaving the democratic party... and can you blame her? Bunch of whimps.
But seriously, why get so hateful when people have opposing views? I mean, what she has been doing is exactly what our troops are fighting for. Isn't it? I find it it so hypocritical of those of you that liken her to Chavez... he is the opposite of what she stands for.
Our troops are fighting for freedom of speech, freedom to question the government, etc. Sheehan, agree with her or not, is exercising the very rights her son, and thousands before him, died for.
Awww, is Blamer sad
May 29, 2007 - 18:06 ET by RJAwww, is Blamer sad that people here rank on his Chavez-loving heroine? Poor baby.
BtM...She is lovingly embraci
May 29, 2007 - 18:18 ET by bigtimerBtM...
She is lovingly embracing dictator's.... putting our President down on foreign soil during a time of war and filled with hate speech while there towards our country....
Let alone what she says here is bad enough for some of us with real working brains that support our troops... freedom for the Iraq's and victory against the terrorists wherever we can find them.
No bias, no bias at all. Move along.
May 29, 2007 - 18:19 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsLets see, I went to Ask.com and put in 'cindy sheehan crawford' and got 128,000 hits, then I put in 'cindy sheehan leaves democrat party' and got 10,400 hits.
Just a little test.
No bias there.
D
A day without NewsBusters is like a day without sunshine.
Nephew, if you go to Ask.com
May 29, 2007 - 18:35 ET by mandrakeNephew, if you go to Ask.com and enter
'Cindy Sheehan is a woman' , you get 184500 hits.
for
'Cindy Sheehen invented the internet' , 4170 hits...
just a little test :)
I agree. Cindy getting huggy
May 29, 2007 - 19:14 ET by Roger the ShrubberI agree. Cindy getting huggy-kissy with Hugo Chavez and attacking the sitting president, and calling the sitting president a "terrorist" really does put them on opposite sides of the fence.
Our troops do fight and die to allow sh*theads like Cindy Sheehan and Ward Churchill to freedom to spout their whacked-out beliefs and views. It also means they open themselves for all the criticism we can dish out. It's a two-way street, right?
Good take Rog
May 29, 2007 - 19:28 ET by acumenThe narrowest of tunnel-vision displayed by BTM, Rog. I was quite surprised at the support directed toward Sheehan's decision I found from many NB contrbutors (a sentiment I find myself reluctant to offer Sheehan).
Somehow those positive sentiments escaped mention from BTM's comment. Noel even went so far as to ponder contacting Sheehan to see if she would be interested in doing an interview while at the same time applauding her convictions. I would hardly classify that as "half of these posts are put downs about cindy sheehan, not media bias."
I so wish the left would attack the terrorists that are TRULY screwing up the world with as much vigor they direct towards NB.
BTM I will now call you BM be
May 29, 2007 - 21:26 ET by Airforce_5_OBTM I will now call you BM because you are full of it.
As you cry into your Peace symbol pillow tonight may I suggest putting on some Joan Baez records and have a bong hit. Go out to the freeway and wave as little Cindy returns to California were the Freaks of San Francisco will welcome her back with a loving embrace.
Then you can return to News Busters and Troll till your little heart’s delight.
Peace out Cindy…Peace Out.
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
Party resignation
May 30, 2007 - 10:08 ET by NortoBeliever
I called the local cbs affiliate re the non-mention of her leaving the party. They were interested, but noted the story was a national feed and they had little to do with what went on the air.
Cindy Sheehan and the democrats
May 30, 2007 - 20:11 ET by belagHere's one view. I find it very interesting that people from both ends of the political spectrum have contempt for the "MSM". What's happenning?
I find it very interesting the framing of the "debate" as "liberal" and "conservative". As if there are no alternatives. As if there are no facts, just bias.
If you're serious about Sheehan, the least you can do is to look at what she says. One way to do that is have a (relatively) long inteview with her. Here's one. (video and transcript).
Note what I'm saying and note what I'm not. I'm not saying you have to agree with anything she says.
Notice the issues that come up. It's not Democrats vs Republicans. It's not a couple sentences between two commercial breaks. It's not some self-appointed commentators saying what they think of Sheehan. This is the minimum level of seriousness required.
Well belag, you get no benefit of the doubt this time
May 30, 2007 - 20:37 ET by SportPoliticsWell belag, you get no benefit of the doubt this time.
What's happening: is the left press can't get the Iraq war stopped, and the left wing idiots want their insane diatribes played on the msm, and when they aren't - they have a big problem, because the "press" is "big business" and the insane left hates "big business" - unless they own it or are it "moveon.org" "dailykos" "Sorros" "Kerry the billionaire and wife foundations".
The democrats in contrast or partial collusion - have found it convenient to blame the press for "not informing the people" and thereby causing our "rush" into Iraq - yet at the same time blame GWB for "sexing up the intel" and "lying to all of us"... so it's everyones fault EXCEPT the democrats.....
_________________________________________
Framing the debate - keeps the lies about Bush alive, and tenderly pulls the heartstrings of the left and demos hopefuls. Keeps the Iraq war news totally negative, as well. The dems decided they needed to frame, got that professor who wrote the book to train them, then made it a national party stance, as Kerry did in his potus bid. The press loves that frame, used to bash Bush and republicans. No facts, dems win. See AGW. See corn ethanol. See no drilling. See michael moore movies.
_________________________________________
I'm not serious about Sheehan, but I went to the link and watched her SPEW BS. I scrolled through it, and found NOTHING of note. Would you like to tell where in the 37 minutes I should go for anything substantive ? I learned she first went on her rampage 3 months after her son died at the Unitarian Chruch in Berkley California... gosh what an important fact...
Anything she said you want to tell me about ? Ya think all of us media eaters never heard her? Did you watch her ENTIRE address and EVERYONE ELSE's at their big DC ellipse protest for the WHOLE 5 hours before their dope concert ? Yeah, I did dippo.
What do you have, other than some LAME WHINE for others to "get informed"?
________________________________________
Note that probably ALL OF US, have already heard all her arguments a THOUSAND TIMES.
I quite understand you want to push her for 37 minutes of "supposedly uninterrupted" spew- but she does have a person there with her Amy Goodman, the queen of the LEFT there - huh, who of course interjects and prods along in total agreement with every single syllable, so much in lockstep and compliance and support of every word, you pretended she wasn't there... but of course that's "perfect" and the "minimum" for total supporters like you. MAN YOU BLEW IT.
You're another sicko, it appears at this juncture. Go back to your attempt to argue AGW with "other people's data" you do not comprehend. At least there you showed some restraint.
PS- Since you watched the whole pathetic thing, supposedly, I have to ask you, you claim no dem vs repub thing, but I would find it immensely amazing if the dear Amy Goodman never brought up the Sheehan witch leaving the demo party. Is that what DIDN'T happen that you are so happy about ? How about letting us know, since I'm sure not many want to waste 37minutes of their lives on a psychophant and her disturbed torch carrier and one of their idiot minions who loves the fact that a democrat party trounce was avoided entirely...
Democrats and MoveOn
May 31, 2007 - 02:52 ET by belagI think you'll find that both the Democratic party issue and criticism of MoveOn.org are addressed in the interview.
She calls the framing of MoveOn as an anti-war voice "hilarious".
And if you want democrat bashing, I'd have thought you'll have found plenty in there. Isn't she saying she left because the people on the "so-called" left have let her down? And there are plenty of criticism of Hillary and others.
Finally, it's what you make of it, of course. I found it helpful. Maybe you didn't.
As to Amy Goodman nodding along, I'm sorry if you didn't find her argumentative enough. It's not what the show is about though. The purpose of the show is to just let people have their say. The viewers can decide themselves. Apparently, you did.