# Let's cheer the right-wing smear machine! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768 "2005-08-12T19:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/181 "2005-08-15T03:21:56Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > The essential qustion for me is whether this would be a huge media event under other circumstances. Like, say, a Democratic president. And I think all evidence shows that it would not be one. President Johnson had a ranch in Texas. This 39 year old incident _still_ shows up on the internet: > [@](#): > > In a characteristic incident just prior to Christmas 1966, four Syracuse, New York, protesters tried to camp on secured land near the ranch to complain about the implementation of Johnson’s antipoverty programs. The four were members of a group called the James Geddes Organization, which sought to assure adequate housing for the poor. They protested the termination of their funding by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), headed by R. Sargent Shriver, a brother-in-law of former president John F. Kennedy. A Johnson aide, Jake Jacobsen, met with the protesters and explained that they should pursue the issue with OEO officials. The four continued their vigil and were later arrested when they refused to leave an area in which signs denying access were posted. The group was arraigned in nearby Fredericksburg. [LBJ’s Texas White House](http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/Ourheartshome/lbj5.htm) Reporters get bored in outback Texas. A protest gives them something to write about. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/182 "2005-08-15T03:32:00Z")
Thank you. The fact that this is but a footnote to the Johnson presidency indicates to me the ephemeral nature of protests like this. As such, unless something dramatic happens, Mrs. Sheehan is a good way into her fleeting moments of fame. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/183 "2005-08-15T03:47:42Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > As such, unless something dramatic happens, Mrs. Sheehan is a good way into her fleeting moments of fame. But that’s the thing about these ephemeral protests, sometimes something dramatic _does_ happen. Sometimes Rosa Parks wants to sit in the _front_ of the bus. Sometimes middle aged ladies keel over and die from heatstroke in the hot Texas sun. Maybe a whole bunch of runaway blonde white girls will get eaten by sharks over the next few weeks, or maybe _this_ story will go on and on, bleeding the president, and inspiring a nation. There’s no way to tell yet. ---
**Author:** ![Updike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@Updike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Updike)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/184 "2005-08-15T03:58:34Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > But that’s the thing about these ephemeral protests, sometimes something dramatic _does_ happen. Sometimes Rosa Parks wants to sit in the _front_ of the bus. Sometimes middle aged ladies keel over and die from heatstroke in the hot Texas sun. Maybe a whole bunch of runaway blonde white girls will get eaten by sharks over the next few weeks, or maybe _this_ story will go on and on, bleeding the president, and inspiring a nation. There’s no way to tell yet. And what, pray tell, is “inspiring” about Sheehan, the California nut-job du jour? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/185 "2005-08-15T04:10:25Z")
> [@Updike](#): > > And what, pray tell, is “inspiring” about Sheehan, the California nut-job du jour? Well for one, she stands up for her beliefs. I’ve not seen you do so. Do you even _have_ any beliefs, or do you just exist to tear down others? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/186 "2005-08-15T04:17:03Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Well for one, she stands up for her beliefs. I’ve not seen you do so. Do you even _have_ any beliefs, or do you just exist to tear down others? Well, I agree with not paying any taxes…so I agree with Sheehan on that one. But does she even have a job back home she has to worry about? Or is she being supported by the Soros/Move-On whackjobs? Is she taking money from Michael Moore, by any chance? Oh well. Anyway, I’ll bet if those Deadhead hippie losers had jobs…they’d also vow not to pay any taxes! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/187 "2005-08-15T04:28:01Z")
> [@Updike](#): > > And what, pray tell, is “inspiring” about Sheehan, the California nut-job du jour? Those crazy Californians, getting all weepy when their children are killed. Gosh, what is it about California, huh? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/188 "2005-08-15T04:28:57Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > President Johnson had a ranch in Texas… Funny you should mention LBJ, I was just reading something about him: [Someone Tell the President the War Is Over](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/opinion/14rich.html?incamp=article_popular) > [@](#): > > **A president can’t stay the course when his own citizens (let alone his own allies) won’t stay with him. The approval rate for Mr. Bush’s handling of Iraq plunged to 34 percent in last weekend’s Newsweek poll - a match for the 32 percent that approved L.B.J.‘s handling of Vietnam in early March 1968. (The two presidents’ overall approval ratings have also converged: 41 percent for Johnson then, 42 percent for Bush now.) On March 31, 1968, as L.B.J.'s ratings plummeted further, he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election, commencing our long extrication from that quagmire.** Seems to me, Mrs Sheehan’s just the tip of the iceberg. Jebus! Could it finally be happening? Are Americans finally waking up to the nightmare that is the Bush Administration? For your sake – and ours – I surely hope so. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/189 "2005-08-15T05:13:59Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Seems to me, Mrs Sheehan’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s some pubbies running scared all right. Even the occasionally sane senator [John McCain filled his britches with iron this morning](http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/12384371.htm): > [@](#): > > “The day that I can land at the airport in Baghdad and ride in an unarmed car down the highway to the Green Zone is the day that I’ll start considering withdrawals from Iraq,” said McCain, referring to the heavily fortified area where U.S. and Iraqi government headquarters are located. And in Iraq, they’re [trying to ‘re-stay’ the course:](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081400759_2.html) > [@](#): > > Also Sunday, U.S. forces released Mustafa Yaqoubi, a Shiite cleric whose arrest last year sparked clashes between the military and the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, according to a spokesman for Sadr. This time it’ll break the insurgency for sure! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/190 "2005-08-15T05:15:26Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > This is not meant in any way to be a slam against Ms. Sheehan, but who wants to bet that the next time Bush takes a vacation in Crawford a multitude of groups will show up for some protest or other? It’s great way to launch your message onto the national stage since the press corp has to be there, and generally has nothing to report about. > > Bless her heart for being so passionate about her cause-- the idea that we should bring the troops home-- but she’s tilting at a nonexistent windmill. Bush is not going to cut and run, and no serious candidate for his replacement in '08 is going to do so either. With some luck, we will be drawing down the troops by then anyway. I mean, seriously, how much training do Iraqi soldiers need? Our guys are mostly young, and couldn’t have more than a few years training themselves. From a petition site supporting Cindy Sheehan: > [@](#): > > Cindy is now camped out on the road to President Bush’s vacation ranch in Crawford, Texas, requesting a meeting with the President to ask a very simple question - why did her son die? Why have over 1,800 U.S. service men and women died, and tens of thousands of Iraqis, mostly civilians? Why did we start this war? It is true that I have seen supporters talking about bringring our troops home right now, but that is not the focus of the protest. Alowing Bush and others to say that cut and run is the focus of the protest, is swallowing their misdirecting BS, the focus is the lack of serious answers on why we got there, Mrs Sheehan has driven millions of Americans to demand answers for questions that the eunuchs in Congress and the mainstream media never ask. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/191 "2005-08-15T05:17:19Z")
:smack: Ignore that last paragraph. I read the article backwards, and then didn’t notice until clicking submit. Maybe the release of Yaqoubi _will_ have a positive effect. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/192 "2005-08-15T06:14:46Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > From a petition site supporting Cindy Sheehan: > > It is true that I have seen supporters talking about bringring our troops home right now, but that is not the focus of the protest. Alowing Bush and others to say that cut and run is the focus of the protest, is swallowing their misdirecting BS, the focus is the lack of serious answers on why we got there, Mrs Sheehan has driven millions of Americans to demand answers for questions that the eunuchs in Congress and the mainstream media never ask. The group that she cofounded has this as one of their goals, per [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/07/mom.protest/): > [@](#): > > Sheehan, who co-founded the anti-war group Gold Star Families for Peace, led about 50 demonstrators near the Bush ranch Saturday. Some protesters were with the group Veterans for Peace, which was holding a convention in Dallas. > > The protesters stopped their bus miles from the ranch in Crawford, and walked less than a half-mile before being stopped by local law enforcement officials. > > A message on the Gold Star Families Web site says, "We want our loved ones’ sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation’s sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. > > “Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation?” Saying that “bring the troops home now” in NOT part of her message to Bush is simply not true. She has repositioned herslef from grieving mom to war prtotestor. The fact that people focus on the latter is a function of her actions, not on some spin by Bush supporters. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/193 "2005-08-15T06:18:14Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > :smack: Ignore that last paragraph. I read the article backwards, and then didn’t notice until clicking submit. Maybe the release of Yaqoubi _will_ have a positive effect. No big. What I found telling from your link is what follows: > [@](#): > > With the prospect of consensus fading Sunday, Shiite leaders stressed that even without the Sunnis, the process could go forward. > > “To approve a constitution, you only need 50 percent of the national assembly plus one,” said Jalaledin Saghir, a Shiite member of the constitutional committee. > > Such statements stand in stark contrast to declarations made in the early days of the constitution-writing process, when committee members said they would push for a broad consensus to help unify the country. > > **U.S. and Iraqi officials have long been concerned that the alienation of the Sunnis could strengthen the country’s violent insurgency, which holds sway in Sunni regions.** > > Underscoring that threat Sunday, police in Awarij, south of Baghdad, unearthed the bodies of at least 30 policemen and government workers, many of whom had been bludgeoned beyond recognition. Three foreign fighters arrested earlier in the day led police to the grave, according to Babil province’s police chief, Qais Hamza. – bolding mine – No claims to Ms Cleo-like paranormal insights, but it’s hardly a stretch to predict – hell, never mind predict, _agree with official assesments_ – that the mostly Sunni-backed insurgency will only harden if railroaded out of the political process. What have they got to lose? Besides _everything_ they had by not resisting of course. Not that sectarian/tribal strife should come as any surprise in a country largely created by cartographers and held together by Western-backed dictators. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/194 "2005-08-15T06:44:28Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Sometimes Rosa Parks wants to sit in the _front_ of the bus. In a related vein: [What Fox News Channel Would Have Done to Rosa Parks](http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050812/cm_huffpost/005514) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/195 "2005-08-15T07:01:38Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > The group that she cofounded has this as one of their goals, per [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/07/mom.protest/): > > Saying that “bring the troops home now” in NOT part of her message to Bush is simply not true. She has repositioned herslef from grieving mom to war prtotestor. The fact that people focus on the latter is a function of her actions, not on some spin by Bush supporters. I stand corrected, of course I have to say then that I agree now more with her. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/196 "2005-08-15T10:54:19Z")
The Bush administration is already reacting to the growing anti-war movement: [U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081300853.html?nav=rss_business/government) > [@](#): > > The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad. > > **The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.** > > “ **What we expected to achieve was never realistic** given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground,” said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. “We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we’re in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/197 "2005-08-15T14:40:18Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > But that’s the thing about these ephemeral protests, sometimes something dramatic _does_ happen. Sometimes Rosa Parks wants to sit in the _front_ of the bus. Sometimes middle aged ladies keel over and die from heatstroke in the hot Texas sun. Maybe a whole bunch of runaway blonde white girls will get eaten by sharks over the next few weeks, or maybe _this_ story will go on and on, bleeding the president, and inspiring a nation. There’s no way to tell yet. Spare me. Cindy Sheehan is no Rosa Parks. She has her opinions, which should be given a respectful listen. She also has her loss, which deserves sympathy. But neither of these things give her any absolute moral authority to proclaim what is true here. After all, there are thousands of families like hers, many of whom politically or morally support the President. Are their opinions invalidated by the existence of Cindy Sheehan? I will never deny her her right to protest, nor will I call her wrong for feeling the way she feels. It is my right not to agree, though, and I don’t think her demands are reasonable ones. President Bush has met with her, and there are other families who haven’t had this opportunity. I hope he makes an effort to see as many of them as he can. Given the efforts he’s made in the past to do this, I’m sure he will. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/198 "2005-08-15T14:55:22Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > In a related vein: [What Fox News Channel Would Have Done to Rosa Parks](http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050812/cm_huffpost/005514) A fake new article. Wow, that really proves EXACTLY what FoxNews would have done to Rosa Parks and celarly shows that your thesis is stunningly correct. Good job, blog-boy. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/199 "2005-08-15T15:19:20Z")
This thread has gone on for four pages now, and still **rjung** hasn’t bothered to actually back up his specific claims about O’Reilly and Drudge smearing Sheehan. On page two, **John Mace** correctly points out that the two of them have done no such thing. **rjung** responds with a bunch of unrelated cites to blogs and simply repeats his false assertion stating **"And that’s not even counting the stuff from Drudge and O’Reilly et al from earlier this week."** Now, on page four of the thread: **rjung**. Would you care to actually back up your (false) claims that O’Reilly and Drudge have been smearing Cindy Sheehan? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768/200 "2005-08-15T15:48:11Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Spare me. Cindy Sheehan is no Rosa Parks. Crawford Texas is no Bus. Would you have predicted at the time that Park’s little hissy-fit would inspire a movement? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-cheer-the-right-wing-smear-machine/316768.md?page=11)