What I meant, Angel, was that the media is controlled (television, newspaper, and most radio) so that the talking heads can say whatever they want and censor or ignore completely the response to what they said to make it sound like everyone is in agreement with them, aka the Bully Pulpit. If Cindy Sheehan and her group had dressed in their Sunday best and asked to hold a debate with General Petraeus in front of network television cameras, they would either be mocked or ignored. So, had they not gone to Washington to make their feelings known in the only manner left to them where people would take notice of them, Petraeus' carefully prepared report, drafted and vetted by Bush and Company, would have been accepted at face value by the general public. Video: Claim v. Fact on Iraq Petraeus' Testimony on the Status of Operations in Iraq Yes, those of us that value Freedom of Speech still have the Internet and are free to exchange ideas and speak our truths, but most people don't get their news and information from the Internet. They get it from the controlled media. So, Sheehan did what she needed to do to bring attention to the lies and half-truths being told by Petraeus to Congress. She has already done a lot to make sure people notice what passes for facts over the past several years and surely she has developed a thick skin for what ridicule has already and will come her way over what took place in Washington today. People (hopefully) will be more interested now in looking deeper into what Petraeus/Bush reported and will (hopefully) do some due diligence before accepting his report as cold, hard fact. Plus, really, why did they let her in the gallery in Congress at all? Cindy Sheehan has not exactly been reclusive these past few years. No doubt she and her Code Pink group are on at least one list in alphabetland in Washington, so someone in charge of the Department of Fatherland--er, Homeland--Security must have known that she wasn't there to cheerlead for Petraeus and the war. Could she and her group have been baited to do what she did to bring credibility to the report? (Everyone agrees with the report except for those screeching hippies in the back row!) Sometimes I don't know what to think anymore. _______________________________________________________ "Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it doth prosper, none dare call it treason." -Sir John Harrington, 1561-1612

I forgot for a moment that you believe that war is good and anyone against the war for any reason whatsoever is a "hippy" and "ignorant". Maybe it's because you have nothing vested in the war and can sit safely thousands of miles away from behind the safety of your keyboard and "support" the war. Cindy Sheehan lost her son in the phony war, therefore she has earned her right to be pissed about the conduct of Bush's regime. As far as "rules and regulations" are concerned, perhaps we should revisit the oath that all officers and even the president take to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic". What Bush has done to the Constitution goes against everything the Founders intended and is itself a crime against the Constitution. Unfortunately, you have been unable to look beyond your own bias and recognize that Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink were forced to do what they did for the very reason than every other avenue of protest was removed from them. For that reason, I support them fully. _______________________________________________________ "Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it doth prosper, none dare call it treason." -Sir John Harrington, 1561-1612

Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink had every right to be there to counter the lies being spoken by Petraeus, if we still live in a place where freedom of speech is valued. Since the media is controlled and too high a percentage of the American public still believes everything they hear, read, or see via said media, someone has to step up and show that not everything that comes forth out of the mouth of the talking heads in and out of uniform is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. What should be decried and bemoaned is not the fact that Sheehan and Company "disrupted" the festivities, but the fact that the American people must resort to such tactics to make their voice heard. _______________________________________________________ "Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it doth prosper, none dare call it treason." -Sir John Harrington, 1561-1612