Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, center, addresses members of the media in front of the Capitol in Washington.
In an August 14, interview on FOX News Sunday, Chris Wallace posed a hypothetical question to John McCain.
Transcript
Referring to Cindy Sheehan, who was camped out in Crawford at the time, Wallace asked:
If you were the president, would you meet with her?
MCCAIN: I don't know if I would or not, Chris, because he did already meet with her once, as you know. And that, I think, probably was sufficient. But this thing has blossomed.
Look, I've been with the president of the United States when he has met with the families of those brave young men and women who have sacrificed. I have seen his compassion, I have seen his love, I have seen his concern. So any charge of insensitivity or uncaring on the part of this president, is absolutely false. He care and he grieves.
WALLACE: Now, I know you were on that campaign trip in June of 2004. Were you in the meeting with him when he met with Cindy Sheehan?
MCCAIN: I don't -- you know, I don't remember her, because there was a number of families. We sort of met separately, but I did see him encounter and try to do his best to comfort these families, and I saw...
WALLACE: So when she talks about callous, jovial, acting like he was at a party?
MCCAIN: I have seen him, I have seen his care, and I have seen him grieve. And I'm sure he wouldn't like to hear me say this, but I saw him afterwards. He was very, very grieved. And that's the job of the president of the United States. He fully appreciates the tragedy of the loss of these brave young Americans.
Apparently, McCain has decided that meeting with Sheehan would be a good idea.
The Village Voice reports that Sheehan and the other members of the Bring Them Home Now tour have "launched a new campaign, Meet With the Mothers, to mobilize other military family members to go to every member of Congress and ask them what noble cause their loved ones are fighting and dying for. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, has agreed to meet with Sheehan on Tuesday, after refusing earlier requests."
Newsmax reports:
On August 24, the Tucson Citizen asked McCain if President Bush was right not to meet with Sheehan.
His response? "If I was president of the United States, I probably wouldn't."
The same day, McCain told the Arizona Star that Sheehan "is probably being used" by anti-war groups.
Obviously, McCain is not the president. He didn't say that as a senator he would not meet with Sheehan, so he really isn't flip-flopping on this.
I won't criticize McCain's decision to meet with her.
However, since Sheehan and her group feel that they have the right to question every member of Congress about Iraq, I feel every member of Congress has the right to question Sheehan about her positions on issues.
I hope during their meeting, McCain demands that Sheehan answers some tough questions.
Here are some good ones--
1) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for..."
Do you really feel that way about America?
Are you intentionally belittling the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of Americans who died serving their country?
2) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "We have this lying bastard, George Bush, taking a 5-week vacation in a time of war."
Do you realize that you sound like a Michael Moore clone?
3) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "When I was growing up, it was Communists. Now it's Terrorists. So you always have to have somebody to fight and be afraid of, so the war machine can build more bombs, guns, and bullets and everything."
Are you suggesting that terrorists do not pose a threat to the United States, even after numerous attacks on Americans and American interests throughout the 1990s?
Are you saying that 3000 innocents were slaughtered on our soil on September 11, 2001, to support the Military-Industrial Complex?
4) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism."
Do you believe the Israelis have a right to statehood?
5) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "Thank God for the Internet, or we wouldn't know anything, and we would already be a fascist state."
Are you saying that the mainstream media tell us nothing and support fascism?
6) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans."
Do you believe it was wrong for the U.S. to act unilaterally and take military action in New Orleans without giving time for UN sanctions to work?
7) Ms. Sheehan, you said: "They’re not waging a War on Terror but a War of Terror. The biggest terrorist is George W. Bush."
Have you always been this stuck on stupid?
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If McCain gets some answers to these questions, I would say that a meeting with Sheehan would be worthwhile.
However, if McCain uses the meeting as a photo-op to promote himself, he is no better than media addict Sheehan.
Maybe they both could use a twelve-step program.
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