>I don't know if Fenton would pursue it, but professional publicists would have to feel a temptation to frame her
>as a grieving Mom at the expense of seeing her as a political figure.
By the way the following is a Fenton production (and, no, it doesn't foreground 'out now'). I called the number on the press release and they answered, "Fenton Communications". But can someone explain how it frames Sheehan as a nonpolitical figure:
Statement by Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson:
The Bush White House and its right wing allies are responding to Cindy Sheehan and the military families’ vigil in Central Texas in the same way that they always respond to bad news– by unleashing personal attacks and smears against her.
This White House never wants an open public discussion, and it certainly never wants to be told that it is wrong. It always tries to change the message by attacking the messenger.
They did it with former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill when he wrote a book that suggested that the White House used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq.
They did it when Richard Clarke revealed that the White House ignored warnings about Bin Laden.
They did it in a most despicable way, as everybody now knows, when they revealed my wife’s identity as a CIA employee because they were unhappy when I spoke the truth and told the American people that President Bush’s claim was false concerning Niger’s giving uranium to Iraq, part of the trumped up rationale for our invasion.
So no one should be surprised that when these mothers and families who have lost loved ones in Iraq step up to question the President, the White House responds not with the respect due them, but with hateful attacks and smears. But enough is enough. Ours is a government of the people, by the people and for the people; and the people in the name of Cindy Sheehan are right in demanding accountability for the tragedy foisted upon our great nation by this administration. To smear her rather than hear her is un-American and undemocratic.
/ Joseph C. Wilson IV was U.S. Ambassador to Gabon from 1992-1995 and is an international business consultant. /