Sheehan in Brooklyn
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war mother whose son Casey was killed serving in the army in Iraq, will bring her message of hate to Brooklyn tomorrow morning, October 22. She is scheduled to give the keynote address at the “Brooklyn Peace Fair.” The fair has been organized by the group Brooklyn Parents for Peace, which presses a one-sided view of the conflict between Israel and the Arabs, calling for “termination of US military and economic aid that supports the Israeli occupation.”
Last month, Ms. Sheehan ranted in front of a communist-organized anti-war protest in Washington, “The weapons of mass destruction and mass deception reside in this town: They are the neocons, who pull the strings on the members of Congress.” Ms. Sheehan’s writings appear on the Web site lewrockwell.com alongside articles like “Neoconservatism: a CIA Front?” and the claim that “In Israel democracy is upholding genocidal practices against the Palestinians.” She will even headline a benefit conference for lewrockwell.com next month in San Mateo, Calif.
The anti-Israel and anti-neocon crowd has, as usual, found common ground with the camp that thinks the wrong side won the Civil War. A lewrockwell.com contributor, Michael Tuggle, who is chairman of the “North Carolina League of the 1857 South,” told us yesterday in a phone interview that he had traveled to Washington from Charlotte for last month’s anti-war march at which Ms. Sheehan spoke. Mr. Tuggle spoke to us of “the tragic defeat of 1865.” He said, “That was the end of limited government, what the Southern patriots of 1861 fought for.” He said that Washington, D.C., and big business are bigger threats than Al Qaeda. Of Ms. Sheehan, Mr. Tuggle said, “I think she’s a fighter, and I appreciate that.”
We look forward to seeing the columnists who justifiably ganged up on Senators Lott and Ashcroft for their misadventures with the neo-confederates investigate Ms. Sheehan’s ties to lewrockwell.com. Bob Herbert and Stanley Crouch, call your offices.
Ms. Sheehan’s defenders will note that she attended Yom Kippur services in San Francisco; we’d only note that her appearance was at a synagogue whose rabbi, Michael Lerner, distributed a prayer calling for people to atone for “the sins that Israel committed in Jenin, Beit Jalla, in Ramallah and in Hebron, in Tulkarem and in Gaza.” The sad fact is that the Cindy Sheehan who will appear in Brooklyn tomorrow has squandered any moral authority she might have had as a gold star mother, and the pity is for the many great Americans, including her son, who gave their lives on the field of battle.