Widows Give Bush an Earful

[wookie294]

Thursday, Apr 14, 2005; 12:03 PM

Behind closed doors at the Ft. Hood army base on Tuesday, President Bush got an earful from some Iraq-war widows, who told him that the way the government is treating them is disgraceful.

"I just told him it was very wrong," one of the widows, Linnie Blankenbecler, 47, told me yesterday. "I was not intimidated by the president. My hardest reality was the death of my husband."

Bush spent more than three hours Tuesday meeting with 33 families of soldiers who died in Iraq. But the meetings were closed to the press and the White House only released sketchy details about what his interactions were like. (See yesterday's column.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/

[goodboy]

1. this should be on the front page of every paper....nominating.

[underpants]

2. #2 It's there now or should be

Okay now I need to read the WHOLE article. The summary was enough for me.

[CatWoman]

3. I nominated it as well

[underpants]

4. She is still a W supporter and doesn't blame him for the war

but she says that she has been waiting a year and a half to hear W say he was sorry.

[suegeo]

7. I read that and I'm still shaking my head

What will it take to wake people up? The death of her husband didn't do it. What will?

[renaissanceguy]

10. She probably still supports him because

he won't let those gays get married.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14741193

[still_one]

11. she is an idiot

I give this country about 7 more years, and who knows how many deaths before they realize how they have been screwed

[not fooled]

55. we know, even if the morans don't yet...

...that it's only a matter of time before they realize how badly they've been screwed. But, apparently gonna be a good long while, maybe not until the upcoming * depression reaches its nadir.

stupid, stupid, stupid. how did 'Murka end up this brainless???

[TexasLawyer]

16. 9/11

She probably also believes that Iraq was behind 9/11. I put some of the blame for that misperception on FOX and some of the other RNC-talking point-spouting MSM.

"Linnie Blankenbecler told me she is, and remains, a Bush supporter. She said she doesn't blame him ... for the war or for the stinginess with which the government is remunerating survivors."

[tsuki]

26. She probably still blames the $35 blue dress from the Gap.

[Zeke]

34. Thirsty ?

A big glass O Kool-Aid for that lady.

[cheezus]

25. duh she's a bush supporter... think she'd be able to meet if she wasn't?

c'mon. every group is heavily screened.

[holboz]

39. definite food for thought...

but the whole notion that she supports this yahoo in spite of all she's endured, God bless her, baffles me completely.

[AuntiBush]

56. Except for Beazely

Always feelin' for that wire...

Long as they keep the Kool-Aid free the supporters are like blind mice!


REUTERS

[OneTwentyoNine]

49. Couldn't believe what I was reading.....

Her husband is dead over a trumped up fucking mess,the government is screwing you over..and,uhhhh that would be the Bush administration unless you still blame everything on Bill Clinton.

And yet she still supports Bush and the War. Let me guess,went ballistic when it was found out that Clenis got a BJ...

[Zeke]

33. The Sacramento Bee Newspaper

Bush's poll numbers are the lowest ever!

And so: Wednesday's Bee, page one above the fold,
dsiplayed a color pic of Bush surrounded
by flag waving soldiers and soldier families.

The headline: BUSH THANKS THE TROOPS.

And Rupert Murdoch wonders why bloggers
pay no attention to the MSMedia.

[NightOwwl]

41. I canceled my subscription after they ran that maudlin

story comparing a retarded girl on a feeding tube to Terri Schiavo. And they ran it ON THE FRONT PAGE!

I wrote a scathing letter to the Bee about the article. The Public Editor called me to get more information, and some of my comments were printed in Sunday's paper two week ago.

The Bee was one of the last remaining places I felt I could get an impartial analysis of the news. Not anymore.

[Voltaire99]

58. Bravo for your letter and cancellation. (nt)

[NightOwwl]

62. Thank you Voltaire99.

:toast:

[fryguy]

5. this should be the front page of every newspaper

nominated . .

"He said he was sorry that I was disappointed, and that there's so many bills out there. I just got the impression that he didn't know which one I was talking about, and he probably didn't realize what he had done."

[mark11727]

43. Did he love her as hard as he could...?

It's hard work, y'know...?

[Virginian]

53. He doesn't read what he signs?

Somebody quick, slip a check for a large donation to the Democratic party across his desk and see if he reads it before he signs it.

[fryguy]

61. better yet . . .

put a letter of resignation in front of him . . .

[SammyWinstonJack]

65. I'd say that sums up everything **

"I just got the impression that he didn't know which one I was talking about, and he probably didn't realize what he had done." IOW, chimpy DOESN'T GIVE A RAT'S A$$ ABOUT ANYONE HE DEEMS LESS IMPORTANT THEN HIMSELF, WHICH IS CLEARLY EVERYONE WHO DOESN'T THROW MONEY IN HIS DIRECTION! Why don't these bush** supporters get that? How many different ways does bush** have screw them over until they finally get that he is all about the "have mores" and no one else? :banghead: :rant:

[BOSSHOG]

6. The last thing a politician wants to do is

piss off a group of Military spouses. They don't give a fuck who you are or what your title is, just what you did or are doing. God Bless Em!

[still_one]

8. she is still a * supporter, and does not blame him for the war

Linnie Blankenbecler you are paying for the consequence of your actions

no body put a gun to your head and told you to vote for * in the second term.

You knew he was a snake, and you got bit

[TexasLawyer]

13. Total Disconnect!

What is wrong with people??!!??


"Linnie Blankenbecler told me she is, and remains, a Bush supporter. She said she doesn't blame him either for the war or for the stinginess with which the government is remunerating survivors."

[AuntiBush]

57. They are D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D from R-E-A-L-I-T-Y

And the Smirking-Chimp's gay buddy Jeff said we were.

[sellitman]

60. bush the lesser should hire her for his re-election committee (Term 3)

[Ganja Ninja]

24. It's not as if the media is ever going to cover someone ...

that is really giving Bush an ear full. When ever anybody tries they get kick out. This is just another cover story to make it seem like, 1. Bush cares enough to listen to a widow and 2. Despite her loss she still thinks the sun rises and sets in his ass. It's suppose to make him look like a compassionate conservative that all loyal American's support.

Now it's back to trying to steal Social Security and cutting Veterans benefits.

[HockeyMom]

46. Local Media (9/11 widow)

covered it when one 9/11 widow refused to shake Bush's hand when he went to that ground breaking memorial in NY for 9/11 victims. This was two years ago and the widow refused to shake his hand and said, "Where is Osama BinLanden, Mr. President." You are right wasn't reported in the national media.

[Virginian]

54. The reporter is looking for stories from widows who don't support the war.

He wants to know if any of them were invited and if so if they spoke with the President. I think they have to be part of the widows' support group at Fort Hood. One Fort Hood widow was not invited to see him, but her husband died Stateside supporting the war instead of in Iraq. Reporter wants to know who else was and wasn't invited. He wants to know if the invitees were cherry picked out of supporters of Bush and his war.

[nine30]

30. Thats why she was allowed in behind closed doors.

..Do you think there was any other way they would let her in ?
They are all carefully screened first, much like Cheney's "town-hall" type meetings.

[still_one]

35. sorry but that is no excuse

that is the way she feels

when she spoke to the press outside, she expressed her support for the * policies

[medeak]

9. Bush doesn't know what he's signing

And he said he was sorry that I was disappointed, and that there's so many bills out there. I just got the impression that he didn't know which one I was talking about, and he probably didn't realize what he had done."

something I've suspected all along....

[yorkiemommie1]

19. and she still gives him a pass

...because he's such a touchy feely kinda guy. my gawd, woman! and you give him another pass all the while acknowledging that he doesn't know what's in the bills he signs? lady, come ON!!!

[daleo]

38. I bet Clinton knew every bill he signed.

Seriously, he probably could have recited them by heart. Not that everyone who is ever president should be held to that standard, but it was reassuring to know someone that smart was in the Whitehouse.

[holboz]

40. Understatement of the year...

"...and he probably didn't realize what he had done."

And probably the best one-liner to sum up Georgie's eight years as President. I couldn't have put it better myself.

[Wright Patman]

12. I just don't get it

You can count the number of "just wars" this country has gotten into on the fingers of one hand and yet people still fall for it generation after generation.

It must be something in the reptilian part of the human brain that provokes a desire to sign up for a profession based on contract killing of people you've never met, mostly women and children.

And it must be something in the reptilian brain of the women that causes them to think this kind of person is "attractive."

While I have sympathy (at least as much as * does, not that that's saying a lot) for the widow, the human race will not evolve much farther as long as there is a country ruling North America which indulges these atavistic desires to go off to war like modern-day Vikings every few years.

I have been very pessimistic about the viability of the human race ever since I saw the reptilian reaction to 9-11. No one even cared what the real story might be behind it. They just wanted to participate vicariously in the slaughter of the scapegoated.

[Voltaire99]

59. Thanks for this brilliant post. (nt)

[Mandate My Ass]

14. Christ on a cracker

"I know that he doesn't understand everything that he signs, completely. So he asked one of his aides if he knew which bill I was talking about, and he told the guy to check into that.

"And he said he was sorry that I was disappointed, and that there's so many bills out there. I just got the impression that he didn't know which one I was talking about, and he probably didn't realize what he had done."

How freaking pathetic. I'm so sorry this woman lost her husband but she needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Less than a month after he sent troops to Iraq he started cutting vets' benefits and he's cut them every year since. Everything he signs screws someone, this time it just happened to be her.

[leesa]

23. The very DAY the bombing started, immediately after the full

House passed a bill supporting the troops, the GOP (100%) passed a bill cutting benefits to the troops. All Dems opposed it. This woman is a fool...she is part of the problem with America.

[leftchick]

63. lack of critical thinking skills

It is required to be a repuke these days. They can't even connect two fucking dots... bush lies, Iraq War = needless deaths of loved ones.

[Lindacooks]

28. Look at the way his response was framed.

"he was sorry that I was disappointed".

That's classic abusive husband language. Notice he doesn't say he was sorry, but he was sorry about her reaction - in other words, he shifts the problem right back onto her.

[Mandate My Ass]

31. Yes, that jumped out at me too

He always uses abusive language, particularly when talking to women. He is a sociopath.

[buff2]

45. But the sad part is......

she's still bending over for him. That woman is a total idiot.

[PATRICK]

51. You are missing the boat cruelly here

The immediate "bending over backward" is being done by the media glossing over a secretive screened meeting.

Then please try to imagine the horror, the shock and perhaps madness of trying to realize your loved one died for nothing and his lazy, ignorant killer is sitting right across from you. They spoke their minds and hearts but IF they hated this guy before they came in would they have gone berserk on the spot? What would you or I do if confronting this monster reduced to human level yet still the "Prez"?

She is being victimized by the press, by Bush constantly. She is trying to vent through the traditional channels with great courage but the gap you expect her to cross is more emotionally vast and devastating than anything you or I(I hope) have personally experienced with this gang.

Note that this is the best the paper can do for the Chimperor,
Always always consider the propaganda wall that filters this stuff and place real blame where blame and outrage is due. WAPO and Bushco are "innocents" awash in thier victim's blood.

[Emboldened Chimp]

15. What a WIMP

He knew they'd chew his ass out, which is why the press was barred. They should demand a similar meeting IN PUBLIC. What a wuss.

[DeepModem Mom]

17. I thought all those "whoo-ahs" were a little weak yesterday. nt

[Judi Lynn]

29. You're right. They were completely half-hearted.Not enthusiastic at all.

I noted one time he stopped to wait for the "whoo-ah" and nothing happened. He waited for a noticeable moment before resuming his "speech." Idiot!

[Pirate Smile]

18. There is a part from a Widow against the War but she didn't get to meet

Georgieboy.

"I have to wonder what Bush would say -- or has said -- faced with a widow who didn't support the war.

It might have happened on Tuesday if widow Shelann Clapp had been invited to meet with him. But she wasn't.

Clapp's exclusion apparently had everything to do with the fact that her husband died in a stateside accident -- and nothing to do with her opposition to the war, which until speaking with me yesterday she hadn't talked about in public.

But she's angry.

"I'm not a good military wife anymore, I'm an angry military wife. I'm an angry military widow," she said."

Reading her statement makes me very glad Kerry's Amendment which passed yesterday didn't make the distinction between Military deaths in the combat zone and everyone one else - which is what the Republicans wanted and Sen. Stevens argued for on the Senate floor yesterday.

"Her husband of 28 years, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Douglas V. Clapp, died in November in a helicopter crash not far from Fort Hood. The Black Hawk in which he was a passenger was headed to check out equipment being readied for use in Iraq when it hit support wires from a TV transmission tower. He'd served in the military for more than 30 years and had recently returned from a deployment in Iraq.

What Shelann Clapp is angriest about is that she didn't even hear that Bush was meeting with survivor families until the next day.

"Maybe my husband didn't really count," she said.

"I disagree with a distinction being made between soldiers that died in the war and soldiers that died supporting the war. . . . He's still not home with my family."

[Dawgs]

20. Reading further we find out that these were the widows that still..

support him. Imagine that... Bush meeting with only those that support him. By doing that, it makes Bush look like the good guy.

"He's very compassionate and touchy..." WTF is that all about!!!! This guy sent your husband to die for oil. Wake the Fuck up!!!

At least this article puts in the point of view from somebody who doesn't support him.

[ernstbass]

21. They still support W?

Absolutely pathetic!! I have no sympathy for them. this is a case of getting just what you voted for!!

[still_one]

36. my feelings exactly

[The_Casual_Observer]

22. Bush told the GI rally the same old shit, "we have brought the war

to them so we don't have to fight them in the red states" and the rest of that crap. It was pathetic in it's irrelevance.

[alfredo]

27. We have to let the media know that he only invited those widows

who support him and his war.

[JohnyCanuck]

32. Here's one dead soldier's mom Dubya's in no hurry to meet.

Dear George and Dick,

I apologize (not really, you don't deserve my apologies) for the familiarity, but I don't call the people responsible for my son's death: Mr, or Sir, nor do I have any respect for the offices that you have defiled. The only thing you both mean to me is pain and devastation. George and Dick, you are both shameful cowards who are sending our brave young people to die to make yourselves and your buddies unbelievably and fabulously wealthy. Neither of you have any idea of the true human, sorrowful cost of war nor do you care that you are ruining lives by the thousands and thousands. You both disgust me beyond belief. You are not, never have been, and never will be my President or Vice President.

This is what your irresponsible and reckless policies took from me: One year and four days ago my son, Casey Sheehan, was one of the consequences of your lies and betrayals. One of the tens of thousands that your arrogant, pre-emptive, imperialistic policies have killed. I don't know how any of you can sleep at night...I know I can't.

I have wanted to write this letter for over a year.

We know the intelligence leading to the war was "dead" wrong and gleaned from a known liar (your administration likes liars...familiarity, and all), so I have a question for you...

Why are Americans and Iraqis still dying every day?

More at: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan4.html

[aprillcm]

37. uggh the woman and half this country are nuts!!

Blankenbecler is most upset about two things.

One is the rule that widows call the SBP-DIC offset, which actually takes away a dollar from one
benefit for every dollar they get in the other.

"It's disgusting," Blankenbecler said.

The second is a provision in a bill Bush signed in December 2003 that added an extra $250 per
dependent child to the DIC payment. But widows whose husbands died before the effective date --
Jan. 1, 2005 -- saw little or nothing of that benefit.

Blankenbecler said that's grossly unfair.

"I told him I was very disappointed that he would sign something like that," she said. "I know
that he doesn't understand everything that he signs, completely. So he asked one of his aides if
he knew which bill I was talking about, and he told the guy to check into that.

"And he said he was sorry that I was disappointed, and that there's so many bills out there. I
just got the impression that he didn't know which one I was talking about, and he probably didn't
realize what he had done."

My Comments on this: Since when do we the American people accept that the President does not fully
understand the things he signs? Some Americans have truly lost their minds, The President has a
staff full of people who are supposed to explain what he is signing to him its very important that
the President not only KNOW what he is signing but actually UNDERSTAND the content. For a host of
reasons that I know I don?t have to explain to you all. But maybe someone needs to explain this to
the rest of America because I am frankly sick of hearing how its okay that the President of This
COUNTRY does not understand or know what he is doing. Here is a woman whose husband was sent off
to war by this President being okay with him no knowing or understanding what he is doing, I have
no grasp of how someone who loves their spouse or family member can be okay with this. My friends
hug me and kiss my forehead and touch my hand when I am grieving all the time yet I don?t think
many of them are qualified to be President. Well judging by this standard they are prob more
qualified than Bush, because not one of them leave me after a few minutes they show true
compassion by sticking around and helping out!!

[understandinglife]

42. A day to reflect on all that must be done to stop the horrid, illegal...

....actions in Iraq, and elsewhere, being perpetrated in the name of "America" by the criminal theocratic neoconsters.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[deadparrot]

44. Son of a bitch.

I loathe him.

How dare he pull this kind of shit over people who have LOST FAMILY because he got horny for oil?

It makes me physically ill to think that this pompous ass is in charge of our country for almost four more years.

:puke: :puke: :puke:

Breathe. Breathe. 2006. Breathe.

[ignatius 2]

47. Of course they were closed to the press and to the people of this

country. If any difficult questions are asked or any kind of contradictions to King George's policies are discussed it is closed up tighter than Ann Coulter's mind.

This,the most secretive administration ever, is spreading democracy and freedom. What a fucking joke that is.

[xray s]

48. I am sorry. I have no sympathy for this woman.

She is obviously an idiot.

No way I am going to sympathize with people who have enabled Bush to kill. Not when one of my own family members life may be on the line someday because of Bush's war for oil.

We are at war and people are dying because of people like Linnie Blankenbecler who support this monster.

[SlowDownFast]

52. Indeed. Very hard to sympathize

with someone who has allowed herself to be brainwashed and refuses to look at the obvious facts regarding the war in Iraq, even though she has lost a husband. Somehow, I suspect people like this might actually have secret doubts about Bush's War, but maintain the Ostrich Effect because they know that to investigate those doubts and reveal the truth is ultimately to admit that they were wrong, and that ego trip is more painful to their stubborn psyches than the death of a loved one.

Pitiful...

[OneTwentyoNine]

50. Oh yeah...wait till that CC company bankruptcy law takes effect.....

Better hope that the bill aren't piling up because your husband is gone and that income is lost. Bush and his CC cronies don't give a RATS ASS lady,they'll screw over a military family just as fast as any other.

Stupid is as stupid does....

[yorkiemommie1]

67. she's not going to make the connection

these people are getting the government they deserve. too bad the rest of us are getting it too.

[bushisanidiot]

64. Doh! President Pussy get's bitchslapped by his "supporters" AGAIN!

serves him right.

[Massachusetts]

66. A very good artilce that sheds a bright light

A Very Short History of Neoconservatism

http://www.mediatransparency.org/neocons.php