Cindy Sheehan: “As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union address last night.

I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country.

There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press (shocker). So this is what really happened…” (TruthOut)

Representative Lynn Woolsey’s statement regarding Cindy Sheehan. “Much has been made of the arrest of Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan before last night’s State of the Union address. Mainstream media coverage has made it seem as if Sheehan was in the balcony of the House of Representatives under false pretenses. In fact, she was invited. Representative Lynn Woolsey, Democrat of California, personally purchased a ticket to the speech for Sheehan. Rep. Woolsey today issued the following statement regarding Cindy Sheehan’s arrest in the gallery of the House of Representatives before the State of the Union address. (TruthOut):

“Since when is free speech conditional on whether you agree with the President? Cindy Sheehan, who gave her own flesh and blood for this disastrous war, did not violate any rules of the House of Representatives. She merely wore a shirt that highlighted the human cost of the Iraq war and expressed a view different than that of the President. Free speech and the First Amendment exist to protect dissenting statements like Ms. Sheehan’s last night.”

“Stifling the truth will not blind Americans to the immorality of sending young Americans to die in an unnecessary war, against a nation that posed no threat to our security. The President’s speech last night was yet another attempt to distort history, as he suggested – once again – that the 9/11 terrorists came from Iraq. Everyone knows this is not true. We must not be afraid to say that the emperor has no clothes. It’s time to bring our troops home.”

“Remember the ‘Marlboro Man’ marine? He’s now 21, home from Iraq and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

‘The photo of the ‘Marlboro Man’ in Fallujah became a symbol of the Iraq conflict when it ran in newspapers across America in 2004. Now the soldier has returned home to Kentucky,where he battles the demons of post-traumatic stress….The man in the photograph is James Blake Miller, now 21, and he is an icon, although in ways [Dan] Rather probably never imagined.
He’s quieter now — easier to anger. He turns to fight at the sound of a backfire, can’t look at fireworks without thinking of fire raining down on a city. He has trouble sleeping, and when he does, his fingers twitch on invisible triggers. The diagnosis: post-traumatic stress disorder. ‘

After returning home and being diagnosed with PTSD by a military psychiatrist, the military still wasn’t finished with him. They sent him to New Orleans to help bring law and order to the city in the wake of the Katrina disaster…” — Jeralyn Merritt (Huffington Post via walker)