Eli points out that Bush has a double standard when it comes to meeting with women whose loved ones were killed in Iraq:

George Bush has claimed repeatedly that he doesn’t need to meet with Cindy Sheehan because he has already met with her, and it’s a line that his supporters repeat frequently as well. Just one little itty bitty problem. Today, trying to counter Sheehan’s influence while in Idaho, Bush met with Dawn Rowe (as seen and interviewed on CNN; doesn’t appear to be online at the moment). Rowe’s husband was killed in Iraq, and this was the second time Bush has met with her. Want to meet with George Bush? All you have to do is to agree with him. Anyone else? Go stand in the street. Or a ditch. Preferably a long way away.

And in further news about our “balanced” media:

An Idaho paper is now the one and only place I can find a written record of Rowe’s meeting with Bush. And in a second article from that paper, we learn why Rowe made the trip from California to meet with Bush - it’s because she was mad that her sister-in-law (the dead Marine’s sister) had attended a peace vigil protesting the war! Here’s more about Diana Rowe Pauls and the Cindy Sheehan connection:

“Rowe Pauls said she ‘held her tongue’ for almost a year until she saw Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year, camping out near Bush’s home in Crawford, Texas.

“‘When I saw Cindy Sheehan and the Gold Star Families for Peace and veterans from Iraq, veterans from Vietnam and current active military all beginning to speak out publicly with the same questions and concerns that I had, I wanted to start asking those questions publicly as well,’ Rowe-Pauls said.

“To make some peace with her mother, Rowe Pauls said she’s agreed to not use her brother’s name in future protests of the war.”

There’s an important lesson to be learned here - there are a lot more people opposed to the war than the number who are willing to protest, but every time you (or I) protest, that helps to make those people realize that they are not alone, and in turn helps to inspire more protest. That’s what it’s all about, folks.

Incidentally, when members of Cindy Sheehan’s family announced their opposition to Sheehan’s stance, the media made a big deal of it and gave them lots of coverage. Do you suppose they’ll be giving the same coverage to Diana Rowe Pauls? I doubt it.