Would you believe Cindy Sheehan, Nobel Peace Prize winner?
At a signing for her new book "Peace Mom” in Austin, Texas, Sheehan — President Bush’s most vocal critic against the war in Iraq — announced that she is a finalist for the Nobel Peace Prize.
But the committee that selects the winner of the prize, which is to be awarded on Friday, Oct. 13, has not revealed the list of nominees to Sheehan or anyone else, and has stated only that it had received 191 names by the Feb. 1 deadline.
What’s more, various sites that accept bets on who will be the eventual winner do not list Sheehan as one of the favorites.
Meanwhile, the book by Sheehan is being vastly outsold by a book about Cindy Sheehan — "American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War, Torn by Beliefs,” co-authored by Melanie Morgan.
Story Continues Below
Morgan, president of Move America Forward and co-host of the top-rated drive-time radio show in San Francisco, compares Sheehan’s actions following the death of her son Casey in Iraq with those of another family that lost a son in the war, Joe and Jan Johnson.
As Morgan points out, Sheehan has called Muslim radicals who killed the two soldiers "freedom fighters” and camped outside President Bush’s Texas ranch demanding to meet with him, becoming a media phenomenon in the process.
The Johnsons, on the other hand, still support the war.
Morgan and co-author Catherine Moy explore other differences:
The Sheehan family has been torn apart by Cindy’s actions, and she and her husband are divorcing. The Johnson family bonded in the wake of the tragedy, and come together for reunions at least once a month.
Sheehan has accepted money to speak about her son and against the war. The Johnsons have refused any money but speak freely when asked to.
Justin Johnson’s final resting place is decorated with flags and miniature Uncle Sam figures. Casey Sheehan’s has no marker.
The Johnsons tried to contact Cindy to talk about their sons, who became best friends after they met at Fort Hood in Texas. But Sheehan calls the Johnsons "brainwashed.”
"American Mourning” ranks No. 6,310 in sales among all books available from Amazon.com. "Peace Mom” stands at No. 207,064.