I agree with you there. My guess is that she never expected W to meet with her, but figured it was a good way to publicize her cause. If so, then it is hard to argue with her results. It was smart of her to stage her demonstration out on the Texas prairie rather than on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House where she would be just another demonstrator.That's a close call. I can see a few ways she can justify her position. For one, I think she would say that W lied to her son just like she believes he lied to the rest of the country. If that is her belief, then her only criticism of her son is that he was gullible. The second reason she might rely upon is that her son made an unwise but honorable choice. Lots of mothers criticize their sons' choices. That does not make them bad mothers. Nor does it dishonor their sons.

I take it that Casey Sheehan was a professional soldier. He never had any intention other than to defend the country. As such, he had no real choice when the Commander in Chief sent him to Iraq. It wasn't his place to question his orders or abandon his comrades. All of which only justifies his mother's anger at W. When honorable men and women put their lives on the line, the President has to be scrupulously honest in deciding whether to send them into harm's way. If Cindy Sheehan believes that W violated that trust, then it would dishonor her son were she to remain silent.

I don't know what is in Sheehan's heart, but I think that she believes that her son was a great man who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. I don't see her opposition to W as being inconsistent with honoring her son, although it is easy to see why so many people disagree with me on that.