Who is telling the truth?

One of the claims made by Cindy Sheehan is that when President Bush met with her family and others who had lost a loved one in the War on Terror he seem jovial. Besides the fact that such behavior would be contradictory to her account immediately following the meeting it would also be completely out of character for President Bush. Betsy Newmark has links to a Newsweek story today which recounts several family's meetings with President Bush.

Privately, Bush has met with about 900 family members of some 270 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The conversations are closed to the press, and Bush does not like to talk about what goes on in these grieving sessions, though there have been hints. An hour after he met with the families at Fort Bragg in June, he gave a hard-line speech on national TV. When he mentioned the sacrifice of military families, his lips visibly quivered.

Some Dems and their assistants in the media have suggested that President Bush should go talk to Ms. Sheehan. He rightfully is ignoring these recommendations. He has met with her. Meeting with her now in the circus environment outside his ranch would just be a spectacle used to embarrass him.