Michael Moore does not speak for them

When Eva sent me a note she wrote in protest after Michael Moore posted a picture of President Bush — composed of the images of our fallen including her son from Iraq — I promised to publish her words. Heroes deserve as much. And people like Moore should be challenged. ''I will not allow the Michael Moores of this world to take my son's death and turn it and twist it to suit their own greedy and malicious purposes,'' she told me. Eva is right. For Moore to represent himself as speaking for America's war dead in Iraq is like him claiming to be a spokesman for Weight Watchers. And consider the outrage and insult of a stranger using your son's image for their punitive politics. This is not the first time Moore has stooped so low. He used footage of the funeral of U.S. Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone for Fahrenheit 9/11. Maj. Stone's family told The Washington Times: ''We are furious that Greg was in that casket and cannot defend himself,'' Kandi Gallagher, Maj. Stone's aunt, said. ''And my sister, Greg's mother … called him (Moore) a 'maggot that eats off the dead.''' Gold Star families are capable of speaking for themselves (for Bush or against). I know four such families personally. And Eva Savage's response to Moore is most appropriate for Veterans Day: ''I am the mother of a United States Marine. Jeremiah was killed in action in Ramadi, Iraq on May 12, 2004. ''People like Moore would have you believe that we hold President Bush responsible for my son's death. Michael Moore has not spoken to me — ever. So he cannot profess to know how I feel. He is a coward who thrives on the lives of others by twisting the truth and rewriting it to suit his own agenda... "...I will continue to speak out against closed-minded cowards like Michael Moore. I used to be afraid to say what I thought for the way someone would think of me. Not any more. You do not walk in my shoes, Mr. Moore. You do not know what I feel or think. Until you have stood where I stand, do not put words in my mouth. ''I have a voice, and it is about damn time I stop being silent. My son died giving me the right to speak, and speak loud. I will not allow his name or even his picture be disgraced...'

Michael Moore does not speak for them