Morgan appeared to deny American Mourning is “a Cindy Sheehan talk-trash book” -- but the book accuses Sheehan of Internet porn addiction

Written by Rob Dietz

Published

On the October 18 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck asked radio host Melanie Morgan, co-author of American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War, Torn by Beliefs (WND Books, October 2006), whether the book is a “Cindy Sheehan talk-trash book. Because, honestly, I've heard so much -- is there anything new about Cindy Sheehan that I don't already know?” Sheehan is an anti-war activist whose son was killed in Iraq. Morgan responded that “there's a lot of new things in there,” but then contradicted herself, asserting: “Well, not a lot. I mean, this isn't about Cindy Sheehan.” But as Media Matters for America noted, while American Mourning is purportedly a biography of two families who lost soldiers in Iraq, including the family of Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, Morgan and co-author Catherine Moy assert in the book that, following Casey's death in Iraq in April 2004, “Cindy had become addicted to online chat rooms of a pornographic nature” and “eventually had physical rendezvous as well.” As Media Matters further noted, on the October 16 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Morgan, Moy, and co-host Sean Hannity compared Sheehan's purported interest in online pornography to sexually explicit instant messages former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) allegedly sent to underage congressional pages.

Morgan, who is the chairman of the conservative organization Move America Forward (MAF), helped organize MAF's You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" Tour in August 2005.

From the October 18 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: OK. So, do the families know each other?

MORGAN: No, they don't. Jan Johnson actually emailed to Cindy Sheehan and tried to communicate with her after the death of their sons, but Cindy Sheehan refused to return any email from her.

BECK: So, this is not a Cindy Sheehan talk-trash book? Because, I, honestly, I've heard so much -- is there anything new about Cindy Sheehan that I don't already know?

MORGAN: Oh, there's a lot of new things in there. Well, not a lot. I mean, this isn't about Cindy Sheehan.