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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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 Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:15 pm Post subject: In Texas, A Time to Circle the Minivans |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081301306.html
| Quote: | In Texas, A Time to Circle the Minivans
Activists Protest the War, Or Protest the Protesters
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 14, 2005; Page D01
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 13 -- Barbara Cummings was home in San Diego Monday, listening to an Air America radio broadcast, when she heard the tale of a woman who was coming here to join Cindy Sheehan in her growing protest against the war in Iraq.
The woman on the radio had a son who had signed on for a second tour of duty in the Army after losing his job. In two weeks, he is scheduled to ship out to Iraq. Cummings jumped on the phone and called her friend, Gloria Polk. "I asked her, 'Are you following the Cindy Sheehan story?' And she was."
The next day, the two retirees hopped in a rented minivan for the 22-hour drive to the heart of Texas.
Today, Cummings found herself in front of the Crawford Peace House, a gathering place for protesters, holding a hand-lettered sign. She was directing a stream of cars descending on this normally sleepy town to a dirt parking lot adjacent to a nearby high school football field.
Polk, meanwhile, was at the wheel of her blue Dodge Caravan, shuttling protesters up to the roadside campsite near President Bush's 1,600-acre ranch where Sheehan has been holding her defiant vigil for more than a week.
"We're both here because of our grandchildren," Cummings explained. "It feels like a word-of-mouth thing. Everybody I meet is saying they had to be here."
While the antiwar activists buzzed around the Peace House preparing for a scheduled rally, more than 150 flag-waving marchers made their way toward Sheehan's camp to show their support for the war. Also, a lone demonstrator drove a pickup truck blaring country music with a large American flag flying from its bed. A sign on his door read: "Texas Is Bush Country."
James Vergauwen and his wife, Wynell, preferred to stay put next to their Harley to make their point. "I'm just here to let the president and the troops know that there are people here who do support them," said James Vergauwen, who wore a cap emblazoned "The price of freedom is not free."
"I don't agree with the president about everything. I just wish Cindy Sheehan could spend one hour in the president's shoes making tough decisions."
Several hundred antiwar protesters converged on Crawford today, and many of them had similar stories. They believe that Sheehan, a 48-year-old mother from Vacaville, Calif., whose son was killed in Iraq last year, has magically ignited a struggling peace movement with her quiet, but defiant protest.
"It's just a miracle what's going on here," said Bill Mitchell, who lost his son, Michael, in Iraq on April 4, 2004 -- the same day that Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed. Along with Sheehan, he has protested the war for more than a year and helped organize other military families in support of their cause. But often it seemed that no one cared. "We've worked so long and hard to get our message out," he said.
Ray McGovern, a former intelligence official turned antiwar activist, came down from Virginia to support Sheehan. "I think Cindy has lit a spark where Americans can identify with the human costs of the war," he said.
While Sheehan's protest has received the aid of public relations pros, political operatives and even a television spot since it started last Saturday, many of the people drawn here said it was because of her simple but compelling story. Sheehan is the grieving mother of a fallen soldier and she wants the president to explain to her why .
"I'm here just to support this lady and show there is support for getting out of Iraq and stopping this maniac from doing what he is doing," said Lawrence Reuben, a Vietnam veteran and a helicopter technician, from nearby Benton, Tex. "Why can't the president just stop and talk to the woman and say, 'Lady, I know where you're coming from. This war is not going the way I intended.' "
At the Peace House, a small wood-frame cottage just across the railroad tracks from this town's only traffic signal, things were humming. Outside, the parents of fallen soldiers were doing interviews with reporters while volunteers prepared signs, sold T-shirts and buttons and offered food and water to protesters.
Before Sheehan's arrival, the house, established in 2003 by Dallas peace activists, had $121 in the bank and its phone cut off because of overdue bills. But once word of Sheehan's protest took flight, money began to flow in. A woman from Italy paid for a large party tent, coolers and a generator. Other strangers sent checks and made deposits directly into the group's PayPal account. In one week, the house has amassed enough money to pay off its $40,000 mortgage.
"I've been walking around with my mouth open and in a daze for the past two or three days," said Kay Lucas, the Peace House director. "It's a blessing, a miracle. It's like the parable of the loaves and the fishes. The money and the phone calls and the letters of support have all been phenomenal."
Lucas said that the staff of the Peace House sent an e-mail to Sheehan once they learned that she planned to come to Crawford. Since her arrival, the house has been a sanctuary, a place for Sheehan and other protesters to take a nap, a shower or a break from the roadside camp.
At Camp Casey, the name given to Sheehan's encampment, a caravan of cars drove by her as she stood wearing a straw hat in the blazing sun, fighting back tears as she acknowledged her supporters. She wore a T-shirt bearing her dead son's picture. On her left ankle was a small tattoo that read: Casey '79-04.
Before long, she climbed onto the back of a pickup truck to address her supporters, who applauded loudly. She smiled humbly but her words were uncompromising.
"Who knew that the beginning of the end of the occupation of Iraq was going to start in Crawford, Texas, last Saturday?" she said. "Who knew that America would finally stand up and say we're sick and tired of this [expletive]? Bring our troops home." |
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Beatrice1000
Resource Specialist
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1179
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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This article discusses Cindy’s agenda and her Leftie supporters and associates -- and also talks about her son and the choices that he made in spite of his mother:
“Exploiting the Dead”
by Ben Johnson, FrontPageMag, 8/12/05
ANTIWAR EXTREMIST CINDY SHEEHAN HAS CAPTURED HEADLINES by camping out in front of President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. There, the 48-year-old founder of Gold Star Families for Peace claims she is hounding the president to end the Iraq War in the name of her beloved son, Casey, who died in Iraq, and in the name of grieving families everywhere. The image of a grief-stricken mother traveling by caravan from California to Texas, then living in a tent, merely so she can have a brief meeting with the president has deep propaganda value for the antiwar Left. ....... However, none of the mainstream media accounts of this beatified mourner recognize her long history of extremist rhetoric, her close association with far-Left and anti-Semitic figures, or the way she has seemingly rewritten her own history when it suited her purposes. .......
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Beatrice - I am glad his memory isn't being completely destroyed by his mother.
Also - did you note in the above article The Peace House? I find it interesting how it is profiting from this... |
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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | many of the people drawn here said it was because of her simple but compelling story. |
Did they somehow forget "well manicured?" This "simple but compelling story" has the direction ability of Michael Moore written all over it. It wouldn't surprise me we see it opening in theaters in the future. Perhaps just prior to the 2008 elections?
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Tilly
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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Folks:
When this lady's son had not been buried a month, she was off and running to her first Veterans For Peace meeting. She found time and energy in her bereavement to participate in a "Grieving Moms Against Bush" commercial ... and to try to crash Bush's inauguration ... and to participte in John Conyers make-believe impeachment play this June. She also appeared with an anti-War panel in San Francisco this spring, which was covered by FrontPage Magazine. Then, she found time to jump into a red, white and blue tour bus and ride to Texas to demand a meeting with President Bush .. since she only met with him once last summer.
Here's some of the things she's said over the past 15 months:
On her friends and neighbors: "We live near an Air Force base and our economy depends on war. It is a very conservative, republican community. White upper-middle class.They believe that Bush is keeping our country safe and that I am a traitor for speaking out against a President during time of war
On Her Son Casey's ReEnlistment: "I told him I would take him to Canada. I told him I would run over him with a car, anything to get him not to go to that immoral war."
On reason for war: "My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were betrayed by a George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda after 9/11."
On the conduct of the US Army: "You know your unit might have to kill innocent people ..."
On 9/11: “9/11 was Pearl Harbor for the neo-conservatives’ agenda..."
On treatment of an adult child: "Let George Bush send his two little party animals to die in Iraq..."
On US Democracy: "We have no Constitution. We’re the only country with no checks and balances.."
On US History: "America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for..."
On Jan Schakowski (D-IL) who said if anyone wonders what noble cause Casey Sheehan died for, the noble cause was to help Cindy Sheehan "end this war.": Mother Sheehan agrees.
(The sources and timing of the above are at my blog, http://cuppapolitics.blogspot.com ; apologies for putting the addy here. )
Her son had a Bronze star, he died trying to rescue his buddies, he made mature, reasoned decisions.
While my heart goes out to the mother who lost her son , and while I know that everyone grieves in their own way ... I do not understand how any of the above honors the son in question.
note: URL edited so it would work/me#1 |
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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | On Her Son Casey's ReEnlistment: "I told him I would take him to Canada. I told him I would run over him with a car, anything to get him not to go to that immoral war." |
Apparently, he disagreed with her ideals. Afterall, he did voluntarily reenlist and did volunteer for the rescue mission he died in.
Since she doesn't ever mention his reply to her "offer," I think his actions speak for themselves. She doesn't care about his values or sacrifice, she only cares about herself and her 15 minutes of fame.
What kind of Mother offers to run over their son with their car?
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manelly
PO3
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 294
Location: AZ
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:56 am Post subject: |
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Does this sound familiar?
| Quote: | | How Do You Ask A Soldier To Be The Last Person To Die For A LIE |
Found it here with a video of Cindy Sheehan
Discover the Network already has a truckload of info on Sheehan and the group she founded "Gold Star Families for Peace"
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Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.
- Thomas Jefferson |
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AMOS
Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 30 Jul 2004
Posts: 558
Location: IOWA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 2:47 pm Post subject: It's clear. |
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| It's become quite clear to me why why Casey Sheehan enlisted and volunteered for duty in Iraq. |
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wwIIvetsdaughter
Captain
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 513
Location: McAllen, Texas
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Trust the American People! Collectively, they are smart and intitive, they rejected Micheal Moore's propaganda aimed at kicking Bush out of office last year with a great Bush victory in November. They can see through this woman's facade and understand she is just Micheal Moore II. The "more"she blathers to the press about Isreal, taxes, etc. the lower her credibility sinks. The Old Liberal Media is no longer in complete control, Fox (usually), the 'Net and Talk Radio are/have exposed this fraud. |
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