Live from Camp Casey

Well, not anymore. But I was there, and I just want to get some of my first impressions down before I get more in-depth.

To start off, I was hindered in my drive north to Crawford by people in recreational vehicles not obeying traffic laws. They were in a turn-only lane but they wanted to drive straight. I was in the lane next to them and I couldn't help but wonder, was it a portent of things to come.

I made it to Crawford in one piece, but I didn't know where things were going down. You would think as the only local blogger, I would have at least introduced myself in the past 2 years to the press while they were in town. I guess I'm just shy. So I stopped and parked at the Crawford Peace House and to my delight, I found that shuttles were leaving regularly for the campground, dubbed "Camp Casey."

I hopped a shuttle with two other people. One was a blogger and Green Party activist from Oklahoma, the other was from San Diego and she was staying in MGregor at the Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast. Our driver was down from Ft. Worth to help out.

When we got there, it was like a Fourth of July picnic. Tents and lawn chairs and acoustic guitar. I had planned on being inconspicuous, so I was wearing a black leathe jacket and sunglasses. So I stood out amidst all the tie-dye and pink t-shirts and sandals. They were all hippies.

I spent a few minutes soaking up atmosphere (in 90 degree heat) meeting people. I met a nice lady who was working for a news service out of Argentina and a bearded man from CBS. He didn't seem to like me very much (maybe he read my post about White House press in Waco). I doubt it.

Then came the press conference, where Cindy Sheehan spoke, then families who had also lost children spoke about their anger over the continued war effort. At the end of the conference, someone in the crowd shouted "When do you want the troops to pull out?" to which one of the speakers turned and said "Now." That was the message. "Support the troops; bring them home."

I managed to talk to Melissa Mulkey, Cindy's press person, and I got a quick minute to do a one-on-one with Cindy Sheehan herself. I'll go more into that a little later, but I talked to her about what role the Internet and the blogosphere have played in getting so much press coverage and support to their protest. She was pleased with the way the progressive blogs have rallied around her and helped propel her message to every corner of the planet.

She was in good spirits. Just the amount of support and the number of people who have come to see her and to challenge the president keep her smiling despite the lousy weather and retaliation from some conservative commentors.

Sheriff's deputies did arrive shortly after I did because of a complaint about sanitation with all the people camped out in ditches. Sanitation people showed up but found nothing and they left. I was told by people that had been at Camp Casey for days that the deputies showed up regularly to keep things in line and to keep people off the roads and off private property. I spoke to one deputy who assured me no one was being arrested because of the sanitation complaint.

I also heard stories about Secret Service agents driving at very high speeds down the narrow, winding country road when their shifts changed. I saw white vans going by at at least 60 mph. Very dangerous traffic conditions with people standing around and wet, muddy conditions.

I caught a ride back to the Peace House not long after the press conference was over. The talk was pure anti-war. No one seems to think we should maybe stick it out, which was the plan for recent Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. They see the job of liberation as over, they see a democratically elected government writing a constitution and no reason for American troops to be in harms way. They want loved ones home.

Before I wrap this post up, I should mention that there was a memorial to fallen troops set up on one side of the road. A posterboard with the names and faces of the first 1,000 dead American soldiers and white crosses, each with a different name of a fallen soldier. Hundreds of crosses placed in the ditch next to the road on the way to the Prairie Chapel ranch. I saw Casey Sheehan's cross and I could not help but feel sad and angry. Sad that someone barely older than me died in such a violent way, and angry that he died in a war that a majority of Americans now feel may not be worth it.

I made my way home from the Peace House, a 10 minutes drive with the increased traffic through the small town of Crawford right to my laptop so that I could get these initial thoughts down for you to read. Meeting Cindy and shaking her hand, I can see what the others must see. What must be drawing people from around the globe to a muddy ditch in the middle of nowhere. I can see that she is strong and will not back down. She said that if Bush does not meet her while he's in Crawford on vacation, she'll move the protest to Washington. It's not empty rhetoric; she means it.

On the outside she's smiling and she's encouraged by all the support. But I think it is just a veneer. I think, on the inside, there is a lot of anger that she, and the other members of Gold Star Families for Peace, are being ignored. I see a determination to not be ignored, no matter what. And it is drawing others to her. They see this as a tipping point, a change in the wind that will empower the anti-war movement. I see a mother grieving for her lost son and trying to keep other mothers from feeling that pain.

Comments

[B W]

Common Sense blog on Cindy Sheehan

[Jim McCulloch]

Good post. Informative. An interesting thing you mentioned was the fact that she's angry. A lot of conservatives seem to want to use that as a reproach. "Anger equals hatred and liberals profess to dislike hatred, ergo angry liberals are hypocrites," seems to be the reasoning.
But a mother whose son has been killed in a very dubious war indeed seems to me to be able to turn this rhetorical tactic back around--I think people realize she has a good reason to be angry.

[damn yankee]

Great post Nate. My heart breaks for Cindy and the other parents of fallen soldiers. I haven't seen much coverage of this on the news. Maybe I'm not tuning in at the right times. Any info on this I get is from you. Do you see a "large scale" anti-war movement brewing?? Thanks again for the info....

[Nate]

If by large-scale you mean thousands of people across the country becoming pissed off at the way Cindy is being ignored, then yes.

In my conversation with her, Cindy said that people are rallying because they believe something is changing. Maybe it is the messenger, maybe it is the people listening to the message. I don't know.

But hundreds of people are in Crawford because of her, and maybe millions more on the Internet.

[Jonathan Blundell]

If the President grants the request of Cindy to meet with him (after he met with her once already - but she was apparently too distraught to think clearly), does that not set a presidence that anyone who protests about anything gets to meet with the President. My sister died in March, at the age of 24, after a very quick bout with cancer. Does that mean that my family should be able to protest for a week and demand (and get) an audience with the President because he let doctors work in hospitals that weren't correctly educated on kidney tumors?
Or should I get an audience with the President by protesting that I think NASA should spend more money on sending men to the sun?
Protestors have the right to protest anything anywhere, but I don't think the President should be subject to meet with anyone who has a sign and a cause.

[Nate]

Your argument has many flaws. One, no one has said the president is legally required to meet her. It is up to him whether or not she gets another meeting. I would point out that she met him in a group 4 months after her son died in combat, so I'm sure she was too distraught to ask the questions she is asking now.

I'm ver sorry for the loss of your sister, but she didn't die due to orders of the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces. There cause is directly related to his decision to send troops into Iraq.

To make an analogy, the stem cell debate is also related to his decsion in 2001 to limit the federal funding to the existing stem cell lines. Those protesting the lack of advancement in that field would protest that particular decision on his part.

They have a genuine grievance with a decision made by President Bush, with which you can agree or disagree. Sending men to the sun is just a silly straw man argument that has no real bearing on what they are doing there and a possible "precedent" just make no sense.