Fear and Loathing in Crawford
The 700 residents of Crawford, TX must be wondering just how much further into the boondocks they’ll have to go to get away from all this. Don’t you just hate it when a spoiled heir / playboy / presidential appointee moves into your small town? There goes the neighborhood.
Bush has returned to his Crawford vacation — after coming back from his vacation-within-a-vacation in Idaho. Three thousand Bush supporters have decided that since the Army is dangerously understaffed, the most productive thing they could do is enlist and join the fight. They’re going to back up their pro-war rhetoric with more than just bumper stickers and yellow ribbons.
Hahahahaha. OK, you didn’t fall for it. Actually, three thousand Bush Supporters are heading for the school football stadium in Crawford to demonstrate in favor of Bush and his quest for oil. This will be the culmination of the “You don’t speak for me, Cindy” tour that started in California.
That name kind of insults the intelligence. Unless these warbots have children who were killed in a war, Cindy Sheehan sure as hell isn’t speaking for them.
This will be the largest counter-protest since Cindy Sheehan first camped outside of Bush’s ranch on August 6th.
The pro-war demonstration is being coordinated by Move America Forward. This is the same freedom-loving group that tried desperately to ban Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” from being shown in American movie theaters. And speaking of “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the last time so many people converged in Crawford was last summer when the movie was shown on a screen at the football field.
Hundreds of people will be meeting at Cindy Sheehan’s camp for a somber ceremony honoring soldiers in Iraq.
A new poll shows that 90% — 90%!! — of Americans support people’s right to protest the Iraqi war. What?!? This can't be true!?! What about “if you don’t support the war you don’t support the troops,” “war protesters are undermining American soldiers’ morale,” “people who protest the war are aiding and abetting the enemy,” and so on. It must be a tiny minority that spouts this drivel. Unfortunately, most of them are rightwing politicians, columnists and bloggers.
posted by Tom Harper @ 3:44 PM
18 Comments:
They need to sign up for the war. If these people protesting the protesters knew how un-american bush was they would be surprised. If I was to tell them about him wanting to ban guns, his support for open borders and hatred of the minutemen, real id, and a national debt that is increasing by over a half trillion dollars a year they might stop protesting.
I think we should declare eminent domain on Bush's ranch and sell it to pay for the national debt he has increased.
Sure, some might argue that the left wing recruited people to go to Crawford and camp out, but this "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy tour" (as they are calling it now) is definitely another situation similar to when the GOP (through the Move America Backward group) recruited mindless masses to try and censor Michael Moore by keeping his movie from being shown. In Crawford, I would expect lots of wingnut fanatics (and probably some thugs) to show up and protest like they did in Florida in 2000...
I think it's an illustration of "desperate times call for desperate measures". The GOP is getting desperate because people are starting to see through their crap, and heaven forbid that some of their herd might see enough shady things to begin thinking for themselves... so it always helps to round up a few thousand angry, fanatical people and put them in a stadium so the media attention will pay attention to them.
People don't seem to be paying much attention to Bush, so it's time for the GOP to put together something to try and neutralize Cindy Sheehan and the group of war protestors. Am I going to continue this line of thought and blame Karl Rove? Sure, why not! On general principle, of course. 8-)>
You can bet the Republicans will be sure they have more people there than the anti-war group will, so they can point to that and say "See, more people are for the war than against it! Cindy Sheehan couldn't fill a football stadium, but we did!" It's a shame the GOP is going to get the propaganda/spin machine going full blast now, because the media was just beginning to do its job.
If 90% of the population still thinks it's o.k. to speak out against the war, count me in that 90%.
Re. the slogans, "It must be a tiny minority that spouts this drivel. Unfortunately, most of them are rightwing politicians, columnists and bloggers." I think you are correct, and I believe the squeakiest wheels get the grease. Even if people with such radical viewpoints as the neocons and theocons are vastly outnumbered, they are likely to get lot of press and grow in numbers because they do a better job than the lefties when it comes to being noticed. Screaming, being belligerent, freaking out and being righteously indignant tends to get noticed more in the media than a quietly-expressed opinion does, and I think if the GOP can keep appealing to people through fallacies and sensationalism, the public won't realize as quickly that The Chimperor is doing lots more damage to the USA than he is helping it.
Jake: You’re right, it’s hard to believe so many conservatives and Republicans could still support Bush. His huge deficit, Real ID and the Patriot Act go against the “limited government” that conservatives claim they want. Eminent Domain on Bush’s ranch — I like it.
Joel: I’ll bet the people of Crawford and Waco are pissed at all the crowds. I live in a small remote town too, and I’d be pissed as anything if a celebrity moved here and started attracting hordes of protesters and admirers.
"...so the media attention will pay attention to them."
That was a real gem, eh!
"If 90% of the population still thinks it's o.k. to speak out against the war, count me in that 90%."
And if people want to speak out in favor of the war, that's fine too. Call me cyncial, but I just think that as Bush himself is ingenuous (as in not straightforward or candid), so is the "anti-Cindy" rally (as in insincere or calculating, maybe contrived.)
So, let them fill their stadium with their 3,000 or 4,000. If all the people in the country who genuinely share their opinions show up, they might attract... well... 3,000 or 4,000 people.
Anybody who can take the time to educate themselves about what life was like for Iraqi citizens under Saddam's rule before we got there, and can STILL seriously say that this is a war for OIL needs to pull their head out of their ass.
Snave: I meant to do a web search on Move America Forward. They’re right up (or down) there with those fake Swift Boat Veterans. Move America Forward is orchestrating this “you don’t speak for us, Cindy” demonstration. It’s about as grass-roots as a boardroom meeting. Yup, Republicans are getting desperate all right. They probably thought one or two good smear attacks and she’d be gone; but she’s still there. And they’re pissed.
The Right is definitely squeaking louder than their numbers would indicate. Seeing all the Radical Right blogs on Blog Explosion, you’d think rightwing nutcases made up a huge percentage of the population. Fortunately they don’t.
Anonymous: Why don't pull your head out of your ass so we can see who you are?
If Anonymous has that much sympathy for the Iraqi people, he or she should run to the recruiter's office right away and enlist, so he or she can go to Iraq and help the Iraqi people. I'm sure it was bad under Saddam, it couldn't possibly have been good. But how much better is it for the Iraqis now? It seems to me like we have created all the necessary ingredients for a civil war there...
So the reason for our troops being there is for the sake of the Iraqi people? Was that the original reason the troops were sent there? I really don't think so. Wasn't it originally supposed to be something about Saddam still having WMDs? Then wasn't there some trumped-up thing about a Saddam-Al Qaeda connection? Next it was for saving the Iraqi people, and now it's for fighting the war on terror there so we don't have to host it here... I vote for none of the above. Nobody is seeing much of the oil yet, so maybe it isn't even for oil. How about for empire building and for Pax Americana? Do you support that? Bush and his friends do.
First, go Google the PNAC, Carlyle Group and Pax Americana, and then run to the recruiter immediately, enlist, and get yourself deployed if you still think the Iraq war is some kind of great humanitarian cause.
Snave: Yeah, tell him good. Like you said, every one of our rationales for this war has been unproven, discarded, and a new substitute reason has been provided; the new reason is also unproven, discarded...and the cycle repeats itself over and over...
Of course Hussein was a terrible dictator. The world is full of them. Our government never pretended we were trying to create a perfect world and get rid of all dictators.
Yeah, the PNAC and the Carlysle Group -- a web search will bring up some chilling information.
Anonymous,
I don't know if it was a war for oil or global domination but if you buy into that logic then why didn't we invade sudan and stop the murder there.
If you wonder why people hate us it could be our foreign (we will decide your government for you)policy.
Bush thinks he is a real constitutional man, spreading a democracy, the patriot act, national debt. He is another Tom Jefferson isn't he, fighting the powerfull and rich around the world?
Hi, I'm not American- so maybe my opinion isn't valid here! But I find it disgusting that so many people, including the media, have decided to gang up on Cindy Sheehan. She's using her democratic right to protest against the unjustified war that took her son from her. It was his choice to join the army, yes. But it was the Bush administration that commited him to an war with no end in sight. Didn't Micheal Moore quiz senators, to see who would commit their own children to the Armed Forces? Perhaps there should be a Republican draft...
Yates, you're a moron. For one, don't get your doctored information from Michael Moore. Moore (or is it Less) edited out that the Senator he interviewed said he had two nephews in Afghanistan.
Cindy Sheehan was a pinko activist long before her son enlisted. He probably enlisted to get away from her.
So... the big question. Was this a war about oil? Sure. I bet it was. Did it oust a dictator who had used chemical and biologicial weaponry on Kurds and Iranians? Yes. Who tortured and raped hundreds of thousands? Definitely.
When did Liberals stop caring about people.
Check out kurds.org and read about the medical studies of all the deformed babies from Saddam dropping irradiated zirconium on them. Irradiated Zirconium makes a bomb with such a short half life, it would be undetectable in 6 months. The kurds birth defect rate is nearly 100 times the world average.
All you causeheads need a life. Fast. Take up bowling.
Wow... if you hold an opinion that differs from a republican, you're a moron. I love the tolerance. I love the fact that Chuck can't make a point without resorting to name-calling. After all, what sort of right-winger would someone be, if they couldn't resort to the term 'pinko'?
If we invaded Iraq to remove Saddam, why weren't we told this at the beginning? Instead of some bullshit about WMD's?
I have no doubt in my mind, that Saddam was an evil dictator. I know that how he treated the Kurdish and the Iranians. But when did America and Britain become the world police? Why do we pick and choose which dictatorships we support or attack? Most of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were Saudi's. Why wasn't Saudi Arabia invaded?
When did America decide to attack their own citizens for expressing their democratic rights? Cindy Sheehan has the right to protest and to be heard.
Enlist, Enlist, Enlist! I say to those who so fervently support this president and this war. Old men and women can fight in wars all over the world so age is no excuse - old American men and women should suit up and go.
And since they hold sacrifice as a sacred value they should offer their children as a sacrifice to the savage gods of perpetual American War.
Enlist, put your money where you mouth is. Enlist, put your lives on the line for lies. Enlist, and do it unquestioningly in a sheep-like trance. Baa..Baa...Baghdad
You are right, Cindy does not speak for you. So hide in the football stadium and watch the slaughter continue, you don't want to undermine Bush's moral.
What we all need to do is print copies of the addresses and phone numbers of all of the local recruiters and hand them out to the pro-war hypocrites. They need our help!
Lets not forget that we funded Saddam Hussein after we knew that he used chemical weapons against his people and Donald Rumsfeld even met with Saddam.
I don't doubt for one minute that Saddam was evil but do you remember George Washington's advice of entangling aliances now remember that in Saudi Arabia there is no freedom of religion unless it is Islam and these are the presidents freedom freinds.
I don't get my info from Michael Moore, I do however get some of it from Alex Jones, the associated press, reuters, and the la times. So I can I guess not be called a moron and I am not much into bowling but I do like to fish.
A question would be do you support the draft, selective service and where does congress get the privalege granted to it in the constitution to start selective service and the draft?
J_Yates_UK: Yeah, it sucks that people are ganging up on Cindy Sheehan. The pro-Bush “demonstration” is being orchestrated by a slick political organization — “Move America Forward.” So this “demonstration” is about as spontaneous as those scripted, invitation-only “rallies” in favor of Social Security reform that were arranged by Bush and Rove.
And you’re right, you won’t find many Senators’ and Representatives’ sons or daughters in the military. It’s strictly a job for the “lower” classes.
Chuck Williams: That’s right, who needs Michael Moore when we can get unbiased news from Fox, WorldNetDaily and Rush Limbaugh.
I don’t know or care about Cindy Sheehan’s personal history. The more the Right gangs up on her, the more of a hero and a martyr she becomes. This orchestrated smear campaign is backfiring on the rightwing nutzoids. Don’t forget Saddam Hussein was our own Frankenstein. He was our ally when he was gassing Kurds and Iranians.
Get a life.
Kitchen Window Woman: Yup, enlist is what they should do. Demonstrating in favor of the war, while the army is understaffed — Duuhhh!!! Talk about unclear on the concept. It’s much more fun to go to a big pro-war rally at a football stadium, and just let some grunt do your dirty work for you.
I’m surprised recruiters aren’t descending on Crawford — it could be a goldmine. Even if nobody signed up, it would be a riot to watch them all squirm and stutter and make excuses about why the war is good, but only for someone else to fight in.
Jake: You’re right, we can’t just go around toppling dictators; it’s none of our business. We’ve already created a record deficit financing this war. How would we pay for toppling the dozens/scores of other dictators around the world? That wasn’t our reason for invading Iraq, and it makes no sense for them to pretend it was.
Crass bullying tactics seem to be the only play in the Republican playbook these days. Too bad, for them anyway, as increasingly people are seeing things for what they are (not what they're told they are).
Gotta be the hottest summer in Crawford on record. Good thing, that.
Jet: Yeah, it's a hot summer in Crawford all right. Hopefully more people will see this pro-war "demonstration" for what it is: a slick campaign orchestrated by a rightwing sleaze group patterned after those fake "Swift Boat Veterans."
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