There were probably between 2000 and 3000 pro- Bush supporters who descended on this little one-stoplight town.
The county sheriff’s department was on hand as well as most of the local police from several surrounding towns. The Crawford town square was packed with pro- Bush / troop supporters. Lots of memorials and memorabilia stands.
We then drove out of the town to where the Cindy Sheehan camp is set up near the Bush ranch. Based on the media coverage, we believed that this would be a huge camp but when we got there, we saw only between 60 and 75 pro-Sheehan people camped.

It was a filthy crowd of sour-faced, long-haired, bitter-looking people.
There was a sense of darkness over this crowd that is hard to describe.
Their camp is just set up on a typical back-country Texas rural road.
They have their tents set up along a fence line next to a corn field. It literally looked like an old hippy camp!

The most amazing thing about the Sheehan crowd, there was not a single American flag on display.

The pro-Bush people were on the North side of the street the Sheehan zoo on the South. Hmmm. North and South again!

Our side was rowdy and alive with signs, flags and loud pro-American yelling and taunting. Lot’s of Texans on our side!

I made the mistake when we first arrived of trying to walk across the road to get some pictures of their group. When I tried to return to our side a sheriff’s deputy told me that anyone who stepped into the road or crossed from one camp to the other was subject to immediate arrest!
If I had done anything other than very quickly apologize, feign ignorance and grovel a bit I would have been introduced to the Crawford jail!

All in all, it was an interesting experience. We thought Al Sharpton was going to be there Saturday, but his schedule was changed – Darn!

Sure there are the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the liberal party, as there are the Trent Lotts, Strom Thurmons and Jesse Helms of the right. But liberalism is a beautiful thing that inspires ‘us’ thinking instead of ‘me’ thinking. A liberal, both then and now, sees the necessity of the government as caregiver to those in need, whether it is defense, food and drug monitoring, disaster assistance or aiding the poor. A liberal understands that everyone, even those supremely self-sufficient conservatives, is subject to hardship. And a liberal proudly pays his taxes understanding that money is being used for the greater good of all. A liberal understands that relegating care that lives depend on to religious organizations with a ‘proselytizing agenda’ is not appropriate or even ethical.

The only major problem with liberalism today is the apparent cowardice of some to proudly wear the moniker. Decades of hateful speech by right-wing extremists (not necessarily you) have succeeded in making ‘liberal’ a dirty word, as is the case for ‘feminism’. And that is a shame.

As for your reference to god and faith I only have this to say. It continually amazes me that right-wing fundamentalists christians, espousing belief in eternal torment for dissent, even feel they have a right to discuss morality and responsibility. I do not know what form of chriistianity you align yourself with, but there is no getting around the hypocrisy of claiming to be tolerant, loving, responsible and rational while believing in the concept of hell.

I did appreciate your thoughful, non-rabid, reply.

Have a good one.

I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I rec’d no post from you. Perhaps it got caught in the blacklist filter by mistake. I’ve had that happen to a couple of regulars earlier this week. If that happened, my apologies as I’m still trying to work through understanding spam filters and what not for this blog. There seems to be this misconception out there in certain circles that I don’t allow dissent here. That is simply untrue. Some bloggers are ok with people coming to their blog and insulting them, using excessive cursing, etc, and getting away from the points of their blog posts. I dont. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

“is there some harm in airing dissent on your site?”

No, but there is harm in someone coming here strictly to insult me and tell me how stupid I am (I’m not saying you’re doing that now, but it has happened in the past). I’m more than fine with dissent. I thrive on discussions with liberals, actually and debate them everyday on a popular political message board. If anyone is interested in reading some of my posts, at this particular form, here’s the addy. Look for posts from “Zeewoman” – that’s me at that forum. It’s a forum with all types of viewpoints and probably the most balanced out there (IMO). I have 30K posts there over five years, which is more than most people there and I’ve devoted extensive time to debating some of the best. And learned a lot, like the difference between liberals who want to *really* debate and those who just think I’m an idiotic, fanatical Christian right winger.

“for the record, i do think you’re a reasonably bright and attractive young woman. and i hope you will continue to listen to the views of others.”

Thank you. I’m always open to listen to other ideas. Closing my mind to differing/opposing viewpoints is not my style, contrary to the beliefs of some. It’s one of the reasons I went from being a liberal to a conservative: my mind was open to other viewpoints. I hope you’re open to other viewpoints as well.

“sometime when you’re not too busy, try researching the impact liberals have had on america throughout history… their contributions to what makes America great today.”

Believe me, I have liberals telling me everyday what an impact they’ve made on America! Many of them like to imply that conservatives have merely been a nuisance on the way to achieving their ‘goals’ for this country, often forgetting the contributions of great conservatives in this country. I know liberals made great contributions to this country in the past. I just don’t think they do much of it now. I’m a fan of classical liberalism, and I don’t see very much of that in today’s liberals.

“if nothing else, you’ll come away with more knowledge and a better foundation to support your ideology… left or right.”

The foundation I base my beliefs on is strong, and gets stronger everyday, in spite of the fact that the leaders of my party don’t always do things I’m pleased with. I also read extensively, and not just things that tend to fall in line with my POV.

is there some harm in airing dissent on your site?

for the record, i do think you’re a reasonably bright and attractive young woman. and i hope you will continue to listen to the views of others.

sometime when you’re not too busy, try researching the impact liberals have had on america throughout history… their contributions to what makes America great today. if nothing else, you’ll come away with more knowledge and a better foundation to support your ideology… left or right.

Clean up that old micro-bus!! Cindy Sheehan plans to take her protest parade on the road!Cindy Sheehan Planning Anti-War Bus Tour CRAWFORD, Texas – A fallen soldier’s mother said Thursday that the an anti-war vigil she started nearly three…

It’s supposed to get in the triple digits in Crawford this weekend, and the heat may lead to some nastiness (as if we haven’t seen that already):

Sheriff’s deputies have depended on some level of self-policing by holding individual leaders respon…

“You have my sympathy. First you lose a son, then you have to listen to Joan Baez.”

Posted by: Alex on August 25, 2005 at 03:10PM

- Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggg…. OUCH!
(Apparently 40 years of practice hasn’t helped…hahahaha)

That was My first visit to Arianna’s latest panderfest. Her original site and its posters read like a “Mental ailments, their cause and their cure” medical handbook. Some of her regulars couldn’t get through a complete sentence without setting off the Godwin sirens. We in Cal look on Arianna as adalpated but harmless. Back when Arnold was running she saw the market was up for Euro-crats, running in American politics, and confused her chances with one of her successful “Hollywood darling’s” dinner parties. In the space of two months she shifted parties three times. The day she announced, her three kids left home and went to live with their father. Ahhh you gotta love it.