Mother’s Iraq Protest Plays to Smaller Crowd

Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan’s Thanksgiving vigil in Crawford will not go down as a rousing success.

Dancing to reggae music and hugging her supporters, Cindy Sheehan led an anti-Iraq war rally Saturday at a one-acre campsite adjoining the ranch where President Bush is spending his holiday weekend

Wait, whoa, stop right there! Dancing to reggae music? Is this Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan’s idea of a mournful vigil? A traditional Thanksgiving? No, it’s a brief crack in the mainstream media’s coverage of Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan. Oops, sorry about that folks, don’t expect to hear more about it, or about her actual radically leftist views. Now, back to the story.

As in August, when she galvanized attention and made headlines for days with similar protests, there were songs and speeches and demonstrators holding signs reading “Bring the Troops Home” near the main entrance of the 1,600-acre ranch where Bush has been vacationing since Tuesday.

Unlike then, when hundreds came from all over the country for major events at the two campsites named after Sheehan’s son, who was killed in Iraq, Sheehan found herself addressing a crowd of only about 100 Saturday afternoon. The large tent where supporters had erected a stage hung with the banner “Speak Truth to Power” was only partially full. In the morning Sheehan signed copies of her new book, being published this week, for an even smaller crowd.

Regarding that sparsely-attended book signing, Jawsblog looks at a picture similar to the one accompanying the WaPo piece and reminds us of a time-tested business axiom.

Meanwhile, turn out the lights, the party’s over … for now.

Dozens of war protesters packed up their tents and left their campsite in a field near President Bush’s ranch Sunday, vowing to return during Easter for a third vigil if U.S. troops are still in Iraq.

The weeklong protest, which coincided with Bush’s Thanksgiving holiday visit to his ranch, drew about 200 people. It was a continuation of the August demonstration led by California mother Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq last year during combat.

[…]

Before leaving town Sunday, the group of about 50 war protesters held an interfaith service at the Crawford Peace House.

They also planted a tree at their campsite, a private lot about a mile from Bush’s ranch. The landowner who let demonstrators use the property the last few weeks of the August vigil has leased it to them through next year. Before last week’s protest, the group had water and electricity installed.

“We’re here for the long haul. As long as this country is at war with Iraq, we’ll be here to oppose it,” said Hadi Jawad, a co-founder of the Crawford Peace House, which opened a month after the war began in March 2003. “I think Crawford has become a point of pilgrimage to a lot of people. This has become hallowed ground.”

Hmmm … I’ve been to Crawford, and it ain’t hollowed ground. Not even if one adds a silly sculpture and calls it a monument. For hallowed ground, I would instead offer the site where Casey Sheehan raised his right hand and volunteered for our country’s military. Or perhaps the site where he chose to re-enlist, again vowing to support his nation. Or perhaps the site where he fell, giving all in service to his nation and his comrades in a manner he rightly held noble.

I am curious about the financing of that water and electricity installation. Any chance we could get some names there?

Perhaps upon Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan’s return to Crawford in Easter, we can actually get media coverage of the woman herself? Maybe some video of the mournful Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan dancing to reggae during the traditional egg roll? Maybe an inciteful look at her controversial quotes that have pretty much gone uncovered outside the blogosphere? Nah, that would take reporting.

During her autumn stunts, I blogged that Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan was fighting tooth and nail for an addition to her fifteen minutes of fame. In a comment on my post about the silly monument, Phil pegged her as currently being at about her nineteenth minute. The woman is addicted to attention, as demonstrated by her jealousy of hurricane coverage, and will not wait until Easter. I only fear how low Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan will stoop to be in front of cameras in the meantime.