Should Blue vs. Red be replaced by Pink vs. Gray?
Bill Whittle of Eject! Eject! Eject!, the first blog to ever catch my fancy and a major inspiration towards my Target Centermass endeavor, has resurfaced with a must-read essay inspired by the recent tumultuous news out of Katrina-stricken N’awlins.
Well … what’re ya waiting for? Read it already.
The tenth installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community‘s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Mover Mike‘s. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.
Gold Star mother and leftist flavor-of-the-month Cindy Sheehan has left her ’60s reenactment in Crawford, Texas, hitting the road in an effort get the U.S. out of Iraq, meet (again) with the president, cry in front of more cameras and generally meander her way towards either a future as an obscure answer in a future Trivial Pursuit question or a train wreck before the public eye. In my opinion, had the journalistic treatment of the Sheehan matter been handled in a professional and balanced manner, the latter would have already taken place.
Sheehan, war protesters leave Texas camp
After a 26-day vigil that ignited the anti-war movement, Cindy Sheehan took her protest on the road Wednesday, while a handful of veterans pledged to continue camping off the road leading to President Bush’s ranch until the war in Iraq ends.
Rather than heading home to California, the mother of a 24-year-old soldier who died in Iraq boarded one of three buses heading out on tour to spread her message.
“This is where I’m going to spend every August from now on,” Sheehan said as she smiled and waved through a bus window, after hugging dozens of fellow protesters.
The group plans to stop in 25 states during the next three weeks, then take Sheehan’s “Bring Them Home Now Tour” to the nation’s capital for a Sept. 24 anti-war march.
It should be noted that, among these many stops, Cindy’s presence is expected at a protest of the Navy’s Blue Angels in Maine, a protest with the ridiculous theme “Stop the Worship of the Gods of War!”
to protest the false god idolatry of the Blue Angels Air Show, whose “ooh-&-aah”performances have one purpose: to promote badly-lagging military recruitment to protest the obscene waste of American tax dollars to stage these Blue Angels’ multi-million dollar extravaganzas [bolded text marked in original by underline]
No explanation of performances by the Blue Angels during healthy recruiting periods is given, nor the fact that the Navy is not suffering in enlistment numbers. Apparently, worshiping at the altar of Ares is reason enough to hate an air show.
Also, a poll has been released that shows the American public mildly supports the supposed cause of Cindy Sheehan, a meeting with the president.
Poll: Bush, protester should meet on war
Slightly more than half of the country says President Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed last year in Iraq, who is leading a protest against the war outside Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey found that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what she is doing while 42 percent oppose her actions, according to the poll.
[…]
But the survey also suggests Sheehan’s anti-war vigil has done as much to drive up support for the war as ignite opponents.
Given my already stated belief that the mainstream media has generally failed drastically in its coverage of Cindy’s circus, I would like to see a poll with the following questions:
Meanwhile, here’s a column that demonstrates that not all in the journalism field have been chugging the Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan-flavored Kool-Aid and that her fifteen minutes may be about gone. I particularly liked the following:
When Cindy Sheehan knelt to place flowers on her son’s grave, alone with her pain, she was a sympathetic character whose loss would break a million hearts. When Cindy Sheehan knelt to place flowers next to a stage-prop cross erected for Nikons and networks in Crawford, she was an actress studiously performing for an audience that may easily find other places for their sympathies to repose.
Her supporting cast did her no favors by layering cliches onto what already was becoming a tired script, beginning with–fire up your bongs–Joan Baez.
Having Baez show up for a war protest is like having Oprah show up at a Weight Watchers meeting. You get instant bona fides along with your gratification. With Baez, you get to bask in the real thing–a been-there, done-that star straight from the annals of anger. Speaking to a crowd of about 500, Baez said: “It was the final tear for the overflow and you can’t stop running water. Cindy’s was the final tear.”
Whatever that means. I think something sad and poignant. In any case, Baez’s folk singerese seems an improvement over her declamations at a concert last year in Charlottesville, Va., where Baez revealed that she has “multiple personalities,” including a 15-year-old poor black girl named Alice from Turkey Scratch, Ark.
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
I got links.
Carnival of Liberty IX
I’d like to point that the latest installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community‘s Carnival of Liberty. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.
US air strikes on Syrian border kill ‘known terrorist’
The United States launched air strikes near the Iraq-Syria border yesterday, destroying three houses and killing a “known terrorist”, according to the US military.
Iraqi authorities said fighting had broken out in the area between a tribe that supports foreign fighters and another that backs the government.
The attacks by F-16 jets began in a cluster of towns along the Syrian border, near Qaim, 200 miles north-west of Baghdad. The US said four bombs were used to destroy a house occupied by “terrorists” outside the town of Husaybah. Two further bombs destroyed a second house, said to be occupied by Abu Islam, described as “a known terrorist”.
Scratch at least one bad guy. However, I find it interesting, in a disturbing kind of way, that we have identified a tribe that supports foreign terrorists and haven’t hit it with an iron fist.
Iraq’s proposed constitution can be faulted for its contradictions and ambiguities. If those were its only problems, however, the outlook for this democracy-founding document would look a lot better than it now does, for constitutions the world over share these characteristics.
The greatest flaw is not what’s in this draft, but how it was handled: presented to Iraq’s National Assembly on Sunday over the objections of Sunni negotiators. In effect, one of the major groups in the three-legged stool that makes up Iraq is missing.
A constitution derives legitimacy and power from national consensus. The document hammered out in Baghdad this summer rightly declares it is “the people” who are “the source of authority” for constitutional rule of law. No consensus, no country.
Leaders of the minority Sunnis, who ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and who make up about 20 percent of Iraq’s population, now vow to wage a campaign of opposition to the constitution, which comes to voters for approval in October. If two-thirds of voters in three Iraqi provinces reject it, then a newly elected parliament would have to write a new document. With enough votes this fall, the Sunnis could indeed put the process back at square one.
But it’s not too late for a Sunni buy-in. And surprisingly, it’s the contradictory and ambiguous nature of the proposed constitution that could help bring Sunnis on board.
It’s an interesting look at the proposed Iraqi constitution and what it’s wording may mean to the Sunnis. Although I have not perused the constitution yet, I see that Sunnis as having two choices: mildly support the document and become more of a player on the scene or oppose it outright. Should they oppose it and it is still ratified, the Sunnis run the risk of perpetuating their errors of turning out in low numbers in January’s elections.
Arroyo likely to escape ousting
Lawmakers in the Philippines are due to resume their deliberations about which of three impeachment complaints to take up against President Gloria Arroyo.
They are expected to choose the weakest option, and are then highly likely to vote it down, effectively thwarting any attempt to oust her from office.
Mrs Arroyo faces accusations of corruption and electoral fraud.
She denies any wrongdoing but admits to a “lapse in judgement” in phoning an election officer during the 2004 poll.
This is truly looking like a shame. The Philippines are passing by an opportunity to remove a center of corruption. I will never forgive this woman, the Manila folder whose willingness to retreat from Iraq for one life while throwing money at the terrorists has quite probably cost lives, both innocent Iraqis and brave Americans.
Bush enters immigration debate
President Bush flew into the heart of the nation’s volatile debate over illegal immigration Monday and defended his administration’s efforts to control the nearby border with Mexico after a surge of criticism from across the political spectrum.
Two weeks after the Democratic governors of Arizona and New Mexico declared states of emergency along the border, Bush used a Medicare speech here to promise local residents an increasingly robust federal campaign that will deploy more agents and provide more detention space to stop those trying to sneak into the country.
“We have an obligation to enforce the borders,” Bush said to applause. “I understand it’s putting a strain on your resources. What I’m telling you is there’s a lot of people working hard to get the job done, but there is more we can do.”
Of course there’s more we can do. After this, I want a lot more done. Maybe it’s finally time we start considering our borders as one of the front lines in the war against radical Islamist terror.
On the return from my weekend escape in San Antonio, I was able to briefly swing out of the way and stop by Crawford, Texas, and the site of Cindy Sheehan’s “Camp Casey.” You just may have heard of them — seems they’ve been in the news a little of late. As I promised last night, here is my photoblogging of my little adventure.
I want to note that yesterday was a relatively quiet day, especially compared to the hubbub just the day before when Rev. Al Sharpton and president-of-television-land Martin Sheen stopped by to lend their support to Cindy, she of bottomless and rather public grief for a brave son. Also in the mix Saturday were more than three thousand who rolled into town to express their opposition to Cindy’s defeatist stance. Believe you me, Sunday was much more serene, with Sharpton having long since sped away from this quaint piece of small-town Texas.
Our visit started in downtown Crawford. Prominent on the scene was the store front of the Yellow Rose (as with all photos to follow, click to enlarge).
Just a week before, the store had been evacuated because of a bomb threat.
On the street-facing south side of the Yellow Rose, a sign had been hung for Proclaim Liberty.us.
Did you note the subtle vandalism? Here’s a closer look.
Ah, yes, a nice little Hitler moustache has been cut out of the picture. How very clever. And just what is the Proclaim Liberty site? Just the website of the travelling Liberty Bell tribute on display in front of the Yellow Rose. How very Naziesque.
All around downtown Crawford, there were displays of support for President Bush, the troops and the war efforts.
Support from bikers.
Support from a trucker.
Even support from twins.
There was a small contingent of opposition to the president on one corner.
They apparently had some unwelcome Protest Warrior accompaniment.
On the north side of the Yellow Rose, in a small vacant lot, a handful of displays and tents can be found. As I wandered into the area, a man approached me and quietly sought to engage me in conversation. He humbly introduced himself and I was taken aback. The site, now dubbed Fort Qualls, is the result of the efforts of the man who stood before me, Gary Qualls, a Gold Star parent like Cindy Sheehan. The Gold Star is where the similarities end, however. Ft. Qualls came about after Mr. Qualls grew tired of quietly trying to prevent the Sheehan crowd’s efforts to exploit his son’s death. After repeatedly removing crosses with his son’s name from the “Camp Casey” displays, Mr. Qualls decided to express his opinion a little more openly.
Mr. Quall’s objective is two-fold: to honor his son’s wishes by supporting the efforts for which his Marine son voluntarily fought and unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice, and to pay an honorable and lasting tribute to his son through a memorial fund.
The sad, yet heart-warming, story behind the shirt pictured above is here.
In front of Ft. Qualls stands an updated dry-erase board that shows that other families are also tired of the usage of the memories of their fallen loved ones by the Sheehan cross-planting camp.
After leaving the Ft. Qualls site, my companions and I piled into the car and headed out of town towards the sites of the anti-war gatherings. Along the way, it was clear that the president and the military had the support of most of the neighboring residents.
Before I continue with the photoblogging, I’d like to suggest that you read this description of life at the site of Camp Casey, courtesy the Indepundit. The author spent two days on site, as opposed to my Cindy-less one hour. After you’ve read that, I hope my few photos can flesh out the feel of the tale.
Eventually, we passed the infamous original site of Camp Casey and its roadside crosses, a display that may very well be actually illegal in Texas.
The protestors at the original infestation made their views obvious — they were fighting against the fight against radical Islamist terror.
Across the road, those in support of the military efforts in Iraq expressed their opinions.
Now, on to the main site of the Sheehan insurrection. First, the field of crosses.
I can only assume that, in their efforts to honor the fallen, the protestors actually cared enough to verify that every single fallen soldier was actually a Christian. I certainly saw no sign of any of our honored dead having any other faith or lack of faith. Of course the anti-war group bothered to check that, right? After all, they’re supposedly only trying to pay honor and all that jazz.
I found the press sign-in sheet interesting. Apparently High Times digs the happening scene, though drug usage is posted as forbidden.
Funny, no press sign-in sheet at Ft. Qualls. Ah, but now we see the evidence of the difference between a man’s heart-felt outpouring and a political public relations campaign. That, and unlike Camp Casey 2, Ft. Qualls didn’t have a highspeed internet access.
There was no sign of Cindy during our brief visit. The residents of Camp Casey 2 were polite, almost in a Stepford Wives kind of way. They seem to have a recipe for protest and are following it, however chafing it must have been for the person who was chastised for throwing water at a passing car.
As we left, I admired the love of the left for bumper stickers.
I mean, we’re talking about a love of stickers, even if those stickers reinforce the love of the left for defeat, be it Texas, South Dakota or Iraq.
Oh yeah, as I left, a sculpture arrived. Cindy Sheehan is such an ispiration. I wonder what happened to that chunk of sandstone.
I want to close this by re-posting a tribute to the memory of Casey Sheehan, courtesy of Blackfive. This is a far better tribute than any I saw at his mom’s current digs.
Well, I’ve returned from my weekend get-away in San Antonio. All in all, it was a fairly pleasant weekend. SeaWorld was enjoyable, great barbecue was devoured and slight progress was made on the wedding plans.
On the return trip to Dallas, my fiancee and I, along with the couple we car-pooled with, took a slight detour. As a military history buff, I have visited several Civil War battlefields. Obviously, these explorations were several years after the actual conflict. Today, with our little side jaunt, I was able to walk on a battlefield as the conflict was unfolding — Crawford, Texas. The conflict of ideas between surrender and support continues, as the circus around Cindy Sheehan’s vigil to annoy the president and impair our nation’s international efforts limps onwards towards its fifteenth minute.
I plan on photoblogging what I witnessed tomorrow, but tonight I wanted to post breaking news: Camp Casey has received the gift of a new piece of art. As we were leaving Camp Casey, a pickup truck arrived hauling a sizable stone artifact. Below can be found the first photo taken of the sculpture after its arrival in Crawford (click to enlarge).
I spoke very briefly with the artist, Ron. I apologize for not catching Ron’s last name. Ron professed to being so inspired by the saga of Cindy that he carved the sandstone piece in just over three days and toted it down from his home in Green County, Pa. Ron, below, estimated the sculpture to weigh between 800 and 900 pounds.
Ron had no idea what will be done with his weighty work of, well, whatever. Who cares? Crank up the nutfest, there’s something to pay homage to besides politically-motivated crosses and flag-draped fake caskets.
UPDATE: Planned photoblogging of my Crawford visit is here.
Well, nothing tonight but a couple of links as I’m currently packing for a company get-away to San Antonio. Blogging this weekend will be unpredictable.
First and foremost, I’m spending my breaks from packing reading the latest posting from Michael Yon on the ground in Iraq, Gates of Fire. It’s lengthy and, so far and as expected, fascinating. I especially like this early observation:
Although the situation in Mosul is better, our troops still fight here every day. This may not be the war some folks had in mind a few years ago. But once the shooting starts, a plan is just a guess in a party dress.
I’d also like to point that the latest installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community‘s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Searchlight Crusade. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.
Lastly, I wanted to point y’all to a new blogger, the Gunn Nutt. I have to say that I love the “about me” verbage.
Flag-waiving, gun-toting, unabashed patriot. I love the Constitution, the Founding Fathers and all the members of the U.S. Armed Services. I hate Commies more than broccoli.
Commies, broccoli … close call. Broccoli hasn’t killed millions, but if gross was fatal ….
Also, pay attention to the Gunn Nutt’s banner — that tartan is Gunn Modern, and the badge is that of the clan Gunn. The motto Aut Pax Aut Bellum translates to “Either peace or war” and is fitting for the fighting history of the clan. I should say that I’ve grown more partial to the Gunn Ancient version of the tartan, but tastes may vary. I’m looking forward to the Nutt’s blogging next April 6.
The latest installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community‘s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Eric’s Grumbles Before the Grave. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.
And finally a Democrat of some note declares.
Democrat Chris Bell on Sunday formally kicked off his campaign for governor, focusing on failed attempts to reform school finance and saying his patience for Gov. Rick Perry has run out.
“Rick Perry just doesn’t get it,” Bell told a crowd of about 100 enthusiastic supporters in front of a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the University of Texas at Austin. “I know enough to listen when Texans tell me what they want.”
Bell, who lost his spot in the U.S. House of Representatives last year, said dissatisfaction with Perry prompted his decision to run for governor. He said Perry’s fiscal decisions are hurting people.
Bell promised parents he would work to make Texas public education the best in the nation within 10 years by giving teachers the resources they need. Bell suggested closing existing tax loopholes to raise money for education. He said he would release a more detailed school finance plan within a couple of weeks.
Just because he is the only declared Democrat with any political track record does not mean Bell is a shoe-in for his party’s nomination as there’s still the supposed grass-roots efforts for two-time Dem lieutenant gubernatorial candidate John Sharp and the threat of another run by the 2002 nominee Tony Sanchez. Bell does have a few negatives following him into the race.
“Chris has already been rejected by Democrats in Houston. State Democratic leaders are rejecting him by looking for someone else to run,” said Luis Saenz, Perry’s campaign director. He noted there was plenty of opposition for Bell before it was time to think about the general election in November 2006.
Currently, the hope for the eventual Dem nominee has to be for the Republican contender to be weakened coming out of a primary campaign between incumbent Rick Perry and current state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a campaign already threatening to turn ugly.
Related — Campaign Sites of Declared Candidates:
Rick Perry (R, Incumbent) – Popularity and approval numbers leave him vulnerable.
Carole Keeton Strayhorn (R) – Unofficial motto of “One tough grandpa” is going to get real old real fast.
Felix Alvarado (D) – Middle School Assistant Principal. Chances? Nada.
Chris Bell (D) – Hoping bigger Democrat guns stay away from the hunt.
Richard “Kinky” Friedman (Independent) – You gotta love the “Why the hell not?” slogan.
The latest installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community‘s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Fearless Philosophy For Free Minds. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.