Crawford: Here We Come

My wife's got Sirius radio and was listening to an interview with Cindy Sheehan about her Crawford vigil after having picked up my daughter at the stable. Not much for politics, my daughter hates talk radio. But after a few minutes, she turned up the volume and listened intently. After it was done, she told her mom she wanted to go to Crawford.

Saturday morning we headed out for the 400-mile round-trip, full of questions as to what lay ahead. Crawford is out in pleasant, slightly rolling farmland with occasional woods. The town itself was fairly typical small-town Texas. My wife noticed a blood drive, so we thought "what the heck?"

The guy overseeing the blood drive was happy to see us, though had I to guess, I'd guess his feelings about Bush to be quite un-similar to mine. He was much like so many in this country: a very pleasant, optimistic guy who continues to assume the best about Bush.

After giving blood we headed out to the ranch. We finally could see some kind of a gathering in an area where a half-acre triangle of grass marked where a pair of roads met at an odd angle. About a quarter mile away though, rows of little white crosses appeard, stretching toward what's come to be called Camp Casey. The crosses were placed there, one apiece for the American soldiers who have died in Iraq. They set an appropriately somber tone as you drive up, a reminder that this isn't about Bush, this isn't so much about protest, and it isn't really about Cindy Sheehan. It's about those who have given their lives because George Bush started this war.

As we drove by and looked for a place to park, I was surprised there were so few people there, surely no more than a 100 or so. that would include the 15 or so Department of Public Safety officers and local Sheriff's contingent. Parking was quite easy, and as we walked back to the triangle of grass, I noticed the opposition protesters across the little 2-lane county road. The most obnoxious sign was this one:

Sheehanistan: American Haters Welcome

Lots of hate simmering over there ("cut and run traitors," "don't dishonor our troops"). I really hated to see the ignorance parading before me. I stopped and videotaped the people and the signs to be sure that I would remember what hate and misunderstanding looks like.

I thought their protest was inappropriate and really immature in substance, but this is America. This freedom of speech thing isn't always fun or how we would want it. But that's as it should be. They had the same right to be there that I had. And they proved their total lack of class within the half hour by what they did to my daughter.

Part II coming...