They Tell Me Hell's Hotter Than Waco

...but I have my doubts.

Five of us piled into my truck at 7:45 on Saturday and headed to Camp Casey. It was a great trip up, filled with deep discussion and music from Eliza Gilkyson.

We got to the Camp Casey area a little after 11 and the vibe was completely different from last time. The 5-7 pro-Bush protesters across the road had swollen to about 80. The 125 or so anti-Bush diehards at Casey 1 were less contemplative than before, and more rowdy. Someone had a guitar and would play a riff and come up with a few lines that the anti-war crowd would parrot. The people across the road would then yell something back at them, throw out some insults and catcalls, and the anti-war crowd would respond.

It looked to me to be only a matter of time 'til there was trouble, so after about an hour or so, we left. As we left a guy was walking past me on the other side of the road with a sign: "Repent you treasonous bastards." I saw red.

"Hey! I'm not a bastard."
"Yeah you are."
I looked at him a minute. He was dressed in the standard redneck uniform; jeans and a cowboy hat. So I had a very minor epiphany.

"Did your mama raise you to hold a sign with a cussword on it?"

He looked uncomfortable and moved on. If logic doesn't work, what the hell--give shame a try. I don't think I kept him from holding the sign up, but I know I made him think. Might've been the first time that week for him...

We went over the Camp Casey II about 3 miles away. The vibe was far different...kind of like a pep rally at Woodstock, if that makes sense. I read that the whipped-meringue-with-peaks-looking tent held 2000 people, and it was full to overflowing. All age groups were there, and all were VERY hot.

Iraq war veterans were speaking passionately against the war when we walked up. Shortly afterward, Cindy Sheehan took the stage. She's the face of the anti-war movement, and the crowd loved her. I was surprised and delighted to see Joan Baez had stuck around. She still looks luminous and...well, almost sexy at 60-whatever she is. She sang Joe Hill and the Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and then sat on the stage leaning against Cindy, holding her hand. It was very sweet.

My wife recognized Laura Flanders, the Air America radio host, so we said hi to her and talked to her for several minutes. We even snapped a couple of pictures with her. She's as pleasant and smart in person as she is on the air.

We had wanted to go to the Crawford Peace House, so we headed to town. There was lots of Pro-Bush action on the very busy Crawford streets, but nothing organized. We found a parking space and were walking to the Peace House when I noticed a life-sized photo of George W. Bush with a sign below it saying "Political Quackmire." I asked the people if they minded if we took a picture and they said that was fine. We posed next to him, me with my thumb down. Suddenly the guy jumps in front of us waving his arms and yelling and basically going nuts. Turns out he's a GW Bush fan. He grabbed my daughter's hand and kinda pushed her away and I was like "Hey buddy, that's not necessary..." He said something like "typical liberals!" My wife had to urge me to move on. It wouldn't do to have a fight next to the Peace House after all...

The question I haven't figured out is why a fan of Bush would have that "political quackmire" sign below him. I'll bet I wasn't the only one to mistake his allegiance.

The Crawford Peace House is an old wooden place with a nice grounds and a neat little stone labryinth that is supposed to help you meditate on peace. The place was rockin' on Saturday, so not a lot of peace to be had. Some rectal orifices from the University of Texas were standing across the road taunting peace folks, to little avail.

Laura Flanders had arrived at the place and was, with help, setting up an audio edit station on the floor to try and get her show together. She was quite disappointed when we told her we weren't going to stick around for her show, but were heading back home. We promised to call in.

We left Crawford knowing that that poor little town will be so happy when el Presidente's vacation is over and they can return to some kind of normal.

I did indeed call in to Laura Flanders' show and we talked for several minutes about our experiences out at Camp Casey. That's twice in two weeks that I've been on national radio...I think I should ask someone for my own show!

A word in closing, and something that was harder to grasp during this visit than our first: this is all about the war, and the soldiers dying. I think the anti-war movement is very important right now. The president, and the right wing need to know they have significant opposition. If they don't, they'll continue to make horrible decisions that we all will pay for. They need to understand the concept of accountability. The best way we can make all that happen is to write our representatives. To speak out. To give money. To sign petitions. To get involved. I wouldn't ever ask you to do something you can't, but please: do what you can. Thanks!