Texas Protest Changes Columnist's Perspective-Muskogee Daily Phoenix!

[dweller]

by Mary deJuliis

Cindy Sheehan's son, Casey, lost his life in Iraq. When the president visited her a few days after his death, the
president changed the subject when she tried to talk about Casey and wouldn't look at pictures of her son.

As time has gone on, this has bothered her more and more. What really bothers her is that President Bush uses the
death of her son and the other 1840-plus soldiers as a reason to continue our military presence in Iraq, and she
doesn't understand what noble cause the president mentions but doesn't define. She plans to stay camped two
miles from the gate of the Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch, now called Camp Casey, until the president talks to her or
until Aug. 31. The camp is where her group was stopped for walking on the road instead of staying in the ditch. On
Sept. 1, she plans to move the camp to the White House lawn.

Former President Nixon allowed antiwar protesters to gather and camp on the White House lawn and even went out
and visited them with a very small Secret Service detail. I don't expect the same from Bush. Especially not after
being at Camp Casey for a couple of days and seeing the police presence and tactics they used. But from the little I
know of Cindy Sheehan after talking to her three or so times, I have no doubt that she will be camped somewhere in
Washington D.C.

It was a very diverse crowd that gathered to support Cindy and protest the Iraq War in Camp Casey. The group
changed as people had to return to their jobs and new people arrived. There were groups and organizations there that
represent military families, several who had also lost loved ones in Iraq, some with family members currently serving
in Iraq or shipping out soon.

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/OPINION/508180319/1014
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0818-27.htm

these 4 paragraphs do not give the editorial justice.. You MUST read the whole thing.

Here's to ya, Merle. The times they are a'changing.
dp

[Boo Boo]

1. Nominated

This is a great piece.

:kick:

[WhiteTara]

2. the reporter counted herself as one of the protesters

how interesting. That was a step in the right direction.