WP: They Are Stardust, And in Texas Growing Echoes of Woodstock

[Generic Other]

They Are Stardust, And in Texas
At the Crawford Protest Camp, Growing Echoes of Woodstock

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 22, 2005; Page C01

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 21 -- Camp Casey, which started with one mom and a grievance, mushroomed over the weekend into a massive settlement with a party tent for 2,000, a shuttle-bus service and an elaborate catering operation that deposited a 26-foot-long refrigerator truck, generators, and restaurant-quality ranges and warming ovens in a field next to President Bush's ranch.

The hippie crowd that originally was drawn to Cindy Sheehan's protest is still in town -- activists from Food Not Bombs are sleeping in an old school bus that has been painted sky blue and can be started only with jumper cables. But now they have been joined by liberals from throughout the West who are double-parking their hybrid-fueled cars to take part in a peace protest with a budget that is $120,000 and rising.

The grassy field is so close to the president's property that he and his entourage were photographed from there as he bicycled last week before the hordes arrived. Parking attendants wear reflectorized orange vests.

"It's kind of like if Woodstock was really organized," said Chris Voigt, 51, an architect from Fort Worth who was volunteering in the spacious kitchen tent, scraping a frittata pan. "The war's over. Somebody needs to tell Bush."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101113.html

[knowbody0]

1. the spontaneity makes it magical at Camp Casey

[aquart]

2. The war isn't over. People are still dying.

But, maybe, blind faith in this fatuous fascist ass is over.

[gumby]

3. "They are Stardust,"

"Woodstock," and "The hippie crowd that originally was drawn to Cindy Sheehan's protest is still in town," "Green-pepper trimmings were composting nearby, and recycling boxes were overflowing with discarded plastic."

Those are just a few of the purposely demeaning, dismissive and mocking quotes of "journalist" Mike Allen.

reply: FUCK YOU Mike Allen and the Pentagon Post you rode in on.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Yeah, really. What kind of NUT would compost, recycle or drive a hybrid?

I mean, really.

Now excuse me, I have to spend 70 bucks to fill up my SUV-- so I can go haul these twenty bags of trash to the dump.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Well, apparently Mr. Allen is going to be part of TIME's 2 man WH detail

After Labor Day:

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Posts_Mike_Allen_to_join_Time_M_0807.html

Hmmm. Perhaps by worming his nose ever-further into the White House's ass, he can ensure a friendly reception.


"Hey Mike? It's Karl. The New Word on the Street? Cindy Sheehan's supporters are- get this- Hippies! Yeah, isn't it great? Okay, Gotta Go."

[gumby]

9. Aaarrrgghhh!

Is it a "media," or is it a circle jerk; or is it just plain incest?

:puke: :puke: :puke:

[Warren DeMontague]

11. I vote #2 and #3

but they sure do one hell of a good job covering the celebrity trials and Aruba disappearances.

[Generic Other]

5. Very upbeat article for the most part

A detailed look at the daily life of the camp.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. It struck me as awfully condescending.

And I don't particularly like this paragraph:

Sheehan set up camp after Bush declined her impromptu demand for a second meeting to discuss the death of her 24-year-old son, Casey, in Iraq last year. Some in the White House viewed Sheehan as a partisan who could be dismissed: She had appeared on Capitol Hill at the behest of Democrats to discuss the "Downing Street memos" and has charged that Bush "killed" her son. Bush did not agree to her second request in part because he had met with her last year during a visit to a military base. He said in remarks last week that he sympathizes with her. He has been mostly out of sight since then, although he rode his mountain bike for 70 minutes in 101-degree heat Sunday.

I might not mind that thing about "killed" in quotes, except it looks like he used it again, just a day or so ago:

(This is, as near as I can tell, a totally different piece)

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050821/NEWS06/508210503/1012/NEWS06

By the accounts of several advisers, Bush and his aides concluded it would be a mistake to yield to Sheehan's demand for a second meeting with Bush to discuss the death of her son, Casey, who was killed in Iraq at age 24 last year when his Army battalion was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. The president has made it clear that he does not care to see protesters, or to reward them.

White House officials maintain that Sheehan has discredited herself with statements about impeachment, her insistence on a withdrawal from Iraq, her mixing of her cause with that of the Palestinians, and her accusation that Bush "killed" her son. So the "peace mom" might turn out to be only a summer sensation.

Yes, put it in quotes, again, Mike. And be sure to remind everybody how this would be their second meeting...

And how the hell is a statement about impeachment discrediting? We spent $70 Million DOLLARS impeaching the last president for diddly fuckin' squat. But you can't even talk about it in regards to this one and his bogus war built on deliberate lies?

Feh.
Sounds to me like Mr. Allen is going overboard to ingratiate himself with the folks at his new workplace.

[Generic Other]

10. As are all articles from the press. I focused on the details

provided of camp life. My interpretation of the significance is different than Allen's.

A two page article in a major newspaper that doesn't outright smear Cindy is a positive sign.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Well, they're playing catch-up, now.

She's obviously spoken to millions of people fed up with this war. And we aren't all aging hippes (just some of us). Whether or not the media covers it positively, the public response means the real message is getting out there; and there is a very receptive audience.

I do find it interesting, however, that this "The protesters in crawford are all old hippies" meme is turning up simulataneously across the board.

Hey, I don't think the Hybrid, compost, or recycling references are slams, myself. Those are all very sensible things to do.

Edit: Maybe I'm just being a grumpy gus about the whole thing. Across the board, the whole phenomenon is very inspiring. The picture thread had me nearly in tears.

[Generic Other]

15. GOP talking point: we are aging hippies. So what are they?

Aging establishment pigs?

[anarchy1999]

17. SELL OUTS!

Two words, sweet and simple, sell outs. There are other terms for them in the sales and marketing profession, but we won't even go there tonight. Sell outs suffices.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. On fucking crack, if they still support that clown in the White House.

Excuse My French!

[nofurylike]

7. thank you for posting this. the post had gone back toward the very

same negative as other MSM did.

for days now, not one wrote of camp casey without letting bushies 'counterpoint'/twist.

for the post to have even this positive is huge.


peace

[nofurylike]

13. and in the words of my amazing brilliant aunt who wrote me after reading

this article:

"and what did I say about a woman's revolution?
"'matriarchal.' How often do you hear that said about an event in America?"

in the washington post!!

on that fine note, goodnight all you wonders!!
thank you for all you do!!!


Peace!!

[SoCalDem]

14. ..reading between the lines

They Are Stardust, And in Texas
At the Crawford Protest Camp, Growing Echoes of Woodstock

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 22, 2005; Page C01

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 21 -- Camp Casey, which started with one mom and a grievance, mushroomed over the weekend into a massive settlement with a party tent for 2,000, a shuttle-bus service and an elaborate catering operation that deposited a 26-foot-long refrigerator truck, generators, and restaurant-quality ranges and warming ovens in a field next to President Bush's ranch.

The hippie crowd that originally was drawn to Cindy Sheehan's protest is still in town -- activists from Food Not Bombs are sleeping in an old school bus that has been painted sky blue and can be started only with jumper cables. But now they have been joined by liberals from throughout the West who are double-parking their hybrid-fueled cars to take part in a peace protest with a budget that is $120,000 and rising.

The grassy field is so close to the president's property that he and his entourage were photographed from there as he bicycled last week before the hordes arrived. Parking attendants wear reflectorized orange vests.

"It's kind of like if Woodstock was really organized," said Chris Voigt, 51, an architect from Fort Worth who was volunteering in the spacious kitchen tent, scraping a frittata pan. "The war's over. Somebody needs to tell Bush."

[anarchy1999]

16. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've seen "Woodstock" and this is

far from "Woodstock" as you could possibly get! I call BS.

If I hear one more reference to "Woodstock" in MSM I just might lose it. This is the MSM one more time discounting and smearing us. Think "Woodstock", even a "Woodstock really organized", what do most see in their minds eye? A bunch of drugged out hippies, listening to rock music and sliding around in the mud, while they have all kinds of free love.

Don't let the MSM get away with this shit! I haven't read the whole article but this is my response from just the first couple of paragraphs and then there was the battle with our dear departed "loverevolution" person who just wanted to make it be a "party/protest".

[DistressedAmerican]

18. It Was Amazing To See With My Own Eyes!

I was one of those parking attendants for 4 or 5 hours last night. Gotta keep people off of the road you know. That means you!

The food operation is cranking at full speed. Great food too. Really tasty stuff. Amazing grassroots action going on down here.

Come and lend a hand!

[rodeodance]

20. I do not particularly like the analogy to counting down the days to his

sentence.


......The first wave of campers has name tags that mark the number of days they have been in Crawford. One of them is Ann Wright, 59, of Honolulu, whose tag sported 15 hash marks, like an inmate counting down his sentence. She plans to stay until the end of Bush's vacation. "If the president doesn't come out by then," she said, "that ends his opportunity."

[rodeodance]

21. Mike Allen: [e-mail]

[Hekate]

23. Thanks for the e-address

I think you posted while I was still writing! Now I know how to get hold of him.

Hekate

[Hekate]

22. Someone really needs to write to this guy and politely ask:

What's wrong with recycling? or using hybrid vehicles? and why do you assume the veggie peels are being composted, as of that's a silly idea? Is it bad to care about the earth? Is it bad to clean up your own mess?

By using code-words like "they are stardust" and "hippie" the author really undercuts the article and makes it seem like the thrust of this movement has been about dippy teenagers camping out and smoking dope. There's a certain subset of the population in whose minds the 60's generation has not aged a day, but exists somewhere out there (far out, you know) and reappears at protests like some crazed Brigadoon.

99% of us grew up and got straight jobs and had kids. We have gray hair. And the troops in Iraq are OUR CHILDREN and they are DYING. That's who's at Camp Casey: grownups desperately concerned about our children and our nation.

Get over it, Mike Allen.

Hekate

[Generic Other]

24. Kick for those who haven't read it

I obviously didn't hate the article as much as others.

But have at it guys. I certainly won't stop you!

:)

[tomg]

25. I am very glad for this article

It saves me quite a bit of prep time. I teach first-year college writing ( among other courses), and I need an article for an exercise on detecting bias/ slanting in writing. I like to start with something that meets the following criteria: 1) is fairly simple; 2) has many different kinds (structural, organizational) of examples;3) is current; 4) presents itself as "reporting." The only problem is that this might be too easy.