Posted on 08/29/2005 2:31:15 AM PDT by HushTX
Deep in the heart of Texas, or so the saying goes, lies a small town called Crawford. Nestled neatly between over here and over there, Crawford probably wouldn’t be a household name if not for three very well known people. President George W. Bush and his wife Mrs. Laura Bush purchased the famous Crawford Ranch in 1999. Six years and two elections later, Crawford was visited by someone else who would draw the attention of the nation. Cindy Sheehan had come to Crawford.
It was early August, 2005, when Cindy Sheehan first arrived to make a stand outside President Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch. Demanding that the President speak with her regarding the war in Iraq, the conflict in which her son died, Sheehan caught the attention of the media. News of her activism began to trickle across the airwaves. A veritable storm was brewing, one that would make waves in Crawford and all across the United States.
Anti-war protestors moved into a small house on FM 185, just down the street from the Yellow Rose and what appeared to be the only gas station in town. The Crawford Peace House was to become the headquarters of the Sheehan assault on the President, or as one Peace House administrator stated “this is the center of the universe.”
A dozen tents were pitched in the yard, a large rock labyrinth was set up in a patch of barren dirt and the property was littered with postings proclaiming hatred against the President and the initiative in the Middle East. Unfortunately, it was hard to decipher the exact message as the clutter prevented any sort of clarity.
Inside the Crawford Peace House it was as bad as outside. While the smell wasn’t as strong, the clutter was worse. In addition, there were far too many people in such a small space, and it was hard to move around. A map of the United States hung on the wall, marked by thumbtacks denoting some pattern that is currently unknown. A string of flags with various religious symbols hung over a board with messages for the devoted staff of the Peace House. Two laptops were set up on fold out chairs and hooked into a DSL router next to a metal cot. The kitchen was open, but a crowd of people prevented any realistic movement towards the food. Most notable, perhaps, was a copy of the Bill of Rights that had “VOID” written on it in bright red ink. To many, this was indeed the center of the universe. To a few it was home. To Cindy Sheehan it was a base of operations from which to run her crusade.
With support from sources like MoveOn.org and Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan became a mouthpiece for the various taskmasters of liberalism. While nobody can prove she has been fed lines and trained by the kingpins of the left, her sudden shift from bereaved mother to star quality media personality begs certain questions. The one question that hasn’t been asked yet is if Cindy Sheehan had any idea what she was getting into
Small groups of conservative activists, finally tired of the mainstream media’s tendency to lean to the left, started to speak out. It began with written statements in response to Cindy Sheehan, most of which were strewn about cyberspace. As the tension built, counter-protestors made their way to Crawford to show Sheehan and her compatriots that they were not the only ones willing to mobilize. It took less than one month for the movement to grow from a few local patriots to a force of thousands.
Grass roots organizations such as Free Republic and Protest Warrior arranged to travel to Crawford in an organized strike against the media frenzy Cindy Sheehan had incited. By the third week of August their efforts were joined by those of citizens across the country who had heard about the counter-protests from talk show hosts Mike Gallagher of 1080 KRLD and Darrel Ankarlo of 570 KLIF. Most people were only able to make it down for one or two days, but those few that could stayed on. By the end of the month the calm before the storm had passed.
A caravan, organized by Move America Forward, departed from San Francisco, California, on August 22, snaked its way across the country to arrive in Crawford on the afternoon of August 27. The few hundred men, women and children who initially ventured to Crawford to fight the Sheehan media circus had grown to an excess of three thousand people filled with anger, patriotism and hope.
On August 27 Crawford was the center of an invasion. People from all across the United States, and a few from foreign nations, had journeyed to the small Texas town to make their own mark on history. Only time can tell what their efforts will bring, but there is no doubt that the time for change has come.
The North end of Prairie Chapel Road was lined with dedicated citizens on both sides of the issue, every one diligently exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and free speech. As the supporters of the Sheehan crusade strummed their guitars and called their mantras, the patriots across the road matched them. Over the tired chants of Camp Casey a new cadence for America was heard. “The silent majority is silent no more!”
The once bustling Camp Casey was nearly empty that afternoon. Most of the campers had ventured off to one of the other camp sites or were at a special barbecue at which the commissioners of MeetWithCindy.org were assaulting the reputation of the President by flaunting their hollow victory due to his absence at their gathering. Only one week prior Camp Casey was so packed that it was hard to see the dark black 
of the road.
Prairie Chapel Road was not the only center of activity, however. Downtown Crawford, where the city’s only stoplight hangs loosely over the central road, was throbbing from the hustle and bustle of the protestors, rally-goers and tourists who had come to see both. Police officers and county sheriffs, every one volunteering his or her time, were in full force, guiding traffic and preventing violence. Crawford’s economy had skyrocketed at the cost of its usual peaceful, lazy days.
The real action was near the stadium. Over three thousand people filed in and out of the grounds through the course of the day. Most were there to see and support the rally sponsored by Move America Forward. People from all walks of life had come together to make enough noise to overcome the familiar voices of Cindy Sheehan and her compatriots. At least one thousand were people who joined the caravan on its way from California, but countless others had come from other places because they wanted to add strength to their cause. The Prairie Road patriots were right that the majority would no longer remain silent.
The rally was marked by the presence of those who had lost loved ones in the war against terror and those who had fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. The previous weekend’s rally featured a pickup truck with loudspeakers and a microphone. The August 27 rally featured a full stage, a concert quality sound system, tents, merchants raising money for the troops and charities, and a huge flag made by the children of soldiers who had given their lives in the course of their heroism.
Speakers at the rally included soldiers who had served in Iraq, family members of fallen soldiers, community leaders and two public figures whose names are known to people on both sides of the issue.
Shemane Nugent took the stage and spoke on behalf of her husband, singer Ted Nugent. Nugent’s speech was met with many cheers and shouts of “hell yeah.” In her usual form, Nugent was able to keep the audience worked up and even managed to increase the energy in the crowd. Despite a few off handed comments from rally-goers who were concerned that she was only there to sell her husband’s book, Shemane Nugent met the occasion with a high level of patriotism, optimism and only a tiny bit of showmanship. She later stopped by Fort Qualls where she, yes it's true, promoted her husband's book. She also managed to help raise some money for the Qualls Memorial Fund.
While not the keynote speaker, or even the last to take the stage, Deena Burnett was assuredly the most humbling and sentimental of all the speakers at the rally. Her husband, Tom Burnett, gave his life when he and a handful of other passengers chose to meet destiny on their feet and took the fight to the hijackers of United Airlines flight 93 on September 11, 2002. In a spirit worthy of her husband’s heroism, Burnett faced a crowd of thousands with the courage to speak and maintained her composure in a way most people could never manage. Of everything she said, it takes only one word from her speech to sum up what was displayed at the rally that day: integrity.
The blistering heat peaked as the rally came to an end. A stream of people walked along the side of the road as a line of cars sat still, their drivers waiting to inch forward towards the main road out of Crawford. An occasional conversation would start between someone on foot and the driver of a nearby vehicle, but mostly the dwindling crowd hurried off to find shelter from the sun. It would be some time before Crawford returned to its lazy summer days, but the exodus had begun. Some will return to the daily grind of nine to five work, others will go home with a renewed sense of hope and patriotism. Despite the countless differences between everyone, one thing is certain. The time of change has come and we will be silent no more.
BRAVO......excellent report & fantastic photos!
Please make sure this account gets to our troops in Iraq.
Thanks for this post, Hush. It's a great read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Read your posts over the weekend. Nice to hear a conservative voice from across the pond. My wife and I visited England a few years back and, despite the fact that your ancestors tried to kill mine, the good citizens of London treated us with great kindness and hospitality.
I am posting this to you because my Day-Timer's says that there is a "late summer holiday (UK)" over there. So happy holiday, whatever it may be. 8)
Thanks for that article. All the fire fighters in attendance had a wonderful time.
If you have any pics of my fire fighters I'd love to see them.
We were at the BBQ
Bruce sang the National Anthem
John spoke of the loss of his twin brother in Iraq.
Thanks
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