Posted on 08/23/2005 1:48:17 PM PDT by BenLurkin
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Supporters of President Bush clashed with anti-war activists as they wound their way through California after rallying in the hometown of Cindy Sheehan, the mother who started a protest camp outside Bush's Texas ranch.
Conservative activists and military families embarked on the tour Monday, calling it "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" A verbal confrontation erupted when the caravan arrived in Sacramento and was met by anti-war protesters chanting for Bush to bring home the troops.
Sheehan supporter Dan Elliott, 71, confronted caravan members by waving a sign reading "Death is not support" and heckling one of the tour's organizers as she addressed the crowd.
"You are ruining the morale over there," responded Greg Parkinson, a Bush supporter.
Sheehan began her protest vigil Aug. 6 on the road leading to Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, an act that has encouraged anti-war activists to join her and prompted peace vigils nationwide. Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed last year in Iraq.
The pro-Bush caravan planned rallies in several California cities before heading to Crawford, where Sheehan opponents have formed their own camp.
"It's time to lay down the anger. We need to continue to uphold those people over there, to uphold those men and women with their boots on the ground," said Deborah Johns of the Northern California Marine Moms, who helped organize the caravan and addressed supporters outside the Vacaville Reporter newspaper in Sheehan's hometown.
Some caravan members called the anti-war protesters communists and said they were "aiding and abetting the enemy." Those comments enraged Sheehan supporter Dee Ann Heath, who said she has two sons serving in Iraq and another preparing to leave.
"I don't support the war, but I support my sons," she said. "I simply want them to come home."
In Vacaville, Toni Colip, 50, said her son, David, went to high school with Casey Sheehan and is now in the Army, although not in Iraq. Colip said her son opposes Cindy Sheehan's activities and has asked her to support his military service even if he is injured or killed.
"He said, 'Don't dishonor me; don't walk on my grave,'" Colip said.
Sheehan vowed to remain in Texas until Bush agreed to meet with her or until his monthlong vacation ended Sept. 3, but she flew to Los Angeles last week after her 74-year-old mother had a stroke. She is expected to return to Texas in a few days.
On Monday, Bush was in Salt Lake City, where he spoke to a national veterans group to rally support for the war. Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan, but a White House spokeswoman said he did not plan to change his schedule and meet with her. She and other families met with Bush about two months after Casey died, before she became a vocal opponent of the war.
She needs to set aside an entire evening, September 8th, and watch National Geographics "Inside 9/11."
and ...
the terrorists are not going away.
I read an article where one of his family members was talking about Casey. They said he was a Boy Scout, then an Eagle Scout and he had always wanted to be in the Army.
Doesn't sound like someone looking for a meal ticket to me.
Yeah! There's hope. Good for your step-dad!
Thank you for your post. You are right. Without the Left-wing press, there weren't be the "story" that goes on and on and on.
What I found yesterday when I was at the rally in Sacramento was that the cameras couldn't get enough of the war protestors. And there in their midst was a Giant - a Hero - Greg Parkinson, back from Iraq for 14 days. All they knew about him was that he was Bush supporter. Little did they realize or comprehend that there stood a man in their midst they weren't even worthy of licking the bottom of his combat boots -- who was putting his life on the front lines of the War on Terror, fighting for their freedom to magnify the words that traitors spew out of their mouths.
We should start a fund called "One Way Ticket Out." All the liberals who hate America can have a ticket to anywhere else in the world but here.
Thanks!
roll on the floor, laugh my ass off
Thanks, Bob!
Did you know Cindy Sheehan's son died in Iraq?
Agree completely with you.
Pat Robertson was slightly wrong when he said we don't need a communist leader so near America, we have so many communists already in America.
Thanks.
Read of accounts while in school of the hippies having a series of one on one union meetings so to speak with the Ironworkers as part of Pres.Nixons "Silent Majority " .The hippies came off the worse for wear.
B.S. they'll be the ones BLAMING Bush, just like last time, after the feel-good moments of the first few days. I think they think we MUST loose because we're the cause of everything bad, IMHO. Just ask Cindy.
Someone please inform this mom that it's a sure bet that a lot of other moms wanted their kids to come home from a day at the office of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and from Flight 93 as well.
BULL. If they're not with our nation after 9/11, they never will be. You might as well get used to the idea that some people just get off on cheering for the enemy.
IMHO, that's a bit over the top.
Violence used to solve a heck of a lot of problems back in my day. Just ask Dave ... if he remembers me from 5th grade.........
I say to heck with the lawyers and to heck with the law, it's time to put things back in their rightful place and worry about the consequences later......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.