Posted on 08/25/2005 1:01:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CRAWFORD - With singing and tears, protest mom Cindy Sheehan returned to her vigil near President Bush's ranch Wednesday, less than a week after leaving to care for her ailing mother.
Alighting with an armful of flowers from a van that brought her from the airport, Sheehan's first act on returning was to find the cross with her son's name on it amid dozens set in the ground at her new campsite.
"Does anybody know where Casey's cross is?" Sheehan said.
She placed the flowers, then joined other mothers of fallen service members for a group hug.
Rick Burnley, a New Mexico poet with bare feet and long, salt-and-pepper hair, played a Jethro Tull song on a soprano recorder while a small clutch of women sobbed and hugged Sheehan.
"This is the center of the world," Burnley said.
Asked later how it felt to be back at "Camp Casey," Sheehan gave two thumbs up. Her supporters, who have dwindled significantly in numbers during her absence, are hoping that Sheehan's return will rejuvenate their anti-war effort by bringing more attention back to Crawford.
Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, is demanding a meeting with Bush so he can explain his statements that the war is a noble cause. She is vowing to remain at her encampment near the Western White House until he meets with her or returns to Washington.
In downtown Crawford, meanwhile, another grieving parent is gaining attention.
Gary Qualls, a Temple man whose son, Louis, was killed in Iraq, came to Crawford as a protest to Sheehan's protest. A soft-spoken veteran and Bush supporter, Qualls is presiding over an orderly series of tents dubbed "Fort Qualls" behind the Yellow Rose gift shop.
"I am here to bring back and keep respect for fallen heroes and for President Bush," Qualls said.
Opposition on the way
Of his counterparts at Camp Casey, Qualls said, "It's more than apparent they have come here to wage war against decent people."
This weekend, a caravan of demonstrators opposed to Sheehan's vigil are due to arrive in Crawford from San Diego. The "You Don't Speak for Us, Cindy" tour is expected to bring at least 10,000 more demonstrators to this tiny ranching community.
Gregg Garvey, whose son, Justin, was killed in Iraq, drove up to Crawford from Florida and pulled into town on Tuesday. He and Qualls have both retrieved from Sheehan's camp the memorial crosses bearing their sons' names.
"It didn't make me feel good that my son's cross was sitting in a ditch," Garvey said.
The two crosses joined those of several others whose parents also objected to Sheehan's memorial, in a small patch of dirt in front of the Fort Qualls tent.
Dueling protests
The two dueling protests have grown intensely hostile, with each side sharply criticizing how the other has chosen to grieve. Much of the back-and-forth has centered on the hundreds of small white crosses that Sheehan's camp built as part of their anti-war protest.
Qualls, who has challenged Sheehan to a debate, grows teary and emotional when describing his shock on learning his son, a Marine, was killed in Fallujah.
"The people on this side are righteous," Qualls said of his supporters and those in town to show support for Bush and the troops. "I have to stand up for what's right."
Barry Crimmins, a writer for the liberal radio network Air America, has been covering the Sheehan vigil and said he believes her efforts are serving as a "flashpoint" for a growing, national anti-war effort.
"They've turned Bush's vacation home into Baghdad airport," Crimmins said.
julie.mason@chron.com
Right! That's what they're there for........ it's all pablum.
BTT!!!!!!!
FR should know that
JEFF was kicked out of the USMC and does gay films with Military uniforms.
Ummmm...do you have a source for that? That's not something you want to say if you're not sure, you know?
And while I'm at it, allow me just to say I am so stinking tired of looking at this woman's contorted face. She looks like my senator (I know what you're thinking, but no, the senator I refer to is NOT a man...it's Patty "Osama Mama" Murray).
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
yep it was here in a post on freepr, wed or thursday.
Someone said somewhere (sorry I can't remember who is was or where I heard it!) that the definition of media bias is that there are over 1800 mothers of departed heroes from this war on terror and we only know the name of one: Cindy Sheehan. How true that is!
That that I advocate violence, but "Rick" needs to be beat with a big stick.
I think the MSM is setting this up so that Saturday they can tell us that "only a few hundred actually made the trip.."
Good for her - rested, relaxed, and feeling great with a mom who had a stroke and a husband who filed for divorce! Looks like her life is coming together!
Praise God for all of the FReepers and Patriots who are traveling to Texas in support of our troops and our President.
I am surprised the MSM is even including the efforts in this report...but then again, isn't civil uprising what makes good news?
They don't have a story unless someone is fighting someone else.
10,000 strong, surrounded by prayers from us who cannot be there.
FReep On! JK
Thanks for the ping!
Listen to Ankarlo talking with a guy who just spent two weeks in the Cindy camp, acting like he was one of them...when he really wasn't
http://www.klif.com/listen.html
Listen to Ankarlo talking with a guy who just spent two weeks in the Cindy camp, acting like he was one of them...when he really wasn't
http://www.klif.com/listen.html
Listen to Ankarlo talking with a guy who just spent two weeks in the Cindy camp, acting like he was one of them...when he really wasn't
http://www.klif.com/listen.html
Is that what they call a "skin flute"? I've always wondered what that is, and I heard that Jeff Key blows a mean skin flute...
I'm almost certain that Brit Hume did a story in the grapevine about the MAF caravan, and he, Gibson and the Fox and Friends morning show all did pieces on the Code Pink twits out in front of Walter Reed.
"I'm almost certain that Brit Hume did a story in the grapevine about the MAF caravan, and he, Gibson and the Fox and Friends morning show all did pieces on the Code Pink twits out in front of Walter Reed."
Posted by JulieRNR21
On News/Activism ^ 08/25/2005 9:00:45 PM PDT · 123 of 126 ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1470254/posts?page=123#123
Based on the MSM coverage, you would never know anyone was in Crawford, except Cindy Sheehan, her pinko clan and President Bush. Even Fox's Brit Hume reported on only Sheehan today and never mentioned any Bush/Troop supporters. We need to write to them and remind them of what made them #1.......FAIR & BALANCED...........
FNS@foxnews.com,
Myword@foxnews.com,
Cavuto@foxnews.com,
Atlarge@foxnews.com,
Friends@foxnews.com,
Foxwire@foxnews.com,
Hannity@foxnews.com,
Special@foxnews.com,
Beltway@foxnews.com,
Oreilly@foxnews.com,
Afterhours@foxnews.com
That was posted as a correction, Tonk, not as an invitation to clutter up my comments page with more Fox email links. And BTW, the F&F interview this morning included a mention of Sheehans connection to Code Pink, IIRC.
You have to take it up with JulieRNR21
It was her post.
Cindy's facial expressions -- the switch-off from giddy to grieving -- remind me very much of that tractor-girl who supported the Palestinians.
Yes, but if you're going to use her post to make some statement about Fox News, it then becomes your issue as well. And really, I have to ask, where the heck are you getting your news if you think Fox is acting like ABCCBSCNNNBCMSNBC?
"I have to ask, where the heck are you getting your news if you think Fox is acting like ABCCBSCNNNBCMSNBC?"
FR, where else?
I only watch FOX when Ollie North's show is on.
I don't watch any network news at all.
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.