Try this ...
Posted on 04/04/2007 10:45:03 AM PDT by Graybeard58
They came bearing chocolate chip cookies, as grandmothers often do. The nice man at the Army recruiting office wasn't interested.
After listening to their anti-war spiel and resisting their pleas for him to quit his job, the recruiter asked the ladies to leave. He was polite, but he had work to do.
"I said, 'That's where the rub comes, because we have work to do, too,' " said Paki Wieland, a 63-year-old with two grandsons. "Our work is to stop your work."
That's when the police came to haul away Wieland and four other grandmothers on trespassing charges.
Such things can happen when you're a Raging Granny, a member of an international group of socially conscious women who demonstrate against things like consumerism, poverty and war.
And on Tuesday, they had their day in court.
Other than the brightly colored hats they wear at rallies to sing protest songs, nothing seems too unusual about the five grandmothers arrested in November at the Army recruiting office in Greenfield.
They all have gray hair, except for the youngest -- 62-year-old Dusty Miller. Ann Wilson is the oldest. At 77, she wears a hearing aide, walks with a cane and has a tube blowing oxygen into her nose to ease the troubles of heart disease.
A few had been arrested at other civil disobedience demonstrations; others found themselves in hot water for the first time.
"I thought I'd be dead before I was ever arrested," Wilson said.
But she and the others say they were compelled to take some sort of action against a war they call unjust.
So it was decided last November they should visit the Army recruiting officer in Greenfield. At best, they'd get him to quit his job. At the least, they might be able to close the office for a little while, preventing one or two people from enlisting.
"This is not about serving your country," 68-year-old Hattie Nestel said when asked if she respects those who enlist. "This is serving the war machine."
About 30 grandmothers showed up at the recruiting office with plates of cookies. After being told to leave, five of them stayed until the police took them away.
The criminal trespassing charges were later converted to less serious civil infractions. Still, the commonwealth wanted its due: a $50 fine per grandmother.
In Greenfield District Court on Tuesday, the grannies each gave Judge Herbert Hodos their reason for their actions and accepted responsibility. He warned them they'll now have a permanent mark on their record, the judge let them walk without a fine.
So what's next for these Raging Grannies?
"It's hard to know what to do next," said Wilson, whose four grandchildren called Tuesday morning to say they are proud of her. "There's always tax resistance."
Ping.
L
Yep.
Normally, the thought of violence on a “person of age” makes me ill.
However, the thought of a boot stomping this granny makes me kind of tingly. She’s actively aiding the enemy. I hope the boot has spikes.
Good luck with that. I bet you don't walk away from that.
I saw these wackos on CNN this morning and I thought that they all looked like hippies that never outgrew it. They were yelling that we had to get out of Iraq because we were murdering civilians. The civilian death toll is going to look like it did after we left Vietnam if we leave now. Anyone who had anything to do with the US is going to get slaughtered by Al Queda and Syria and Iran will come in and fight over the scraps.
>>>”This is not about serving your country,” 68-year-old Hattie Nestel said when asked if she respects those who enlist. “This is serving the war machine.” <<<
Tell that to the Iraqi people, you hag!!
“It’s hard to know what to do next,” said Wilson, whose four grandchildren called Tuesday morning to say they are proud of her. “There’s always tax resistance.”
A worthwhile cause. However, do you all believe your liberal friends in Congress will tolerate that protest?
Our military doesn't start wars, they stand in harms way brave, resolute and honorable. They also understand there can be no peace without strength and that on occasion our enemies will test that strength. These are our sons and daughters instilled with American values and American blood. Every one a hero.
1) Visiting each and every resident within the U.S. to convince all adults that serving our Country offends them personally, and
2) Visiting each and every Islamic Imam that has declared war on us and our way of life and attacked US to show them that "Peace is the only way."
But of course, I know I'm asking too much of pacifist-dhimmis...
It's not as if the Raging Grannies are strangers to activism. When they were much younger they protested for the Rosenbergs' freedom. I only read about that in National Review.
There’s an 80-year-old granny at my church who can and would kick all their asses.
Well, I see age doesn’t always bring wisdom. And I’m wondering just how they thought they were going to get the recruiter to just “quit”.
Well dang! Wish I lived near there. My daughter was a navy recruiter for a few years. I’d love to go cookie to cookie with those hags.
We’re not killing civilians. That would be the Islamist nutcases. These third-rate protestors don’t take the time to make that distinction.
And yes, you’re right. If the terrorists put down their guns, the fighting would end today. If the Coalition puts down its guns, the fighting has only begun.
These myopic dimwits haven’t figured that out, yet.
The islamofascists would not allow these women to be out in public, let alone collect Social Security or use Medicare. Since these hags don’t like what our country is doing, they should move somewhere else. Oh, wait a minute. They would not get SS or Medicare somewhere else.
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