New Bush neighbor picks place for peace
Posted on 03/10/2003 6:38:35 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
New Bush neighbor picks place for peace
Crawford residents say he chose wrong town for anti-war effort
03/10/2003
CRAWFORD, Texas - The anti-war effort has traveled to President Bush's doorstep.
A Dallas-area man recently purchased a home in Crawford, which he plans to transform into a haven for peace pursuits and a convenient location from which to launch protests against a war with Iraq.
"It has a lot to do with Bush being near," said John Wolf, the activist who purchased the home. "But the area really needs an interfaith center and a spiritual presence."
Residents of the tiny town are already outraged.
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The city's mayor agreed.
"We're not going to let them turn our town into a three-ring circus," said Crawford Mayor Robert Campbell. "If they want to protest, let them go to Washington. I know what they want, but I don't think they're going to get it."
The house sits at the edge of downtown Crawford and is one the first homes visible after entering the city and passing the large billboard that reads "Home of President George W. Bush." It had been used as a rental property by an absentee landlord, who sold it through a real estate agent for $54,000.
The small white home with aluminum siding is catty-corner to the Coffee Station, the city's popular restaurant, and a few yards from Crawford City Hall.
"I can wave at the police chief from the back porch," said Mr. Wolf, who hopes to entice a nun to take up residence in the house.
In Washington, deputy White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he wasn't familiar with the peace house backers' plan, "but like other groups and individuals in America, they have a right to express their opinions. That's a foundation of American democracy."
"If the people of Iraq try to speak out," he said, "they have their tongues cut out by the brutal regime."
Peace house supporters said the center would be used for more than protesting war, although they hoped it would influence Mr. Bush's position on a conflict with Iraq.
MONA REEDER / DMN John Wolf (left) and girlfriend Michele Sandlin plan to turn a Crawford, Texas, home into a center for peace pursuits. |
"We need a spiritual center in Crawford that's for peace and justice," said state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. "I hope it causes some soul searching with the president."
Mr. Burnam is also director of the Dallas Peace Center.
War protesters have called on Mr. Bush to abandon plans to topple Saddam Hussein. And, they believe, developing a peace center in Crawford will help their cause.
Mr. Wolf, a contractor who lives on a farm near Rockwall, said operating the house would be a collaboration of area peace activists, including members of the Dallas Peace Center.
Sitting on three lots, it has enough space for a planned independent media center, prayer center and a lavish peace garden.
"We're in the infant stages right now," Mr. Wolf said. "But we hope to get it all done."
On Saturday, Crawford residents moved about without knowing the plans of their new neighbors.
Tourists gathered at the Coffee Station and various souvenir shops.
Signs on nearly every Crawford building, including City Hall, read: "We Support Our Troops."
"I really don't want that type of place here," said 44-year-old Crawford resident Lonnie Self.
Mr. Self, who shoes horses for a living, said the city is firmly behind Mr. Bush.
"They are not going to get a good reception," he said.
Outside a shop called the Yellow Rose of Texas, a tourist complained the peace house would create conflict.
"They have a right to be here," said David Speed, a 54-year-old teacher from Ranger, 95 miles northwest of Crawford. "But they should really stay home."
Some Crawford residents feared large protests or an influx of peace advocates would turn the city into a battleground.
And they also were concerned about the safety of peace house residents.
"Freedom of speech is important, but this is crazy," said Debbie Ingram, 45, ringing up sales on the Coffee Station's cash register while standing beside a life-size cutout of the president. "Don't they know Bush lives 7 ½ miles away from here? He's doesn't live in Crawford."
Ms. Ingram said she and her fellow Crawford residents are generally friendly. Still, she doubted that the community would warm up to the peace house, even if it included a nun.
"She should be careful," Ms. Ingram said out of concern for the planned occupant. "Something could happen to the house."
Mayor Campbell said the town has confronted other challenges to civic tranquillity since Mr. Bush moved to the area.
"We have ordinances in place because of that prospect," he said. "We're tired of these folks who want to use our town for massive demonstrations. We want to live our lives."
Peace advocates offer an opposing view, saying it's important to bring the debate about Iraq to Mr. Bush's back yard.
They said the peace house's other objectives are also important.
"It will be available to international visitors and [to] give things a different perspective," said Mr. Burnam. "It would be disingenuous to say the location wasn't picked because of Bush, but we need a spiritual center."
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com
The small white home with aluminum siding is catty-corner to the Coffee Station, the city's popular restaurant, and a few yards from Crawford City Hall.
"I can wave at the police chief from the back porch," said Mr. Wolf, who hopes to entice a nun to take up residence in the house.
In Washington, deputy White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he wasn't familiar with the peace house backers' plan, "but like other groups and individuals in America, they have a right to express their opinions. That's a foundation of American democracy."
"If the people of Iraq try to speak out," he said, "they have their tongues cut out by the brutal regime."
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
Sure. A rural Texas town needs an interfaith center like you need a piano when bear hunting.
Sounds like a good ole' Texas threat to me... Fair warning if you ask me.
LOL!
Yep. Gotta bridge those chasms of mistrust and animosity between baptists and, er, uh, other baptists. Bowling together just ain't enough, folks.
I bet many from Hollywood will line up to make a pilgrimage to this envisioned faux "spititual center".
VARMINT CONG ALERT!!!
How does he plan on getting permits to build all that stuff he has in mind?
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