Lone Star Democracy Builders Association

After finally leaving Austin a little late, we got up to Crawford after 3. We hit heavy traffic and eventually parked on a side street as it looked like the pro-Bush counter-protest was winding down. Sample sign from the pro-Bush side (with unfortunately no pic to back it up): "Kick Their Ass and Take Their Gas." Many SUVs with flags waving on them were taking off as we were heading in.

Walked a couple of blocks to the Peace House. A few folks hung around under a decent sized tent, a bunch of camping tents were tucked into the corner of the lot. A small labyrinth was in the front corner (the Walk the Walk part of the Peace House slogan "Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk"). We finally figured out that the shuttles to Camp Casey II were taking off from the parking lot instead of the street due to the traffic. Downtown Crawford was a couple of blocks away, where the pro-Bush folks were gathered in front of the Yellow Rose. Up there it's a gift shop not a strip club. Complete with a large display of the 10 commandments sandwiching a replica of the Liberty Bell. Go figure. A black helicopter flying around completed the picture.

Drove 10-20 minutes out to Camp Casey II on small farm roads. I can understand the desire for shuttles, the roads were barely wide enough for cars to pass each other. Good old farm country. Some double-wides, a little corn, some larger houses. A lot of land and sky.

Pulling up to Camp Casey II we were flanked on the left by a CNN cameraman and on the right by troopers at a roadblocked road where 100% ID checks were being performed. Looked like the back way in to the Bush ranch.

Greeters welcomed us to Camp Casey, with the graveyard to one side and tents to another. The big top was ahead of us, about the same size as the tent for DemFest. Folks were starting to line up for BBQ. Tables were set up for eating. At the other end of the Big Top was the stage with seating in front of it. Larry Monroe from KUT was introducing performers. Cindy was being swamped by well-wishers. Folks were eating and hanging out. Staff tents were tucked into a bit of shade behind the big top. Mary Magdalene from Colorado sang a duet which they tried to turn into a singalong. They asked us to hold hands as we sang (or not). A large banner to the side was a portrait of Casey.

There was usually a crowd around Cindy, who was holding up ok even when one of the songs was an ode to Casey. Folks had come to the camp from all over the country. Iraqi Verterans Against the War were present, Cindy wasn't the only Gold Star fmily member there. An oversize coffin had the names of all the soldiers killed in Iraq on it. The tents covering people waiting for the shuttles back had pictures of those killed on it. One table had information for ways high-school graduates could help their country without serving in the military. Another table asked folks to write their Congresspeople.

I recognized some DFT folks there. And one of the ladies on the bus was someone I chatted with at Threadgills at DemFest who lives in ??? (somewhere very small in Texas). It's a small world. I'd guess attendence at the camp was somewhere between 300-400 folks. A surprising number of people had dogs along. More folks were coming in as we were leaving.

We didn't stay long and returned to Crawford. A couple on mopeds that we passed on the way out were still heading into town as we headed back.

Back at the Peace House folks were still milling around. A shuttle bus (tour sized) got stuck, and a group of folks were gathered to push it out. Amazingly enough, the cars/trucks close to it were unscathed as it finally moved forward amidst a cloud of tire smoke. We walked over the tracks to Crawford's main street. The pro-bush folks were still camped in front of the Yellow Rose. A few anti-war folks were across from them. One of the pro-Bush folks pulled a Noriega and started blaring pro-war music. Some of the anti-war folks walked away, and the pro-Bush dude was upset that they weren't around to taunt anymore. He started getting in the face of another anti-war person, but she seemed nonplused.

The roads were now clear. While the black helicopter was still flying around, the ambulance fleet that had been hanging around before was reduced to a single sentinel.

As we started walking back to our car, I stuck up a conversation with a homeowner a couple of houses down from the Peace House. I hadn't really had a chance to talk yet with any of the pro-Bush folks. However, the Crawfordite (?) wasn't a Bush supporter. He's not happy with what's been happening with the economy. But he's also not happy about folks parking on his grass without permission. And fewer "flag wavers" were parking on his turf without asking than "peace signers". [Might have something to do with his location and/or the ratio attending. But it's still apparently a nice gesture in those parts to introduce yourself to the folks whose house you're parking in front of.] The gentleman thought the Peace House was just all about politics and didn't have much respect for them. Although I could see him being a little scary to middle age peaceniks when he went down to talk with them.

The drive home was uneventful, past stopping to take a pic of the Bush's "Welcome to Crawford" sign on the way into town that we'd driven by on the way in.

Being behind a camera added some distance to the whole proceedings. I'm happy that even in this Red state more folks were coming out against the war than for it. Even if it was hard to see that from downtown Crawford (most of the anti-war folks were at the camp, at least by the time we got there). Even with the graveyard, it's still not quite real to me that folks are dying for something our country agreed to (or didn't fight strongly enough before it started). It bugs me that it's been reduced to a "pull out now" vs. "kill 'em all" mindset. The logic of being "anti-troops" by supporting Cindy escapes me. And don't get me started about the "accountability" president. But I don't think that a total cut 'n run now would be the best solution either.

The only clarity I had all day was a desire to send a little something up to Crawford for letting us use their town as the stage in which to perform this drama. If I was the dude down from the Peace House, I'd be pissed about all the traffic jams as well.