Save the USA

re: (Camp Casey bad news) So what we need is some real people down there, offering practical, intelligent ideas and solutions to really end this evil war- we’ve got to stop following the fake leaders with bad ideas.

My suggestion is to ask Mr. Mattlege if we can rent his 160 acre parcel for the month of December, where we can host a Christmas Concert in Crawford, and perhaps a New Year’s Bash, maybe even a March to Prairie Chapel Ranch with 50,000 unhappy campers.

advantages:
In the wide open space of Texas, there is no need for riot cops.
People, esp college students have time off
Our request, a live tv debate
if Bush refuses, we force him to flee via helicopter
there is plenty of time to set this up and get the word out.

This is so do-able… Maybe we’ll even find an American leader willing to speak the words similar to Ukraine’s Yushchenko, ~ we will stay as long as it takes.

(more…)

The Bush Adminstration is hoping in the wake of the New Orleans disaster that we will all forget about Iraq. Instead it has made many more people aware of just what a waste of money and resources Iraq has been. It is time to ramp up the pressure on congress as they come back from their vacations. Many republicans are finally starting to understand the gravity of the situation in our country. Both Pat Buchanon and Joseph Farah are calling for the impeachment of Bush.
‘We the People’ need to join Cindy in taking Camp Casey to our politicians, protesting outside their offices, protesting wherever they go, writing letters, making calls etc.
Here are a few letters that Cindy Sheehan wrote to congress which can serve as examples…

Dear [Representative],

My son Casey, just 24, was killed in Baghdad on April 4, 2004. It is devastating to me knowing that Casey died needlessly, that so many other families face this same grief, and that new families are added daily. I have been sitting outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford since August 6th in a roadside ditch we named Camp Casey, seeking a meeting and a dialogue about an illegal and immoral war. I have been joined there by other mothers and families, many of whom have lost children in the war, some who have children now serving in the military, and still others who in one way or another have been touched by the war.

The President has not been willing to meet with me, but he must meet and listen to you. President Bush sent our sons and daughters to war in Iraq. Congress gave him the authority to do so. That’s why we are now turning to you, the elected officials who have the power to declare wars — and end wars. We come to you with grieving hearts to request that you meet with us to answer our simple questions:

President Bush has said that brave Americans like my son Casey have died for a “noble cause.” What is that “noble cause “?

How many more lives are we as a country willing to sacrifice in Iraq? How many are you personally willing to sacrifice?

What are you specifically doing to bring our sons and daughters home from this needless war?

Mothers from your district — all who share my conviction that this war must come to an end — are eager to meet with you, and pose to you the questions that the President has refused to answer for me. They will be coming to meet you with a symbol from our vigil in Crawford and will seek honest, straightforward responses to our simple questions. They are your constituents, and they will be asking you my questions, their questions, and the nation’s questions. They are going to ask you, your colleagues, and the President to answer us.

As a member of Congress you have the enormous responsibility to end this tragedy and bring our sons and daughters home now. Meet with us, answer us, and show us that there need not be a Camp Casey in your district. Show us that the Crawford Camp Casey, brought on by a stonewalling leader, was all we need. Show us your compassion and leadership.

Sincerely,

Cindy Sheehan Mother of Casey Sheehan

********

and my favorite which she titled “dear congress weinies”

Dear Elected Officials,

When are you all going to take back your constitutional authority from the maniac in the White House?
If you all won’t protect us, who willl?

We are seriously screwed and you all sit back and let the administrative branch take away our freedoms and foist criminals on us: people with no humanity or regard for our American Constitution or humanity. People like Alberto Gonzales and John Negroponte and most recently, John Bolton…torturers and murderers, to name a few. You in fact are complicit in stealing our freedoms by extending the un-Constitutional and un-Patriotic Patriot Act. Have you all lost your minds?

Please protect us. President John F. Kennedy said (1962): Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. I travel the country and I see a revolution coming…it won’t be violent, it will be a peaceful revolution.

We don’t want to lower ourselves to the level of our government. People are sick and tired of what’s going on in America today. We are wondering where we really live.

We have no checks and balances in this government. We don’t even have a media to tell us the truth. Please tell me what recourse do We the People have? May we impeach George and Dick and all of the lying cabinet? You all don’t follow the Constitution, why should we?

Take back your Constitutional power. Come back rested from your vacations and ready to do your jobs. Earn the obscene amount of money you make. Remember who you work for: your constituents, not the lobbyists, or George Bush.

Cindy Sheehan

Crawford Peace House takes donations meant for Cindy Sheehan and protesters and pays off mortgage
http://campcaseyroundup.blogspot.com/2005/08/crawford-peace-house-takes-donations.html

Does anyone else think this is a little selfish? How can they feel good about taking the donations and paying off their mortgage even before the protest is over? It sort of seems like the mentality of a republican, to always think of themselves first.

They could have instead used the protest money to rent more camping and parking space to enable the protest to grow. Instead they were sending folks away.

http://198.65.14.85/News/2005/31-40/34news14.htm “According to Ann Wright, camp coordinator, they are thrilled with the number of people wanting to come, but there just isn’t all that much room. We couldn’t have accommodated any of this if we hadn’t been loaned this additional land for Camp Casey II. This has been a godsend.”

“The area at Camp Casey II has no camping space left. There is limited space at site I. Those newcomers wishing to camp may have to camp in town or somewhere else.”

and with $150,000 in donations….”Due to the crush of people expected, water supplies may run short if more donations do not come in. So BYO.”

but they paid off the mortgage….

“I’ve been walking around with my mouth open and in a daze for the past two or three days,” said Kay Lucas, Peace House director. “It’s a blessing, a miracle. It’s like the parable of the loaves and the fishes.”

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20050815154721646

A month ago, founders of the Crawford Peace House were unable to pay their phone bill and were in serious negotiations with a national nonprofit organization to take over the small wood-frame house.

Then came Cindy Sheehan, the California mother of a fallen soldier, Casey, 24, with a seemingly simple request - to meet with President Bush.

Now, the Peace House not only has its phone service back, but wireless Internet service to boot.

Sheehan well-wishers are drawn to the house, which has served as the hospitality center for anti-administration activists visiting here since 2003, and have provided enough donations to pay off its $54,000 mortgage, said one of its founders, Hadi Jawad.

“We have been waiting for somebody like Cindy Sheehan to show up for the past 2 1/2 years,” the Dallas activist said Monday.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA081605.5B.house.solvent.dbe1029.html

More than $150,000 in donations have poured into the Crawford Peace House since Sheehan arrived Aug. 6 and started a makeshift campsite along the road leading to Bush’s ranch, vowing to stay until he talks to her. Because the rural campsite is small, most of the hundreds of visitors spend much of their time a few miles away at the Peace House, which has become Sheehan’s headquarters.

Not only is the phone back on, but the $54,000 mortgage is about to be paid.

“This has gone absolutely way beyond our imagination or expectations ever,” said Hadi Jawad, one of the co-founders.
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8C51JPO0.html

Meanwhile on the Bill Maher show last friday, Cindy stated that her bank account was overdrawn. What is wrong with this picture? Wasn’t that money meant more for Cindy Sheehan than the mortgage of the Crawford Peace House??

also interesting from another blog
http://n1obium.blogspot.com/2005/08/camp-casey.html

Rosie O’Donnell called to offer her support, “what did we need?” Buses for the rally Saturday and flights for more families and Vets to join us here. “Fine” she said, “I’ll send a check to cover it all.” Yipppeee, we have 5 buses to help bring in the supporters from Dallas, Ft Worth, Houston and Austin to the big rally on Saturday. Some fabulous new organizers arrived and went to work on details, flyers were made and organizations contacted by 2:00

Why the hell didn’t the Crawford Peace House use donations to help out with buses??

The fact that Fred Mattlage offered Camp Casey 212 acres was widely reported, many people were excited about it- then we lost it. Why? Why wasn’t any of the $150,000 used to rent Fred’s or another piece of land for the month?

Having three split camps and people camping in the ditch with ants, or sleeping in their HOT cars, or renting motel rooms… fragmented the movement. Why couldn’t we have all Patriotic Americans camping in one camp the entire time? Camp Casey could have grown to 50,000 or more- people do it for concerts all the time. That would have made a statement, but our “leaders” were just fine with the one acre. WHY?

Imagine if a top priority of the leaders was to aquire land, and to build 2000 crosses (extra crosses stacked & labelled “future losses” would add to the display) - that would have made a statement.

What if the real Americans at Camp Casey have been led astray by phony leaders, and what if these same ‘leaders’ are organizing the Sept 24th protest? What if it’s just another ANSWER rally with lots of anti-bush cheers but no intelligent presentation of the facts? If that happens then the anti-war movement is DOA.

Can’t anyone think for themselves anymore? Or are the organizers sooo nice that if they ask activists to spend 8 hours peeling potatoes they’ll do it, no questions asked.

Letter from a Soldier in Iraq to his Senator
The people here hate us and will always hate us until we go home.

Wouldn’t it be cool if somehow, someone could read this letter on a major tv network?

More Flyers: Don’t be a Good German- Speak Out
This one’s for the “counter protest clash” this wknd, it’d be cool to get this shown on TV
Good Germans –> Duped by the Media

(unless otherwise noted, from here on out they will all be 24×18 - i had no idea how easy it was to get these printed at kinkos- and you should have the option at home to ’shrink to paper size’ to print on 8.5×11 sheets

I’m just trying to help get the truth to the mainstream media… shouldn’t that be our common goal? The media is all over Camp Casey, and they’re talking about it, but they downplay the numbers and don’t touch on Camp Casey’s true message, bringing attention to the Lies. “This is George Bush’s Accountability Moment” - that’s what Cindy said.

Google News shows 1600 related stories about Cindy and Camp Casey, yet a search for “Downing Street Memo” yields only 192, none of which are tv networks. Most are letters to the editor. Now that the media spotlight is on Camp Casey, shouldn’t the kind folks there put some focus on somehow forcing the media to air the truth.*

How about a televised debate Camp Casey vs Camp Qualls? That could be excellent, why not, a reality tv megashow that millions watch- that’d be a great way to further the national dialogue, and it could very well educate some legislators, because they too have filtered news.

* The Truth: Bush & Co began planning the war, even bombing in 2002 before Congress voted that fall. All of the talk about going to war as a last resort was a Lie. All the talk about Iraq and al Qaeda and 9/11 was a Lie. All the WMD THREATS were blatant Lies. They planned and attacked another country *for no good reason* - so what was the reason that we went? That is the most heinous of crimes and they should be removed from power immediately. Why is this charade continuing? We already know the truth, why are we supposed to wait for some Republican controlled committee to investigate? And yes, they did steal the election, and this is why- to protect their asses. And why aren’t the Democrats in Congress doing anything- some are incompetent, some are bribed or blackmailed, and all are far too silent- it’s like they’re afraid of something….

Monday 22 August 2005
Ann Wright announced tonight that Caravans will be leaving Camp Casey in different directions August 31st heading to Washington, stopping all over the country to organize for the March on Washington on September 24th.

Why? Labor Day is a huge travel holiday… why not advertise Crawford, Texas as the site of the Great American Campout this Labor Day Weekend. I don’t know for sure, but in all likelihood our vacationing President will stay thru the weekend- why the rush to disband Camp Casey? Why the rush to announce the camp’s demise- if not to kill the momentum.

Is Ann Wright’s plan the best plan for the peace movement? Do the caravans really need those extra 5 days? I propose this alternative:

This will be paid for by the $125,000 or more in donations already received. $10,000 in lumber and in canvas, and 100 volunteers with cordless drills could whip up a slew of quick tent frames that could fit a family or two.

If we advertise this widely- we could get many, many thousands of people to come to Crawford to make a real statement. Which would be more powerful in affecting change, caravans leaving the 31st, or the Great American Campout in Crawford? Am I being divisive just because, or is there actual logic behind this proposal.

Two weeks ago Guy James reported thousands of Americans were in Crawford, this was on the first weekend after Cindy and DeDe began the stand. The next week saw 212 acres of prime space slip from our grasp. Now we’re stuck with one acre, hardly enough for The Revolution. This last weekend had Steve Earle, James McMurty and Joan Baez headline… yet it wasn’t advertised until it was too late. WHY???? Why are people still camping in a ditch with fire ants, others are sleeping in cars or renting hotel rooms? This situation is not encouraging more people to come.

Why did the Ukraine have money to fund a huge tent city? It was self contained and they had no need for riot cops. People without money could work in the tent city… They were peaceful and the riot cops stood down, and they got their Revolution. Why hasn’t anyone on our side come forward to rent a huge parcel?

Why can’t we set up a tent city like the Boy Scouts did just last month?

They’ve only set up 200 crosses at Camp Casey II - I’d bet that if we set up all 1869 it would be so moving that someone in Crawford would volunteer to leave it up permanently.

Why are activists spending time cooking and cleaning etc… they should be spend most of their time building (tent city, signs, more crosses), educating the media, doing something pro-active to get more numbers there. They should be doing everything imaginable to get the truth covered by the mainstream media, like making banners or flyers with things like, “The Downing Street Memo is equivalent to the Watergate Tapes” and placing them everywhere, so any mainstream newscast from Camp Casey will have something in the background. Beware of ineffective signs… misinformation agents will gladly volunteer for the task then make it illegible, or put bad slogans, etc…

Who is telling the hundreds of activists what to do? I read that Ann Wright announced that people will be leaving Aug 31st to rally support for the Sept 24th protest in DC… is this what one does to build momentum now in Crawford? (is Bush even leaving the 31st? Labor Day weekend is right after, why not stay thru Sept 5th? …. And if we had numbers, why not stay until the 15th when Lynn Woolsey has called a hearing on Iraq. If we split up for Sept 24th, then there’s no pressure on Congress for Woolsey’s hearing, but if we have thousands still protesting in Crawford, that’s some extra pressure.)

I posit that Ann Wright and many others are agents. If you haven’t been following along this comes as out of the blue, but i’ve been watching closely- and if you don’t know then you need to know- Cointelpro infiltrated anti-war groups in the 70’s and they’re doing it again today- ie- activists: stop listening and doing everything they tell you. Think for yourselves! Of course if you question their logic, they’ll tell you you’re just being divisive- just what they said when we questioned Kerry’s pro-war policies last year.

Bingo- it’s the Kerry people and DLCers like Joe Trippi that have come in and done damage control for the establishment. See Cindy’s 1 min commercial at meetwithcindy.org or gsfp.org - she says Bush lied, but there’s no proof, it comes across as just a grieving mom… I believe Ray McGovern was in Crawford when they filmed this, he coulda, shoulda been in it a bit speaking about the DSM- but that would have made the commercial too powerful.

What is going on down at Camp Casey? I have no idea. With wireless internet, why aren’t there bloggers telling us what’s happening? The point of this stand is to open the dialogue on Iraq, to discuss the lies, the Downing Street Memo and the best way to bring the troops home. Yet so far, nobody (in Crawford) is blogging about any of that…

How about this for a flyer- wouldn’t it be cool if someone doing an interview with CNN or FOX pulled this out and started discussing it…

click for a 8.5×11 printable image

more info on the April 9, 2003 “Saddam Statue celebration” scam
more info on the April 9, 2005 “Get Out Now” protests

What possible answer would Hannity or O’Reilly have? Why was the ‘pull down the Saddam Statue’ “massive celebration” all over the networks, but this “get out now” protest was completely ignored?

There is no good answer for the pro-war crowd, that’s why they bury it, and that’s why it’s the job of those at Camp Casey (and elsewhere) to bring this to the attention of the tv talking heads.

Every Voice in Camp Casey needs to FOCUS- this is not about Cindy - it’s about the war. They’ve made it about Cindy so they can tear her down. So we need to take the message back. This stand at Camp Casey is about exposing the lies and ending the war. It’s about preventing any more needless deaths while the looters continue to loot. Calling on all citizens of Camp Casey to FOCUS on the LIES.

This was a LIE.

“The evidence indicates that Iraq has reconstituted it’s nukular weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nukular scientists, a group he calls his Nukular Mujaheddin, his Nukular Holy Warriors.”
- George W. Bush

Audio evidence in this slideshow and this
BushCo Lies Podcast

Many more lies documented at WhatReallyHappened.com here and here

Bush Lies on 24×18″ Flyers
display prominently for the cameras ((:

more flyers here

In case you haven’t been following closely, thus far Camp Casey has been stifled….

Some are camping in the ditch, some are in town and others at Camp Casey II, a single acre, 1/4 of which is taken up by the huge tent. Last week 212 acres were offered to Cindy- was it declined? By Who? I’m still looking for clarification, can anyone in Crawford locate Fred Mattlage (who lives in Waco)?
….
To the progressive community- we are never going to win as long as we allow these fake left groups to lead us into obscurity. In short, Move-on, PDA, CodePink, True Majority, DemocraticUnderground, Democrats.com, MeetwithCindy.org … they are all “left gatekeepers” - working to minimize the damage to Bush.

read the rest on the other side of benfrank.net (- ;

Why not call and demand your money back today! That money was for Cindy and the protest.

“I just talked to a friend that I haven’t seen for a while that has been up to Crawford a couple of times. His wife and some more friends just got back from Camp Casey yesterday.
It sounds like some amazing things are going on down there and in a calm, peaceful manner. By small donations from the people visiting the peace house there, they have collected $80,000. The Peace House that had a $15,000 note has been paid off with new additions and two vehicles have been purchased. It was reported that thousands are down there with Cindy and a handful are there protesting Cindy and the Camp Caseys. (quite the opposite of what we hear in the press)”

Ellenmentally Mine Crawford…

t r u t h o u t - One Mother’s Stand
“I am at Camp Casey II. Camp Casey I is still going strong. The first camp can’t be replaced. It is where Cindy took her stand. It is where the good folks from Arlington West set up Arlington West Crawford. It is where. The anti-war movement found its voice there so we decided to stay.

Camp Casey II will have its own story. It is where we facilitate the growth. Steve Earle is now on stage, yes a stage, sound system, a giant canopy that can hold hundreds of people. It has been built, now its up to you to come.”

I wonder where Cindy will want to camp when she gets back. There were so many complaints about the danger of cars and crazies. Cindy called it “a miracle” when Fred Mattlage offered the land to Camp Casey.

Crawford. A patriotic camp with a “God Bless Our President!” banner sprung up downtown Saturday, countering the anti-war demonstration started by a fallen soldier’s mother two weeks ago near President Bush’s ranch.

The camp is named “Fort Qualls,” in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, who died in Iraq last fall.

“If I have to sacrifice my whole family for the sake of our country and world, other countries that want freedom, I’ll do that,” said the soldier’s father, Gary Qualls, a friend of the local business owner who started the pro-Bush camp. He said his 16-year-old son now wants to enlist, and he supports that decision…

He and others at “Fort Qualls” have asked for a debate with those at the Crawford Peace House, which is helping Sheehan.

It’s unclear if that will happen. But a member of Gold Star Families for Peace, co-founded by Sheehan and comprised of relatives of fallen soldiers, said her group would not participate.

“We’re asking for a meeting with the president, period,” said Michelle DeFord, whose 37-year-old son, Sgt. David W. Johnson, was in the Army National Guard from Oregon when he was killed in Iraq last fall. “We don’t want to debate with people who don’t understand our point of view.”

War Backers Start Camp Near Bush Ranch

Camp Casey Photos

They’ve set up this nice tent that takes up 1/4 of “the acre”… and there’s no room left for camping or parking. There’s a picture of Marcia Ball playing to an empty house Friday night- and people at DU and the Crawford Peace House had been telling people not to come because of the “big football game” in Crawford. Marcia was told not to bring the band because, ~ we need to be sensitive about what kind of gathering this is… it’s not a party. How many other bands have been turned away?

It sure seems that all sorts of dirty tricks are being employed to break up this camp and prevent it from reaching critical mass.

imo that’s good news, because that means they are worried, they don’t want us to show up… so let’s spoil their plans and do exactly what they’re afraid of, descend on Crawford in such numbers that they’re overwhelmed, with numbers the cointelpro diversion tactics will get buried amidst the voice of thousands of Real Americans. Even CIA veteran Ray McGovern agrees, he suggests we turn Crawford into Selma

…. if not now, when? Will this winter be a better time to protest?

Minnesota Bloggers EllaGoes.com report that the original campers have decided to remain in the ditch. The new site (with huge tent) will be for concerts and code pink events… and MeetwithCindy.org says there is no parking (since we ‘lost’ the 212 acres) - so everyone *must* go to the Crawford Peace House for a shuttle ride. How many people are going to want to camp and leave their car 10 miles away in a town full of hornery rednecks? ZERO.

In other words, Camp Casey Organizers have split the crowd into 3 seperate camps- are these people stupid or evil? Somebody needs to *out them* during the decision making process.

Also this ‘insider’ post at DU says that some big names are coming to Crawford this weekend, but since it’s such a small town and traffic is such a problem, they don’t want to release the names because it will cause too many headaches! What about the freakin death and destruction caused by this unjust war… but that can continue because we can’t have too many people come to Crawford for fear of disturbing 700 locals and the pastureland will be damaged….

Considering that we know they used Cointelpro to disrupt the Vietnam anti-war movement, is it that crazy to presume that they’re doing it again? Imho, there are agents in Crawford now, pretending to be for peace but actually trying to derail the movement.

Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman is broadcasting from Camp Casey today. And the Iconoclast reports that the new site now has a 180′x60′ tent - which is close to a quarter acre, a quarter of the entire new site- unless we can reclaim that 212 acre pasture.

Fred Mattledge offered Camp Casey two lots, 1 acre and 212 acres on the other side of the road. According to the Lone Star Iconoclast, “that offer has changed”. Did Fred really take back the offer? A discussion on DU makes it appear that someone has convinced Camp Casey that the 212 acres is not necessary, or ‘they might damage the field’ … and they’ve told Fred “no thanks”. Instead they’re going to ask everyone to park in Crawford and get shuttled from town to camp on the one acre. And imagine our luck.. there’s a big football game Friday night, so nobody should come Friday because we’ll cause traffic problems in Crawford. Sure.

Something stinks about this and it ain’t the cow pies in the field. 212 acres is enough room for tons of people to park and camp and for a huge concert, or series of concerts - and they’d rather have everyone park in town and come out to camp on the one tiny acre? Give everyone a 10×10 space and that’s about 400 tents…. not good enough!

The difference between the USA and Ukraine is that the CIA was funding their revolution while they are actively diffusing ours. That 212 acre “no thanks” is not an accident. Lets hope the forces of good can reverse this decision ASAP. They infiltrated anti-war groups in the 70’s - and they’re doing it again today. We need a crew of intelligent Real Americans on hand in Crawford to challenge all bad decisions. ie Logically - why should we limit ourselves to one acre?

If we’re concerned about Fred’s field we can pay him some of the $90,000 (as reported by Cindy on Mike Malloy) that’s already been donated.

Bush is on a 5 week vacation- that’s thru labor day weekend- there is still plenty of time to build this tent city- the Ukrainians had a functioning tent city and thousands of citizens willing to brave cold weather by now. The masses coming out inspired a tv news crew to go on strike, they refused to lie anymore. The Revolution ensued.