How it was from the perspective of one of our own Roswellians.
Two Days at Camp Casey
and a journey from being an apolitical housewife to an anti-war activist
by Lonna Gooden VanHorn
http://www.opednews.com“This war is clearly illegal as well as immoral. But what hurts worse is that it was unnecessary.” Gary at Camp Casey
Jim Hightower, in his delightfully irreverent book “Thieves in High Places” said anyone who considered taking a vacation in Crawford, Texas, in August needed to be taken forthwith to the nearest mental institution.He was right!! Crawford in August is HOT!! And HUMID!! I arrived in Crawford late Saturday night, August 13th. Believing, silly me, that in a town of less than 800 people it would be a cinch to find the Peace House or Camp Casey.
The sidewalks were entirely rolled up. There was no 24 hour gas station. There was no traffic anywhere. No one to ask directions from even if I had been brave enough to ask the natives (people I knew were mostly fervent Bush supporters) for directions. I had no idea where the Peace House or the camp were. After parking under a tree in a church parking lot and trying valiantly to sleep until the gallons of sweat rolling off my body nearly drowned me. I finally gave up and took myself out of town, traveling up the George W. Bush Parkway to a hotel in Waco that missed being a 4-star motel by about 5 stars.
The next morning back in Crawford, the Peace House was easy to find, even without directions. A little background:
I am just a housewife and mother. Apolitical all my life, it was apparent to me early on that the agenda of George Bush and those who shared power with him was different than that of any other administration I had seen in my lifetime. His government was clearly of, by, and for corporations and the very rich. He had no interest whatever in the “common good.” In fact, his intent toward the people and their environment appeared to be malevolent. And, has proven to be so.
Even so I did nothing. When we bombed Afghanistan, I did nothing.However, when Bush et.al. began clamoring for war with Iraq, and the press failed to examine their words or logic, I began writing out of my frustration over the media’s failure to do its job, which is to question those in the seats of power and hold them accountable for their words and actions. I did not understand why we should blindly believe the words of oil men who in two short years had proven themselves to be arrogant, unethical, dishonest, and staggeringly incompetent. They had already taken us from surpluses to deficits for the benefit of themselves and their class, already failed us by ignoring dozens of warnings indicating bin Laden was up to something. They were also men who stood to benefit personally either politically and/or financially from war with Iraq.
I am no longer apolitical. My vote in 2006 will be based almost entirely on how strongly the candidate supported this most incompetent and dishonest of all presidents. I would vote for people as ideologically diverse as Dennis Kucinich, liberal Democrat, a real hero who was against the war, voted against Cafta, and always votes for the people, and Ron Paul, conservative Republican, who also voted against the war, against Cafta, and is an American statesman.
I began collecting information that most people did not know but should know. I made summaries in large print and taped them to my 1994 Toyota pick-up, because, as Walter Cronkite said the media, especially the broadcast media, no longer provides the people with the information we need to make informed decisions (that is on my truck) so, as Ed Asner said, it is “up to us.” My “book on wheels" gradually came into being. At a stop light, people behind my truck or alongside it have no choice but to read what is on parts of my truck. It contains sections on the environment, the economy, what real war heroes (Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Butler, Zinni, McGovern, etc.) and other sages (Twain, Einstein, Vonnegut) have said, http://oldamericancentury.org /submit_0061.htm Iraq war veterans, the Baghdad girl blogger, “the Iraq war the Big Lie,” 9/11, Christianity and morality, the War Profiteers, etc. To make it more palatable for Republicans, most of what is on it was said by Republicans. Months ago I wrote to Cindy Sheehan to ask if she would mind if I included her daughter's poem "A Nation Rocked to Sleep" on my truck. So, when I came home from my nephew's wedding in Iowa Friday afternoon, went to my information websites and read that Cindy was camping outside of Bush's ranch in Texas, even though I hate to travel and had just gotten back from a 2500 mile road trip, I accepted that my truck and I belonged at Crawford with Cindy.I left on Saturday, August 13th. The two days I spent there are among the most memorable days of my life. The people I met were fascinating. Sunday morning I signed in at the Peace House. I immediately began retaping the information sheets that had been on my truck since March, but that I had ripped off three days earlier when my husband had driven my truck to a job interview (even I did not think driving a vehicle with nearly 90 sheets of controversial information taped on it stem to stern to a job interview would be prudent if a person seriously wanted to get the job). An obliging gentleman helped me tape, and the task was soon accomplished. People began taking pictures of my truck immediately. Cindy came out and gave me a hug. Later, I took a picture of her standing by her daughter’s poem which is taped among the pages on the hood of my truck. At lunch on Sunday, Cindy spoke a few words. She said she did not have thick skin. The media tearing her life apart really hurt her. She said if the media had examined what Bush/Cheney et.al. had said before the war with the same kind of thoroughness they used on her, their lies would have been exposed, we would never have gone to war, and her son and all the other people who have died would still be alive. Knowing she would be attacked like she has been would she do it again? “Absolutely,” she said...
To read the entire article go here:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_lonna_go_050820_two_days_at_camp_cas.htm
