Late Monday night, a man, now confirmed by the media as Larry Northern,
age 46, decided to run over the crosses at Camp Casey that serve
as a memorial to the soldiers who have died in the war in Iraq.
As much as I am nauseated by the whole pack of them, saying that this
was done by "the wingers" is not true or fair. It was done by one
asshole. For example, one of the articles quoted here said that when
counter-protestors appeared the other day, they honored the crosses.
This
jerk's actions are not about the anti-military right. This has nothing
to do with Iraq at all. This is an expression of the culture war -
hatred for our collective vision and the essence of what's drawn all
these people to the ditch in Crawford in the first place.
If
this jerk had more guts he might have run over the people instead of
the crosses. This has an energy similar to hot, dark nights in the
South many decades ago when certain groups of people were "gently"
reminded of their proper place in the social system. It is an act of
intimidation.
To a mind like this, destroying the crosses is not
dishonoring dead soldiers. This sort of mind believes that those who
set the crosses up have no real regard for the dead soldiers in the
first place, that they are cynically using them to advance propaganda
aims the soldiers themselves would not support. From this perspective,
destroying the crosses is actually seen as SUPPORTING the troops!
This is an expression of pure hatred for what we stand for. Period.
Now for an expression of love and Respect, shown at the same Camp Casey site.
Rowena Jhant, left, a mother from
Waco, Texas, and a supporter of President Bush, and Charlie Anderson, a
war protester who served in Iraq, of Virginia Beach, Va., restore
crosses and American flags that were vandalized by a pickup truck the
night before, along the road leading to President Bush's ranch, in
Crawford, Texas, Tuesday, August, 16, 2005. Jhant, who disagrees with
the anti-war protesters led by 'peace mom' Cindy Sheehan, said she did
not feel it was right to drive by and leave the American flags and
crosses on the ground without trying to help repair the destruction.
[AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]
Pidomon said, "Having lived in Texas for over 20 years if two people with seemingly
opposed views can come together to do something as simple as this,
maybe there's hope after all."
Other developments about other Military Families and their support for the War.
CLEVELAND - The day after burying their son, parents of a fallen
Marine urged President Bush to either send more reinforcements to Iraq
or withdraw U.S. troops altogether.
"We feel you either have to
fight this war right or get out," Rosemary Palmer, mother of Lance Cpl.
Edward Schroeder II, said Tuesday. Schroeder, 23, died two weeks ago in a roadside explosion, one of 16 Ohio-based Marines killed recently in Iraq.
The soldier's father said his son and other Marines were being misused as a stabilizing force in Iraq. Their son went to Iraq filled with optimism about the mission but
gradually became disillusioned with the war's progress, his parents
said.
"He said the longer it went on the less and less worth it
seemed," Palmer said. "They're not doing the job right now. It's not
the fault of the troops. It's the fault of the plan."
As much as I am nauseated by the whole pack of them, saying that this
was done by "the wingers" is not true or fair. It was done by one
asshole. For example, one of the articles quoted here said that when
counter-protestors appeared the other day, they honored the crosses.
Rowena Jhant, left, a mother from
Waco, Texas, and a supporter of President Bush, and Charlie Anderson, a
war protester who served in Iraq, of Virginia Beach, Va., restore
crosses and American flags that were vandalized by a pickup truck the
night before, along the road leading to President Bush's ranch, in
Crawford, Texas, Tuesday, August, 16, 2005. Jhant, who disagrees with
the anti-war protesters led by 'peace mom' Cindy Sheehan, said she did
not feel it was right to drive by and leave the American flags and
crosses on the ground without trying to help repair the destruction.
[AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]
