Crew members
working for McLennan County said they witnessed items
being removed by an unidentified individual and contacted their office
to inform commissioners. Upon arrival at Camp Casey, honor guard
members who had been at the
Crawford Peace House immediately called McLennan County Sheriff’s
Deputy R. Polansky to report the theft. Among the items stolen were
numerous crosses, Casey Sheehan’s boots, tents, and other items.
The 26-day vigil of Cindy Sheehan outside the Bush ranch ended with a
cross-country tour to spread the anti-war message. Camp Casey became a
semipermanent memorial, to remain until the Veterans For Peace
organization could establish a solemn removal ceremony.
Items that
remained at the Camp Casey Memorial following Sheehan’s departure were
the three original tents under a pavilion, crosses of the war dead,
signs, and personal items of the individuals involved. Members of
the guard filed a report with the McLennan County Sheriff Office.
The three honor guard volunteers diligently listed, item by item, the
belongings that were stolen from the site. Tents, pillows, signs,
books, a box of literature, sleeping bags, an air mattress, flowers,
plants, tarps, memorial crosses — even Casey Sheehan’s boots that stood
in front of the small wooden cross bearing his name. Virtually every
item that was at Camp Casey is gone.
Veterans For
Peace member and honor guard volunteer Paul R. McDaniel
said, “My role here was as caretaker. Now it’s gone.” Honor guard
volunteer Linda Foley cried as she said, “Casey’s boots are
gone! His boots are gone. You tell me that we’re not being respectful.
Those crosses are probably in a trash can somewhere right now! His
boots are gone. What kind of people would do that.” Honor guard member Sarah Oliver said, “His boots were one of the last
things that Cindy had of Casey. I can’t believe that anyone would take
something like that.”
McLennan County Commissioners road workers were in the area to post the
“No Parking” signs that had been approved by the Commissioners’ Court.
Those signs were on a 26-mile stretch of several roads. According to a
representative of the County Commissioners’ office, the act of removing
items from the ditch had nothing to do with the Commissioners and that
this was done by a “private individual.”
Veterans
For Peace members will continue their support of Cindy Sheehan and her
efforts against the war in Iraq. There are actions planned on Sept. 24,
the day that Sheehan will arrive in Washington for a protest there.
Other demonstrations are planned by the group in Waco. The three
members of the Camp Casey Honor Guard stood in a circle at
the site of Casey Sheehan’s cross, held hands, and wept as McDaniels
offered a prayer of peace, got into their vehicles, and left Camp Casey.
When Saturday Night Live taped it's only live show outside of New York
it was in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and the opening of the show was
with Dan Ackroyd sitting atop that Andrew Jackson statue in this square. Maybe
Bush should have said... Live from New Orleans it's Thursday Night.
Picture from BagNewsNotes Bush is awkward, uncomfortable, his head thrust forward, looking simian
and deer-in-the-headlights at the same time. The deserted setting is
almost bizarre. Why speak about bringing aid to a million people when
there is no one there? One is reminded that Bush still cannot take the
risk, politically, of an encounter with the real-life New Orleanians
like Dr. Ben Marble who told the vice-president to "go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney."
As everybody has seen for the past two weeks, NoLa is a complete and utter disaster zone where horrifying levels of
poverty have been exposed, and what does Bushie do? He chooses the one
place in the city reeking of affluence and priviledge, the place that
appears to be utterly untouched by the storm, to look crisp and clean
and tell us how hard he's working.
A carefully staged set, creating a sober mood, framing the serious work
ahead. A stage set lit just long enough for Bush's speech, according to
Brian Williams blog that's Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News, which
reads:
"I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse
district last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been
without the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were
excited) when the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles
was positively jubilant on the live update edition of Nightly News that
we fed to the West Coast. The mini-mart, long ago cleaned out by
looters, was nonetheless bathed in light, including the empty,
roped-off gas pumps. The motorcade route through the district was
partially lit no more than 30 minutes before POTUS drove through. And
yet last night, no more than an hour after the President departed, the
lights went out. The entire area was plunged into total darkness again,
to audible groans. It's enough to make some of the folks here who
witnessed it... jump to certain conclusions."
This was just one more "Potemkin Village" event.
The statue of Andrew Jackson can also have an unintentional
recollection of Jackson being the president who finished off the
Cherokee tribe by marching them on the "Trail of Tears". It is something
that perhaps Bush's handlers wouldn't want to remind us of since I
expect that the George Bush Trail of Fears will end in a forced
relocation of the many poor black New Orleanians to a government
reservation (read: unoccupied military bases.)
Picture fromKate A Blog
I am just really curious about what happened to Bush's head? Does
anyone else see how big his head is for his shoulders? It is especially
apparent in the still but even the video shows it to some extent.
Hey over at the Daily Kos someone noticed that his shirt is buttoned
wrong. Did he do that himself? The shirt is a disaster and the
buttons are wrong! He screwed that one
from the bottom up, not just the last few buttons, I just did it myself
to reassure myself it wasn't just a bad blurry pic.
The President's aides were afraid to tell him that he needed to cut his
vacation short and return to the White House. Maybe the same
aides were afraid to tell him that his shirt was all buttoned wrong.
Too funny. This and the bathroom note all in the same week.
Items that
remained at the Camp Casey Memorial following Sheehan’s departure were
the three original tents under a pavilion, crosses of the war dead,
signs, and personal items of the individuals involved. Members of
the guard filed a report with the McLennan County Sheriff Office.
The three honor guard volunteers diligently listed, item by item, the
belongings that were stolen from the site. Tents, pillows, signs,
books, a box of literature, sleeping bags, an air mattress, flowers,
plants, tarps, memorial crosses — even Casey Sheehan’s boots that stood
in front of the small wooden cross bearing his name. Virtually every
item that was at Camp Casey is gone.
Bush is awkward, uncomfortable, his head thrust forward, looking simian
and deer-in-the-headlights at the same time. The deserted setting is
almost bizarre. Why speak about bringing aid to a million people when
there is no one there? One is reminded that Bush still cannot take the
risk, politically, of an encounter with the real-life New Orleanians
like Dr. Ben Marble who told the vice-president to "go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney."
