Mom and Apple Pie

I think Cindy Sheehan is doing a great thing. She is the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq and she is camping out at the entrance to the george bush ranch until he talks with her about pulling our troops out of Iraq. Read more about her here.

After watching her efforts over the last few days I fantasized this morning about jumping in my car and driving to Crawford, Texas to thank her and give her an apple pie. I called Rodger and asked him if we would go with me. He reminded me that Crawford is 750 miles from here and would we just consume more gasoline which is why we are in this mess in the first place. I just don't like the idea of her out there on the highway alone, well maybe there are a few hundred members of the media nearby. I just wish there were some way we could rain down thousands of apple pies onto the bush ranch so he would understand a lot of mothers want some face time.

At any rate, I think she has put bush into a terrible fix and I think that is great. She is demanding some answers that we all should demand.

Rodger called me the other morning early and insisted I listen to Imus at 7AM on the radio. I wasn't able to since I was in the Bosque with the beagles. Today he sent me the transcript and I need to blog it to you. So, here it is!

On Friday morning 8/5,05, Boston columnist and radio talk show host MikeBarnicle was on the nationally syndicated Imus In The Morning radio program. Here is an exerpt of the discussion he was having with Don Imus:

Barnicle:

I'd like to have you, Chris Matthews, anyone on these shows ask their guests, United States Senators, Congressmen .do you know who Natalie Holloway is? (She's missing in Aruba)

After they indicate they know who she is, then ask 'em if they know who Timmy Bell is?

Timmy Bell is the nephew of Buddy Bell, who's the Cleveland Indians manager. But, Timmy Bell was also a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps, killed among the 14 the other day, all of them from an area south of Cleveland, Ohio. Fourteen members of the same Marine Corps Reserve Unit lost. and 6 more Marines lost.

We have a President of the United States who is playing semantic games with this deal. Is it a war or is it a war against global extremism? You know, they're fooling around with verbs.

The White House issues sort of behind the scenes proclamations that the President can't go to the funeral of a single soldier. That's why he hasn't gone to any funerals, because if he goes to one he'll have to go to many,
many funerals.

So I would ask the President of the United States this, through you, or through a United States Senator. "Would you go to a funeral where a whole state, or a whole region, or a whole city dies from the shrapnel wounds of this war? Would you go to that kind of a funeral?"

We have semantic games being played with this war through Karl Rove, through George Bush.

These boys died, the 14 of them died on the same day that the United States Senate and the President of the United States are going to sign this transportation bill a $216 billion dollar boondogle where people like Dennis
Hastert the Speaker of the House - his district is going to get billions of dollars for bridges that go nowhere, for deer crossings, for things that mean nothing to people.

Those soliders were traveling in a 20 year old vehicle.an amphibious vehicle that was hit so hard that it toppled over...blew25 tons right up in the air and toppled over. There are many many units in Iraq still without the proper armaments and they are going to sign a $216 billion - with a b - appropriations bill for things that people don't need because people really haven't been told we are at war.

Go to any gas station, go to any coffee shop this morning, there is no sense for this war other that a place like south of Cleveland where 14 are going into the ground early. That's why I'm pissed.

DON IMUS:

There have been about 2,000 young men and women killed in Iraq, and I would bet, and you can check it out, that in the past 5 or 6 years the President has gone to that many fund raisers.

What would be wrong with the President going to every one of these funerals?

Mike Barnicle:

There would be nothing wrong with it. He's a nice guy and I like him? He's not a bad guy.

DON IMUS:

How about that crazy son-of-a-bitch over there at the Pentagon? How, why doesn't he go to them?

Mike Barnicle:

If he worked for any company in corporate America he would have been fired years ago.

How about taking Karl Rove to some of these funerals?

How about taking some of these God Damn cheerleaders to these funerals?

How about taking Rush Limbaugh to these funerals? He's on radio and TV every day with the pon-pons .. "This is the greatest thing we've every done!" Go to a funeral! Take a look at the parents. Tell'em, "Hey.you made a great sacrifice."

They use the word sacrifice like baseball announcers say double play every night. They don't know what sacrifice is.

Timmy Bell is never coming back. He's not coming back. he's dead!