the billboard project

Crossing the Road

Congresswoman Maxine Waters was leaving as I was arriving.  She had come, dressed casually in slacks, to meet privately with Cindy Sheehan and Veterans for Peace.  She didn’t want any media attention; she just wanted to talk privately with Cindy and some of the protestors and managed to do it completely under the radar.

I was a little uneasy as we drove up to the camp.  I hadn’t been there since Thursday and I had come with some friends from Austin. After reading media reports and dipping my toe into the fierce fighting in the blogasphere, I really didn’t know what to expect.  I'd read about bus loads of Bush supporters on their way to Crawford.  There were a lot of dark, foreboding predictions on the internet about some kind of confrontation.  I really wasn’t worried about hostility from the protestors with Cindy.  In the five days I’ve spent there, if there is one salient characteristic of the residents of Camp Casey, it’s their nonviolence.

And while I didn’t doubt my ability to remain peaceful, There were reports of counter protestors wearing t-shirts that said “Club Gitmo”, and I was afraid that would be painful to see.

So I was somewhat bemused to see the actual Bush supporters.  There were about 15 people on the other side of Prairie Chapel road. They were mostly wearing red, white and blue.  They were mostly wearing cowboy hats.  And they were hot! Might I take a moment here to mention that August in Texas is mercilessly hot?  Having recently arrived, their choices were to stand in the sun or stand on the other side of the road with the anti-war protestors.  This was not a good choice for them.  So they stood with no relief from the sun and although I felt badly for them, they seemed happy and enthusiastic.  The flag to counter-protestor ratio was about 1:1. There were several large American flags, a couple of large Texas flags, in addition to flags on every vehicle, flag pins, flag t-shirts, and of course the omnipresent profusion of magnetic ribbons.

There were several signs with photographs of Casey Sheehan. Apparently they seemed comfortable co-opting Casey.

After parking the car up by the port-a-pot (what a score) I walked about a quarter of a mile down to Camp Casey and kept going right across the road into the counter demonstration. I was genuinely curious to hear what they had to say. One lady in a long red jumper, with flag pins, was proudly holding up a smurf blue thumb for the cameraman of the NBC affiliate in Waco.

“Why is your thumb blue”, I asked. 

“To show support for the Iraqis who voted in their first election, because we gave them democracy”, she replied.

“Didn’t they use purple ink?”  I asked in my most diffident tone. 

“What are you – some kind of artist”, said the man next to her.

“No”, I said.  “Boy is it hot!”

This didn’t seem to be a great conversation starter, so I wandered around taking photographs of the cars, the ribbons, the flags and the flags.  I think they were wondering if I was with the media (it is my humble view that every person who goes to Crawford will be interviewed and will interview somebody if they stay long enough).  Just as I was beginning to reflect unhappily on the shelf life of my sun block, another car pulled up and a young guy in camouflage, with a young wife and a baby, joined the hot and happy group. He set up a big sign with another - you guessed it - big flag.  Here it is.

I just have no response to this sign.  The only observation I feel willing to share with you is that I find the Hitler reference to be specious, absurd and entirely predictable. I assiduously avoid a lot of gratuitous editorializing, but I vote for a complete moratorium on the Hitler references.  Enough with the Hitler already! 

I began my conversation with TJ (author of the sign) by getting him, his wife and baby some bottled water from Camp Casey. TJ is a veteran of Iraq and still in the Marines.  He looked really young, about 20, and I had a very long conversation with him over the course of the afternoon.  Mostly I listened and he certainly had a lot to say.  The longer he talked the less belligerent he sounded. And after an hour or so of conversation and six more bottles of water he very quietly said, “I guess I don’t mind the protest, free speech is part of why we went to Iraq, isn’t it?”  I have to say, I really liked him.  I really felt for him. And I was really afraid they were all going to get sun stroke.

I’m sure if TJ spoke with one of the Iraqi Veterans for Peace, they would get along well.  They actually have a lot in common. I just think it’s a damn shame that he won’t cross the road.

"Out of the clear blue sky, I got this crazy idea" - Cindy Sheehan

Viggo Mortensen made the pilgrimage to Camp Cindy today. When Aragorn, son of Arathorn, shows up, you know things have changed. It’s beginning to look quite different up in Crawford. There are, quite literally, people showing up from all over the country. They are bringing their dogs, their children and sometimes their own protest kits.  Some people are veterans of many anti-war protests.  Some people just drove over from Waco. But one thing is certain; Cindy Sheehan’s following is growing every day.

The camp has begun to resemble a crazy caravansary, including a signature t-shirt (big W on the back with a ? over it), a professional PR group, and so many flower arrangements that it could be mistaken for a memorial to Princess Diana. Until you see the line of white crosses stretching down the highway. That’s pretty sobering.

“You know what they called Rosa Parks? A crazy kook.  You know what they are calling Cindy? A crazy kook” said Reverend Peter Johnson. Reverend Johnson was the youngest person to serve on the staff of Dr. Martin Luther King. He’s been doing this a long time and he came to Crawford to provide non-violence training. An elegant man in a shirt, tie and black ostrich cowboy boots, he somehow doesn’t seem out of place here on Prairie Chapel Road. Actually, he has been here before, leading a peace march. When we told him we were informed by the sheriff’s department that we were not allowed to walk on the road he shook his head.  “We have a right to walk in the road; we may want to do here in Crawford, like we did in Selma. You know when we marched to Selma – we wrote the voters rights bill with our feet.”

Cindy has Casey’s name tattooed on her ankle. Casey Sheehan died on April 4^th, the same day as Dr. Martin Luther King.

Let Freedom Ring

There is no biscotti in Crawford.  There are no lattes in Crawford.  There is no free wi-fi in Crawford.  As a matter of fact, there is no wi-fi at all in Crawford.  Which is why I'm getting to bed at 3am after driving one and a half hours back to Austin to extemporize here.  I'm pooped, I'm whipped, I'm in an advanced state of zombification...oh who cares about me?  I didn't go to Crawford today.   I am going back tomorrow.

Until then, here is a photo of The Yellow Rose - the premier purveyor of Bushabilia in Crawford.  Yes folks, those are the Ten Commandments flanking the Liberty Bell (in case you've forgotten the essential connection between church and state).  Fluttering atop the Liberty Bell, is the Operation Iraqi Freedom flag.  This is the formal name of the war in Iraq.  Remember?

Sunset in Crawford

It may be a ragtag army, but it's growing.  Judging from the multiple flower arrangements, the over whelming number of Cheezits boxes, and all of the people running around with big, fuzzy microphones, this could be turning into a genuine, cultural moment.

More and more frequently, locals are dropping by to say, often without attribution, that they support the protest.  Sometimes its just a drive-by shout-out.  Other times its a neighborly visit.  Tonight, when the Jernigans drove by in their battered, red pickup, Mr. Jernigan yelled out "we're proud of what y'all are doing."  They pulled over to talk.  Mr. Jernigan is the local cattle auctioneer and he has a beautiful, rich, LOUD voice.  I was surprised that he was willing to talk about his dislike of George Bush.  Often when we talk to people from the area they are sympathetic but unwilling to share their opinions with anybody in their community. In a small town, where everybody knows your business, that can actually affect your business.  And everybody's got to make a living and get along.  Most people in the town of Crawford have been pretty great. 

It's not the Four Seasons here (it actually is beginning to look like a tiny Everest base camp), but the sunsets sure are beautiful in Crawford. Come see for youself.  All of us are here to say one thing - "Talk to Cindy."

Dispatch from Crawford - Monday

It was raining when I pulled up to the encampment of Cindy Sheehan and her fellow protesters.  Their three pink tents from Target sat in the middle of a small triangle of grass and dirt about two miles from the entrance of George Bush’s Crawford ranch. There was a red and blue banner proclaiming “Veterans Say – Bring Them Home Alive – Stop the War.”  There was a pink banner that said “Code Pink For Peace Now.”  They were flanked on all sides by the cars from the county sheriff’s department.   

Crawford is in McLennan County.  Patrol Sergeant John Kolinek was trying to be reasonable, he was very calm, and very polite, if a bit exasperated, as he tried to explain the facts of life to one of the protestors.  Beside him was Ray Meadows, County Commissioner.  I was listening intently, trying to make to sense of it all.  There was a lot of discussion about who owned the road, who owned the land and who had a right to be on either one.  Although English is my native tongue, and my IQ is greater than a small appliance bulb, I’ll be damned if I could figure out what the deal was.  There was a lot of discussion of “prescriptive easements” and the rights of the county and its residents, versus the rights (although it was not admitted that they had any) of the protestors. It finally all came down to this – the owner of the little triangle of land had complained and everyone needed to move off the sacred triangle.  Sergeant Kolinek gave everyone 15 minutes.

So we all jumped in and moved the tents, the cars, the banners, the cases of bottled water, the apples, the sandwiches and other assorted detritus of the worlds smallest tent city. Then we set it all up again, off to one side, anchored in the back by what appeared to be a Buick-sized patch of poison sumac. 

There are lots of different kinds of people here from lots of different places and several organizations.  There are people from Peace House in Crawford, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, and Gold Star Families for Peace (Cindy’s group). Ann Wright is here.  She is a career diplomat who recently resigned to protest the war in Iraq.  You might have seen her speak at the Conyers’ hearing on the Downing Street Memo. Sandi Row, who used to live in Crawford, is one of the protesters.  “This used to be a place for working people, it’s gotten a lot richer in the past few years”, she said.  Frank Corcoran with Iraq Veterans Against the War is here.  He’s a Viet Nam vet and a school teacher. There are people here from Santa Cruz to Philadelphia and it’s kind of like Devils’ Tower - everybody felt compelled to come.

Everyone is worried that it’s just a matter of time.  With the impending Bush fundraiser at the Broken Spoke Ranch (about three miles from the Bush Ranch, also on Prairie Chapel Road), and the anticipated arrival of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice, not to mention the Super Rangers, the Rangers and the Pioneers, they fear they will be forced to move, or they will be arrested, or both.  The most likely pretext – they are a security risk. This is really funny.  If you could see this group of people you’d realize they are no security risk.  It’s an idiosyncratic group, they kind of look like the last people to leave Woodstock.  It’s so out of place in our age of post millennial cynicism, they are earnest and sincere and determined.

There was hardly any media when I got here, although they have a semi permanent encampment - a mini OJ city, five miles away at the local High School (I must confess, I left an anonymous note in the Fox News tent.  It said, “You are lowering the level of public discourse, this is not what Thomas Jefferson had in mind.”)  The press had traveled with the President to New Mexico and although he was back at the ranch, they were not. It was just me, the Iconoclast and the Waco-Tribune Herald.   As the day wore on, People Magazine showed up, then Good Morning America, and finally, National Public Radio.

Cindy was in demand all day, giving interviews in person and over the phone. She has a quiet, calm presence.  Nothing about her has surprised me since I have seen her speak several times.  But I was surprised by how tall she is!  She speaks very simply and very directly.  During an interview with David Greene of NPR, her unadorned, matter-of-fact manner and gentle voice seemed appropriate as she sat there, surrounded by her ad hoc community in the deepening twilight.

I gotta say - it’s really beautiful up here. Like so much of Texas, it’s quiet and it’s very, very empty.

Back to Crawford

I'm heading on up to Crawford tomorrow. I figure if Cindy Sheehan can spend August in Texas , the least I can do is show my support for her. Look for a post from the "Summer Whitehouse" !

Dispatch from Crawford with video

I went to Crawford today to join Cindy Sheehan in her search for George Bush.  It was 100 degrees out, and there were about 75 of us attempting to walk to the entrance of the Bush Ranch.  We were told by the Sheriff's department that we were not to walk on the road.  Our only alternative was a ditch about 5 feet deep on the side of the road.  We were stopped about half a mile from the ranch because we were not "cooperating" with this requirement.

This command was just a pretext because the Bush Ranch is in the middle of nowhere, about 7 miles outside the thriving metropolis (population 703) of Crawford.  There was virtually no traffic on the road at all.  Impeding traffic only seemed to matter if you were walking towards the ranch, those walking away from the ranch were free to walk in the middle of the road without any attention from the Sheriff's department.

Cindy spoke eloquently and passionately and I managed to get about a minute of video. This is probably more than you will see on any media outlet. It's a big file (~2MB).

Download CindySheehan-200k.mp4

Some thoughts for your billboard

Some people have asked me for thoughts about how to craft a message for their own billboard.  These are my ideas.  It's not a complete list.  If you create your own billboard message, I hope these are helpful.

• Be Truthful - you can't genuinely affect positive change if you don't tell the truth (no agitprop)
• Be Creative - think of an interesting way to discuss an issue or idea
• Be Respectful - this is about raising the level of public intercourse
• Be Amusing - if you can, because funny works - my next billboard may be about torture (that probably won't be amusing)
• Ask a Question - it's more provocative than a statement and it involves the viewer
• Ask People to Think - this is why I started The Billboard Project

UPDATE: My next billboard goes up Wednesday, August 17th. Look for it.

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it" Mark Twain

Today as I drove through "Questa Verde", my modest home and a soaring apotheosis of suburban rectitude, I was assailed by a popular uprising - Williamson County style.  Thousands (well, 15 or 16) of stalwart citizens felt passionate enough to stand in the cracked mud on the side of the road in the 100 degree heat and demonstrate for their cause.

“This is indeed powerful”, I said to myself, “and deeply moving” (I talk this way to myself).  They were holding identical signs and every time a car went by they pumped their arms up and down in an enthusiastic way.   Sitting at a red light, crammed between a Barbie Hummer (don’t ask) and a Lincoln Navigator, I had ample time to witness their protest.

"SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND PRESIDENT BUSH"

When and how, did support for the troops become inextricably linked to support for the Bush administration?

When did they become the same thing?

By linking support for the troops – something that everybody feels (who doesn’t support our troops, I want names and numbers) – to support for a political agenda, you have made supporting the Bush administration the patriotic thing to do!  This makes me want to grind the enamel off my teeth!  The intentional conflation of patriotism/support for the war in Iraq/support for the Bush administration is a wonderful legerdemain meant to bypass constructive electrical activity in your brain.

Lets review, mes amis, mes semblables

1. The troops - we love them, we care about them, and we feel guilty about the fact that they are risking their butts while we risk nothing. Also, we feel a collective sense of guilt for the way we treated the veterans of Viet Nam. Therefore we support them.
2. The War in Iraq- the essential way we must support the troops is to support the war in Iraq. If we do not think it is a just war, a necessary war, indeed a noble war, we are not supporting the troops.
3. The Bush Administration – it has prosecuted this just, necessary, noble war in Iraq.
4. Therefore - to support the troops, one must support the war and the Bush administration.

The Bush administration would prefer you do not decode or detangle this little deductive pretzel.

The transformative experience

My husband and I were driving home from La Zona Rosa one night and I was indulging in my usual jeremiad about the vapidity of the media and the unbelievable complacency of the gently snoring body politic.

Then in mid rant - it appeared.  Soaring 40 feet above me, a  50 foot white lozenge with a preternatural glow.  A spot lit sign that said "advertise by the day". And then it hit me, I-35 North was the road to Damascus and I was changed, changed utterly.

I went home and called Joe at Austin Today (the owner of they Austin daily billboard) and reserved a day. For $350, I got the chance to speak to 100,000 people in one day. Ahhh.....I feel like a citizen again.