[Mb-civic] They Are Stardust, And in Texas - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

They Are Stardust, And in Texas
At the Crawford Protest Camp, Growing Echoes of Woodstock

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 22, 2005; Page C01

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 21 -- Camp Casey, which started with one mom and a 
grievance, mushroomed over the weekend into a massive settlement with a 
party tent for 2,000, a shuttle-bus service and an elaborate catering 
operation that deposited a 26-foot-long refrigerator truck, generators, 
and restaurant-quality ranges and warming ovens in a field next to 
President Bush's ranch.

The hippie crowd that originally was drawn to Cindy Sheehan's protest is 
still in town -- activists from Food Not Bombs are sleeping in an old 
school bus that has been painted sky blue and can be started only with 
jumper cables. But now they have been joined by liberals from throughout 
the West who are double-parking their hybrid-fueled cars to take part in 
a peace protest with a budget that is $120,000 and rising.

The grassy field is so close to the president's property that he and his 
entourage were photographed from there as he bicycled last week before 
the hordes arrived. Parking attendants wear reflectorized orange vests.

"It's kind of like if Woodstock was really organized," said Chris Voigt, 
51, an architect from Fort Worth who was volunteering in the spacious 
kitchen tent, scraping a frittata pan. "The war's over. Somebody needs 
to tell Bush."

Voigt was surrounded by pallets of Ozarka bottled water, cases of Sterno 
gel chafing warmers, 52-ounce tubs of Folgers coffee and six-pound cans 
of Bush's Best pinto beans. Green-pepper trimmings were composting 
nearby, and recycling boxes were overflowing with discarded plastic.

The camp includes nine Port-a-Potties but no shower. About 150 
protesters have been sleeping in tents or their cars. The rest come for 
the day, or stay at motels half an hour away in Waco.

"Sorry to Interrupt, Mr. President," says one of the many posters tacked 
up at the encampment. "But Our Soldiers Are Dying!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101113.html?nav=hcmodule
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