Three views of Camp Casey

One from the damned liberal media:

However, Cindy Sheehan's gone but the camp up here is even bigger. More and more people are coming from around the country. They now have this enormous setup, Camp Casey. Used to be a couple pup tents, now it's this enormous--we call it the Cirque du Soleil tent with eight spikes, catered meals, a Cindy shuttle, a peace shuttle that takes people up and down the mountain. Right now it's PETA, hippies, Naderites. The question is, if it becomes the Little League dads, Pop Warner moms, then the White House has a big problem.

-- Mike Allen, on Face the Nation yesterday

There were several shuttles carrying people between the camps and the house. The line moved quickly, and people were practically competing for the chance to give up their seats for anyone they thought might need it more. We boarded a van and headed out. A hundred or so bikers were parked at some businesses, and we were told they were there in "support of the troops," though from another viewpoint from ours. The van proceeded to Camp Casey 1, the original. Thinking that it was moving day anyway, we stayed on board and went on to Camp Casey 2. I caught a glimpse of Dylan Garcia, in a floppy hat and glasses as the van rolled by. Cars were parked along the street as far as we could see. Cindy's original tent was there, and probably 50 more along the roadside. The crosses that had been run down lined the road perpendicular to the rest of the camp, starting at Cindy's tent. Driving past those crosses for the first time is a moment I'll always remember. About 6 or 8 counter protesters sat across the triangle.

-- Lisa, my friend who was there this past weekend (dial-up warning: pic-heavy)

We were there about 20 minutes when Stan Merriman (Chair Emeritus of the PPC) and Jim Rine (San Jacinto Democratic Veterans Brigade) and Charisse Hines appeared. They brought the flags of the Texas fallen that were originally assembled for Memorial Day by Jim's group, along with the flags representing the unit that lost their lives with Casey Sheehan. After a while, the folks that set up Arlington West brought 800 of the crosses for Camp 2. Several Houstonians pitched in to set up the flags around the new Arlington West. In no time, the crosses and flags were positioned into an amazing memorial. We were almost finished placing the flags when there was a flutter of excitement. There was Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistle blower who is running for Representative from Minnesota and Becky Lourey, a Minnesota state senator who lost her own son in Iraq filming a documentary.

-- My friend Lyn, who was also at Camp Casey this past weekend (pic-heavy)

Sounds like Bush is in trouble, Mr. Allen.

A foamy-mouthed rant

from the editor of this cycling enthusiasts' magazine:

A few irate letter-writers have suggested that we keep politics out of cycling here at VeloNews.com, and we can see their points, once they've removed their Bush-Cheney 2004 caps. After all, the liars, cheaters and dopers infesting politics might teach cycling's liars, cheaters and dopers a few new tricks, and God knows it's already tough enough to tell who's on the up and up these days, no matter how much blood gets drawn or spilled.

Still, if the daily papers are going to cover the Recreationist-in-Chief's mountain-bike rides as though they were actually news, it's only right that cycling publications occasionally take note of his political shenanigans. Fair is fair.

And besides, if you snip the politics out of the much-ballyhooed weekend mountain-bike outing involving Bush and Lance Armstrong, you have no story at all, beyond two public figures scratching each others' backs, which is only notable if both are naked except for a little chocolate sauce.

Armstrong may be retired from racing, but he's still on the clock as an anti-cancer spokesman, and it's important to have the ear of the president on such matters, assuming he can keep it out of the dirt long enough to hear what Lance has to say on the topic.

Dubya is not retired, though he often acts like it. Especially this weekend, when he will spend a little time on our dime basking in the reflected glow of a Texan who is still popular with many Americans who are still alive. You can't buy publicity like that, though the White House has certainly tried. Hell, if I were Dubya, I would captain for stoker Barney Frank on a pink tandem, during a Gay Pride Ride, in prime time during sweeps week, if I thought it would draw the nation's eyeballs away from my misadventure in Iraq and Cindy Sheehan's slightly less stylish sojourn in the buzzworm-infested ditches outside my Crawford getaway.

So let's not kid ourselves here. This isn't about one good-ol' boy inviting another to drop by the ranch for a friendly ride. This isn't a case of two guys who may disagree on political issues burying their differences in the name of velo-sport. This is a photo op', what we in the news business call "a grip-and-grin," and it has as much to do with bicycling as the war in Iraq does with bringing an end to global terrorism. Armstrong is using Dubya for his cancer crusade, and Dubya is using Lance to make himself look like less of a heartless prick. End of story.

There's more after "end of story" and it's a spicy as a habanero ...