The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

30 August 2005

Conservative Sneaks Inside Cindy's Circus

INFILTRATOR

Inside Camp Casey, Cindy Sandwich, Sharpton's 110MPH!


What really goes on inside Cindy Sheehan's Crawford camp?

Is it really about grassroots activists joining together, or has she merely been used by political operatives in Ben Cohen's San Francisco-based nonprofit?

Friday's Rusty Humphries show (where I filled in as host), featured Curtis Loftis, a conservative activist who managed to get direct access to nearly everyone in Sheehan's group, merely by blending in.

Loftis followed up with an exclusive account of his experiences for the Radio Equalizer:



Two Days in Camp Casey:

A Conservative's Belly-of-the-Beast Odyssey



By Curtis Loftis


On a
hot and dry mid-afternoon, I arrived at Camp Casey, where the assembled demonstrators seemed in somewhat of a melancholy state.

Stressing cocktail conversation, not political discussion, I quickly made friends. My goal was not confrontation, but a desire to understand what was actually happening here in Crawford.

Going incognito was the only way pull it off.

After getting to know several nice women from California's Central Coast, I drove with my new friends to the larger, tented camp with Ms. Sheehan and Company.

There I found a well-funded and orchestrated public relations campaign, run by media professionals, complete with the highest-quality electronic equipment.

From satellite trucks and cell phones to wireless computer access, every modern convenience to enhance the “message” was found in this remote part of Texas.

It was all there for the gathered left-wing, socialist and
self-described marxist media representatives.

Everyone had a purpose and the environment was collegial. Ruthlessly enforced were rules banning drinking and regulating behavior.

Straying from the predetermined message meant an early exit from the facility. Handmade signs were monitored, less they distract from it.

Most of Sheehan's protesters were either professional, working for Fenton Communications, Code Pink, or other groups. Many were longtime protesters, with radical activism dating to 1965, or earlier.

In conversations with about 50 people over 48 hours, all seemed interesting and engaging. We talked sports, cars, of wonderful California and just about everything that could be discussed, without divulging my ideology.

But when political topics did arise, no matter what the issue, they all responded the same way: it's America's fault.

Toward the end, I decided to innocently toss out different issues just to garner a response.

One issue: peasant unrest in rural China, with the brutality shown by the government and their hired thugs. Their response: that America has mistreated its black citizens, or that gays are beaten here everyday.

So the hate America” crowd really does exist, intellectually bulimic, having ingested all of this bile.
As a show of steadfastness to their peace-and-love cause, they looked forward to regurgitating it.

In an
air-conditioned trailer, Cindy Sheehan spent most of the time huddled with VIPs. When she did venture out, it was for scripted and televised moments. Always trailed by her media people, they were quick to keep her on point.

During one conversation with Sheehan, I asked how much time she would actually be spending on the bus tour to Washington. I discovered she would be on it for just two days and away speechmaking during the rest of the time. I wondered if they were paid engagements.

A media handler then grabbed her arm, leading her back to the trailer and away from me.

Their message was protected.

I was left standing there and feeling less secure about my status at Camp Casey. But just a few minutes later, she emerged from the trailer, smiling and performing for the cameras.

Like the carnival chicken that plays tic-tac-toe, Cindy Sheehan eagerly performs for any microphone put in front of her.

She is relentless, professional, well-financed and always on message: all bad things are America's fault.


--- At RightWingNuthouse: Where are all the protestors? (Tip: Tom at BizzyBlog)


--- Update: FOX News reporting Al Sharpton's speeding car doing 110mph leaving Crawford speech.

A nine-mile police chase ensued:

CRAWFORD, Texas — A driver for the Rev. Al Sharpton (search) led Ellis County Sheriff's deputies on a nine-mile chase at speeds up to 110 mph before state troopers stopped the car, authorities said.

The driver was rushing Sharpton to the airport after his visit anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan (search) on Sunday at her camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford.


The car carrying Sharpton and two other passengers was clocked doing 110 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 35 in Ellis County in North Texas, said Lt. Danny Williams.

The car ignored deputies' attempts to stop it and continued speeding and weaving in and out of traffic before it was stopped, Williams said.


--- Speaking of Rev. Sharpton, whatever happened to his radio talk show? It was supposed to be in national syndication by now. Haven't heard a word in three months.

--- Sheehan eBay item (tip: Pete at IHillary). Note image of Cindy Sheehan on top slice.

Nobody seems to be bidding.

(Image at left)




Your Amazon orders support this site's efforts. Thanks!



14 Comments:

  • Hey, Dick, I noticed you dropped your claims of a "mock Iraqi grave" real fast when someone called you on it.

    Oh, and as the infamous "this country is not worth dying for" speech, in the same speech she asserted that we may not even have been attacked by Osama bin Laden, and that 9/11 was "their" Pearl Harbor to get "their" neo-con agenda through. She asserted that her son was killed "defend[ing] this morally repugnant system we have." So if you liberals want to hitch your wagon to this particular donkey, by all means, please be my guest.

    As for what Sheehan says and why it's anathema, see here and here.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 29 August, 2005 22:34  

  • "Well it seems Camp Casey has something in common with every 'town hall' type appearance that George Bush's media operation organizes. Small world."

    Are you condemning Sheehan, or approving of Bush?

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 29 August, 2005 22:45  

  • "Seriously, have you guys done a Google news search for "Cindy Sheehan" recently? There are a lot more negative reaction stories to what is going on than glowing support pieces."

    "Number of stories" is not a particularly relevant criterion; there could be hundreds of smalltown editorial pages squawking about Sheehan while the New York Times and the Associated Press sing the Messiah's praises. Furthermore, it's not the media who will pick the Democratic nominee in 2008, it's the fruitbat lefties. You know, you guys. The ones who read Kos and Atrios and Josh Micah Marshall and post to Democratic Underground and think Juan Cole is the greatest professor ever. You're the Democratic base, and you will have unified control of the party as soon as you heed Kos's call to purge the filthy DLCers. And we know very well what you think of Cindy Sheehan.

    By the way, I never answered your original question:

    "The real question is if you righties were not so obsessed with this woman how quickly would it all go away?"

    Would Fahrenheit 9/11 have gone away without conservative attention? Because the same driving force is behind both.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 29 August, 2005 23:04  

  • "David Duke is still an elected Republican official."

    This statement is false and has been for over a decade. As you're aware, anybody can run in any party's primary, and Duke was elected to a state legislative seat on the Republican ticket. The Republican party officially denounced him, and he never held any other elective office, as a Republican or otherwise.

    "Cindy Sheehan has specifically denounced him."

    Has she? You wouldn't happen to have a link by any chance, would you?

    Of course, guilt by association is a fallacy. The fact that Duke approves of her does not make her a racist. But it's interesting that neo-Nazis, racists, and former Klansman (has Sen. Byrd weighed in on this yet?) find common cause with her, and wholeheartedly agree with her denouncement of the "neo-con" conspiracy.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 29 August, 2005 23:12  

  • Oh, and by the way (sorry for the comment spam), while Duke first ran for elective office as a Democrat and then as a Populist and finally as a Republican, in 2000 he denounced the Republican Party and endorsed Pat Buchanan for President on the Reform ticket. Of course, Buchanan didn't want him either.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 29 August, 2005 23:14  

  • Al Sharpton's driver appears to be "The Rev" Jarrett Maupin.

    Maupin also hosts a show on an Air America affiliate, making him the first in what will perhaps be a long line of arrests of AAR personalities.

    By Blogger LonewackoDotCom, at 29 August, 2005 23:17  

  • Correction: the person arrested might be the AAR personality's father.

    By Blogger LonewackoDotCom, at 29 August, 2005 23:41  

  • Nice going, Dick. About every one of your points has been shredded, and you choose to respond to just one of those points. And you still managed to get it wrong.

    David Duke was elected chairman of the St. Tammany Parish Republican Executive Committee in 1997. But he's not the chairman any more. The post is currently held by Barbara Doherty.

    Might I suggest that in the future you consider doing your own research rather than allowing yourself to be spoon-fed data from biased organizations? You'll end up publically humiliating yourself less often.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 30 August, 2005 09:25  

  • "You people are all hopelessly hostile."

    Translation: "Man, this place isn't a liberal echo chamber... here people actually have answers to my talking points and I'm woefully unprepared to deal with that! Whatever shall I do?"

    By the way, mitchell, I did the Google News search that you asked for. In the first several pages of results I didn't find anything critical of Sheehan.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 30 August, 2005 09:27  

  • Phoenix: I don't think the point is whether or not the AA station "blew by" the conservative talker or not. Instead, the very fact that it is matching/exceeding the conservative talker is evidence that liberal talk radio can succeed (despite the countless comments on this blog that the genre is doomed to failure).

    By Blogger Justin, at 30 August, 2005 10:51  

  • Justin: Why does that sound suspiciously like, "If you'd have told us a year ago that we'd have finished third in Iowa..."?

    Phil: I recommend "Tired Unoriginal Lefty Has Nothing To Say".

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 30 August, 2005 11:53  

  • Linn,

    I'm not changing the subject, but rather trying to keep it on point. These blog strings often get too bogged down in specific phrases (i.e. unable to see the forest for the trees).

    I'm not suggesting that AAR is a massive success or about to overtake conservative talk. However, its recent ratings in markets like Miami and Phoenix do show that liberal talk is a viable niche.

    As for the "placing third in Iowa" comment... I don't think it applies. Primaries/campaigns are about one winner and a lot of losers. Radio can have multiple winners (dozens in fact) within the same market. Apples and oranges.

    By Blogger Justin, at 30 August, 2005 14:08  

  • FreeRepublic and some other boards have a transcript of an NPR interview with Cindy (via Rush)...you mean
    Casey wasn't kidnapped by the Army in the dead of night, ma'am? He chose to enlist and re-enlist of his own free will?

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1473557/posts

    By Blogger raccoonradio, at 30 August, 2005 15:04  

  • "Great logic there Nelson. If a person volunteers to serve, a civilian leader should be able to send them to kill and be killed using a pack of lies."

    Objection, begging the question.

    You silly liberals and your "pack of lies" comments. It's a pity vaudeville is dead.

    By Blogger Voice of Reason, at 31 August, 2005 11:41  

Post a Comment

<< Home



 
Page Rank Checker

Powered by Blogger