Pat Boone on the war side of the divide

I remember my mom telling me years ago how she liked Pat Boone's music but she did not like him as a person. I can understand why she said that after reading this article he wrote.

First let me say WorldNetDaily puts out some of the craziest crap people write. They try so hard to pimp the war for their king. I'm always shaking my head when I read things on there. Doesn't surprise me they let Pat Boone put an article on their site.

How many times do we have to go over this? When you know you've done something bad, something wrong you try to make it right. We were wrong by going into Iraq. The only reason we are there is so the oil companies could make their record profits. We're not there to liberate the people. We knew they didn't have weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was our friend before we decided we wanted his oil. Any smart person with half a mind can put the pieces to the puzzle together and see how we are the bully in the playground and we're going to take what ever we want. If we don't get what we want then we'll just kick your ass and take it anyway.

I'm so tired of people using religion to get what they want. Religion is killing us all and it gives God a bad name.

Surely you heard Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announce sorrowfully in a press conference for all the world to see and hear, "… this war is lost." Just like that. Story ended. We're defeated; we can't win. Our enemies are too much for us, and we've got to tuck our tails between our legs and come home fast as we can. We're grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we are in their sight. This pronouncement contradicting the assessments of our own Caleb, Gen. Patraeus, and our other military leaders on the ground in Iraq, who are telling us that we can win, that over 3,000 young Americans have not died in a failed mission, that though a violent segment of Iraqis are indeed "devouring their own inhabitants," America and its allies are gradually securing the land for freedom and self-government. Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Cindy Sheehan and the other dissenters to the contrary, our Calebs and Joshuas are assuring us that American might and purpose will prevail! If we have the will. If we don't turn and run.

Mr. Pat Boone, don't you realize that your King has fired all the military leaders that don't agree with him. Many have told him the invasion (King Georges war) can never be won. If they don't agree with the king they are asked to leave.

No one can answer what they call winning. Is it when we've killed all the people and taken all the oil? Is that winning? What is the end game? When do you know we have won? When no one will join our military because they know they will be used at tools? What do you call winning? No one has ever answered this for me.

And if we still believe there is a mighty God who has historically taken an interest in America and our conflicts, and who has given us victory over all opponents when we were united in resolve and purpose. And most importantly, perhaps, when we openly and collectively declared our dependence on Him and sought His aid, not depending solely on our own judgment and abilities. Do you realize that, in our whole history, America has never been defeated – when we were united under God?

Using God to defend being a bully in the playground. God does not want us going around the world killing his people. These people on the other side of the divide really make me sick.

That's not claiming, presumptuously, that we've always been perfectly right in our various purposes and tactics – far from it – but by God's grace, when we have pulled together, supported our fighting forces with everything in us, praying publicly and believing God would grant us victory over our enemies, He has!

When we've been divided, we've lost. Not often, but history tells the truth: A house divided against itself cannot stand.

How do you think we got so divided? By doing the wrong thing. If we were doing the right thing then everyone in this country would be together as one. But sadly we aren't working together as one doing good for all men. We're not only divided here in this country but divided with the world, with the people whom we live with. We have lost our world respect having Pat Boone's King George in office.

At this moment in time, we are a house divided. Our president, our commander in chief, our military, and still a large percentage of the populace and our elected representatives believe in the urgency and rightness of our military presence in the Middle East. We're not just fighting to liberate another nation and establish democratic government in that part of the world; we're also serving notice to our demonically ruthless sworn enemies that we will not tolerate their coming into our midst to kill and demoralize us. Rather, we'll come looking for them, and we'll bring a superior force and face them in their own part of the world – not in our homeland.

Kill them there so they don't kill us us here. But we are killing ourselves here and the other side of the divide just doesn't get it living in their fear...
Our actions have reactions. Why do you think people want to hurt us? Because things we have done in the past. Stop doing these things and people won't want to come kill you. Keep doing these things and these people will teach their children to kill us too.

And though it's been unexpectedly difficult and costly, our troops – still the strongest and best equipped in the world – appear to believe overwhelmingly that we're accomplishing our goal, and want to finish the job, no matter what it costs.

To them, and many Americans, defeat and surrender is just not an option.

Over 75% of them want to come home. Their families want them home. Our military does not want to be in Iraq and have said that several times. Just like the people who still support their king- 23%, are just like the 23% who in the military who want to kill people and stay in Iraq. Most of them know what we are doing there is wrong and want to come home. When they do come home we don't take care of them. Most of our homeless living on the streets are vets.

But how do you think our enemies received Harry Reid's pronouncement?

I think they received it with shouts of glee, triumph and renewed purpose. I think it inspired them with new resolve to kill as many innocent Iraqis as possible and as many patrolling American soldiers as possible – and both as quickly as possible. After all, by Reid's own announcement and the urgings of Kennedy, Pelosi, et al., our own congressional leaders are admitting defeat and urging surrender. We're grasshoppers in our own eyes, therefore in the eyes of our enemies too!

If we did leave Iraq today the "terroriest" wouldn't have a place to train their kids to hate us. We would start healing needed to over come the damage done by us. But I keep saying this....for years now. It makes me sick to know I live with people like this. People who want to rule the world and its wealth.

Ya know, Mom always told me Pat Boone was an idiot. He proved that to me today by writting this article. There will be no peace with people like this controlling us on the other side of the divide, doing all their killing.

May PEACE be inside ALL of us,
Cindy

The Divides Meet in Greensboro

Both sides of the divide met in Greensboro yesterday and it went off without anyone getting hurt or arrested. That's a good start. All that happened was shouting back and forth. Still, it seams the other side of the divide thinks they are the best humans on the planet.

We don’t debate war. We don’t debate policy, ” said George Samek, 67, a retired police officer who lives in Shallotte. “We just support our troops.”

I am amazed all the time how peoples intelligence allow them to perceive things on such a different level. Some of these people, I don't think, could have a creative thought of their own. They have to be told how to be and how to act. When you can look at the puzzle and all its pieces you can see how screwed up our country has become. Some people (for the war) think its great what we are doing and don't want others (the peace people) to change anything...just go along, be told what to say and how to act. Anyone who doesn't say or act like them are hurting their cause and should just shut up or leave the country.

I love this country. The people, the land, the history. I do love my home. Because I love it so much I'm tired of seeing it get beat up on. Beaten down by a few people who for their hunger of greed and power over the world. People who only care about themselves - screw the rest of us. It's like the old "Dead Kennedy's" song. Kill - Kill - Kill. Kill the poor so the rich have more room to play.

Fighting for our rights. Our rights, our freedom given to us by people who founded this country. I get so tired of people telling me they fought for our freedom in Vietnam and now Iraq. My freedom was never in jeopardy when I was a child while Vietnam was going on and it sure as hell not in jeopardy of being taken by the Iraqi people. Cindy Sheehan, Carlos Arredondo and all the people who speak out against the injustices going on are the people fighting for our freedom. The past 30 years and more our military has not been fighting for our freedom. They have been used as tools for political gain of money and power. Our freedoms are taken away here at home by the power elite. So stop saying the military are fighting for our freedom because they are not.

Fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here is the most stupid talking point gobbled up by the other side of the divide. Oh please! We are killing ourselves with all our guns we are allowed to have in our homes. But I guess it matters if you get killed by an American or someone from another country. The ones from other places are the ones to be feared. Do you know how many people are killed by other people in this country? Everyday I watch the local news and hear of another murder. 9/11 brought King Bush much power of fear with the other side. What a good idea they had to have another pearl harbor. "Fight them over there so they won't get us here." as we kill ourselves and take away our own freedom at home.

Here is a couple more articles on the events of yesterday. The other side of the divide thought they would get at least 1000 people to show up. They got 150. It was said there was 300 people standing on the side of peace. And who defaced the American flag by putting it on their sign?


May PEACE be inside ALL of us,
Cindy

Cindy Sheehan may cancel appearance tomorrow

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Peace activist Cindy Sheehan may cancel her appearance tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral City Civic Center at 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero.

Veterans for Peace President Tom Swann said this afternoon that Sheehan was scheduled to get on a plane this afternoon but had to cancel her flight due to an illness. Veterans for Peace is now waiting to hear from Sheehan to see if she will be able to get on a later flight.

"We have to see if she is feeling up to flying," said Swann.




Michelle Wilburn (left) and Megan Wilburn of Greensboro show their support for U.S. troops during a counterprotest opposite an anti-war rally that featured Cindy Sheehan in downtown Greensboro. (Journal photo by Bruce Chapman)

War at Home: Sheehan visit prompts protest from both sides of Iraq debate

About 200 people waited behind a police barricade yesterday for Cindy Sheehan to arrive at the Phil McDonald Government Plaza in downtown Greensboro. When she arrived, their chants roared over the leading megaphone.

“Hey, Cindy, go home!” they shouted.

Less than 50 yards away, Sheehan headed to a demonstration in the government plaza against the war in Iraq. A tent with a red banner and black letters said, “Revolution Books.” Musicians sang peace songs, and signs called for the impeachment of President Bush.

Police said that about 500 people were in the plaza at peak time.

Sheehan became a household name in August 2005, when she camped outside Bush’s ranch in Texas and demanded to meet with him for an explanation on the Iraq war. Sheehan lost her son in Iraq the year before.

She has since become synonymous with anti-war activism, and the focus of those who believe that she is undermining the country during a time of war.

The anti-war group chanted “The people rise up, Bush step down!” and “Shame on you, shame on you!”

For about three hours, there were dueling protests under a southern sun.

One side’s megaphone tried to outdo the other side’s loudspeakers. Streets were cordoned off. Police officers had plastic handcuffs dangling from their hips.

Each group said it supports the troops.

The side that opposes the war said it wanted to show its support by calling for troops to be pulled out of Iraq.

The other side had a different idea of how to show support.

“We don’t debate war. We don’t debate policy, ” said George Samek, 67, a retired police officer who lives in Shallotte. “We just support our troops.”

William Long, a World War II veteran, said he believes that the protesters in the plaza don’t appreciate their country.

“My generation fought for their freedom, and I think they’re abusing it,” said Long, 82. “We’re either going to fight over there, or we’re going to fight them here.”

Sheehan’s speech, about three hours into the demonstration, was the high point - or low point, depending on which side of the police barricade you were standing on.

“Standby for sinful Sheehan,” Alan Mullis shouted over the megaphone, though his volley turned into a blur by the time it landed in a plaza full of cheers.

Supporters gave Sheehan a standing ovation when she took the microphone. She told the crowd that Bush is “the biggest terrorist in the world.”

“It’s people like us that are going to stop him,” she said, adding that people who support the Iraq war are supporting “a war against humanity.”

“These people across the street need to know that America is not the center of the universe,” she said.

Off stage, Sheehan also told reporters that the people behind the barricades have as much right to protest as she does, a sentiment echoed by Julia Malanowski, who was behind the barricades.

Malanowski, 68, lives a few blocks away from the plaza. She doesn’t think of herself as an activist, but she supports having U.S. troops in Iraq.

“We’re not over there fighting for nothing,” she said. “I came to pray for peace. We need to reconcile these two sides.”

Protesters stay peaceful during anti-war rally
By Joe Killian and Sonja Elmquist
Staff Writers

"Traitor!" a man in a leather biker vest screamed into a megaphone Saturday afternoon on one side of Greene Street.


On the other side of the street, an anti-war demonstrator shouted back: "I have three Bronze Stars! How much combat have you seen?"


Two rows of crowd-control fence and three armed police officers kept the protesters apart at the anti-war rally featuring national activist Cindy Sheehan.


About 300 anti-war protesters filled Phill G. McDonald Plaza, and about half as many counterprotesters showed up to shout down the rally, organized by The World Can't Wait.


Passions on both sides ran high, but police and emergency workers controlled the crowds to prevent violence.


"When both parties stay on their sides and no one starts a confrontation, it's peaceful," said Captain G.A. Holder of the Greensboro Police Department. "That's what we're here for, to make sure everyone gets to say what they want to say peacefully."


No one was arrested at the rally, and there were no major incidents, said Capt. Robert Flynt, the commander of the Special Operations squad assigned to the event.


Police said they learned from similar events in other cities that a large, visible police presence would help keep problems to a minimum.


"Our planning for the event was a success largely due to the fact that we had open communication with both groups prior to the event," Flynt said. "Everybody came out understanding what we were going to expect."


The two groups of spectators were so far apart that counterprotesters said they could barely hear what was being said on the main stage.


"We would rather have been closer, but the cops did what they could to get us close and keep everyone safe," said Alan Mullis, 47, of Greensboro.


Mullis, who rides with the Patriot Guard, shouted into a megaphone at protesters as Sheehan arrived about 2 p.m. to cheers and taunts.


"Those people across the street need to know that America is not the center of the universe," Sheehan told the crowd. "The people of Iraq are our brothers and sisters. Every time one of them dies, we die."


Sheehan rose to international prominence after her son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq in 2004. She has since traveled the country to oppose the war, camping out in front of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in 2005.


"I love an America that does not invade a country for no reason, that does not torture our brothers and sisters, that isn't in the pocket of the war machine," Sheehan said. "That's not the America we live in under George W. Bush."


Opposing Sheehan's message were the veterans group Gathering of Eagles and some members of the patriotic motorcycle groups Rolling Thunder and the Patriot Guard.


"We didn't lose when I was in Vietnam. They didn't allow us to win," said James Sanders, 60, a disabled veteran from Greensboro. "Now people like Cindy Sheehan are trying to do the same thing to our troops in Iraq. I'm here to support those troops."


On his motorized scooter, Sanders had mounted a large sign with a photo of Casey Sheehan. On it was written: "Cindy — Your son would be ashamed of you."


But other veterans said they supported Sheehan and her message.


"I dropped many a bomb on Vietnam," said Cam McQuaid, 63, a retired Air Force pilot from Chapel Hill. "And I wake up crying about it now."


"I am truly here to support our troops by bringing them home now," said McQuaid, who also rides with Rolling Thunder.


Along with the speeches, an anti-war fair was held in the plaza Saturday, and groups such as the International Socialist Organization and Code Pink: Women for Peace had tables.


Drew McNaughton, a Green Party member from Greensboro, was one of several parade marshals tasked with keeping all the protesters civil.


Coaxing a fellow anti-war protester away from a screaming match between the two groups, McNaughton summed up the day's guiding ethic.


"We can't have a discussion by yelling at each other," he said.

Hundreds protest war in Iraq
By: Stephanie Stilwell

GREENSBORO, NC -- Hundreds of protestors from all over North Carolina took the streets in downtown Greensboro to voice their opposition to the war in Iraq. It started with a march and ended with a nationally known activist speaking to the crowd.

“My brother was a disabled American Vietnam vet and he died.. So it's kind of personal for me I don't want another family to go through what we did and watching him spend 30 years dying from the wounds that he emotionally received in Vietnam,” said protestor Renita Courts.

Organizers at the rally had a nationally known activist to help get their message across, Cindy Sheehan.

“You know it's illegal and immoral and our children are dying for no reason, the people of Iraq are being killed for no reason, their country is devastated and it's all based on lies. And to me we should have never been there, But now that we are there, we need to get our troops home as soon as possible,” said Sheehan.

Those against Sheehan’s calls for the end of the war say, “I don't believe in what she is trying to say, Killing is not nice but it's either over there or here” said Dan Wyatt, an anti-protestor.

These counter protestors said they remember when radical protestors affected policy in the '60s. They said that's not something they want to see again.

Larry Bailey was one of the many counter protestor holding signs while saying, “We are not here to support the commander-in-chief. We are here to let Cindy Sheehan and her supporters that we are watching them we are not going to give her a free pass like was given to the radicals in the '60s during the Vietnam War.”

Saturday’s protest became a scene of shouts of those for the war and those against it.

“By starting this unjust war and taking the priority off of funding for health care and education and all the important things that need to happen over in this country by starting a war in another country, against another sovereign country and I feel that is treasonous,” said protestor Sunny Yarborough.

Regardless of their view on the issue, both sides seemed to have the same goal in mind: To get Americans thinking and asking questions. The protests closed several roads in and around Government Plaza for several hours on Saturday