A Job Well Done!

I confess, my friend Nona over at Fish Wars on Cars once conceded she loved my "snarkiness". I was taken aback. But then I realized, after a visit to the dictionary over at Houghton Mifflin, Nona was absolutely right.

It's not often I focus on nice things to talk about. God knows, there's a tremendous need for more of that. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd step back a moment from "snarky" to give credit where credit's due, that is, to the various Texas law enforcement groups in and around Crawford this past month. Here goes........

With the Cindy Sheehan led vigil at the Crawford "ranch" winding down, I just wanted to commend the local law enforcement agencies in the region for having done an excellent job in providing security for everyone venturing to the area to express an opinion. I realize things haven't quite wrapped up so, "Knock on wood," til they have.

But who could have imagined the incredible efforts by the sheriff's department, local and state police agencies! The job they have done is commendable indeed. Perhaps police from New York and Salt Lake Cities, Philadelphia, and other large departments should send representatives to Crawford for training in the art of peaceful crowd control.

In the beginning, there was some pessimism and rumors Camp Casey would not last the month. I confess. Being snarky, I was among those. It was just too "in Bush's face".

As is customary when it comes to the president, protestors are confined to a small "free speech zone" normally several miles removed from anywhere the president might pass or appear. Keeping dissent from Bush's eyes is always of prime concern. Any unexpected disapproval witnessed by him, as intimated in Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President by Justin A. Frank, could trigger a sudden emergence of the president's psychosis; a relapse into the abusive behaviors of his past.

But right there just across the road from the Crawford "ranch", for all of August, the anti-war campaign was peacefully conducted. Yes, there were some tense moments like the intimidating rancher shooting imaginary doves out of season just across the road from Camp Casey. And the even more brazen action of the cross mowing man caught when a piece of cross embedded in, and flattened, his truck tire. (Dada suspects God may have had a hand in that.)

Through it all, order has been maintained. Cindy wasn't arrested as early rumors predicted. Camp Casey was allowed to peacefully grow and express itself to the president while he absented himself to make public relations speeches in defense of his war and, for a few days, vacation away from his "vacation".

To the law enforcement involved, Dada says, "Congratulations on a job well done!" Other agencies across the nation would do well to follow your excellent example.