Love Thy War Criminal — Crawford Peace Community Welcomes Bush Home

CRAWFORD, Texas Change had yet to fully arrive in Central Texas last week. Its roadways revealed the truth the day after Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration. Three McCain/Palin presidential campaign signs remained posted along Hwy. 22 between Whitney and Hillsboro. There were also dozens of footwear still lining a tiny section of Hwy. 185 in Crawford.

These shoes and sandals from children’s sizes on up hung on the fence in front of the Crawford Texas Peace House in solidarity with the Iraqi journalist that threw his loafers at President George W. Bush in protest last December. Showing one’s shoes is considered an insult in the Arab world, and the multiple pairs on the CTPH fence displayed with soles facing out an even more insulting gesture oddly enough was aimed in the opposite direction from the Bush Ranch.

Truly, during “the peaceful transfer of power” in Washington, D.C., the atmosphere around the Peace House could easily be described as a mixture of restrained anger, cautious joy, and at times bitter righteousness. On the front porch, the front door had a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. at eye-level; nearby almost hidden on the ground laid a picture of Bush behind bars with “I Have A Dream” written above.

Here is a sample of comments made inside the Peace House on Inauguration Day: “We can offer her sympathy because he is going to drive her nuts now,” said one guest, referring to the former First Couple. “This is eating away at my healthy veneer of cynicism,” said another, referring to the Obama’s. “My husband said, ‘I woke up this morning, and it felt like Christmas,'” said yet another, referring to Obama’s Inauguration Day. “They need to give her daughters birth control,” said someone, referring to the children of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

No matter how hard they tried to decorate with balloons and streamers, more than a few Peace House guests refused to give up the ghost, even as Bush left office. An effigy of Bush once used in an anti-war demonstration in Austin sat in the House’s backyard. It was salvaged from its creators Code Pink Austin who had decided to discard it. While the possibility existed to deploy the large Bush snake with forked tongue again, its fate was still in question.

Indeed, whether last Tuesday’s social event was a celebration or a protest was not clear even among the Peace House members. It could very well have been both. CTPH director Kay Lucas was ready to celebrate, complete with an early homecooked meal and peace-minded fellowship. She wore an Obama t-shirt and comfortably used the clich