CRAWFORD, Texas (APE) – In a symbolic gesture of support today, President Bush and an impromptu delegation of his top officials in the early morning hours assisted with the moving to a new location of Camp Casey. Camp Casey is the antiwar activist protest site established by Cindy Sheehan in an effort to motivate the president to speak with her in regards to the death of her son in Iraq. White House staff as well as the Secret Service acknowledged that the symbolic gesture was undertaken in the very early hours of the morning so as to have the least possibility for conflict with the demonstrators. White House sources acknowledged that the president still has no intentions of addressing Miss Sheehan directly.
(Exclusive photos after the fold)
The president later addressed reporters saying, “I will say it again. I honestly believe that this woman has the right to say and do what she is doing. We have a democracy here in America. I was very disappointed with the behavior the previous night of Mr. Northern. While I believe his passion and beliefs are correct, there is no excuse for what he did. I am a little embarrassed that it was done in my name, so I felt that this was the least we could do to try to set things right with Ms. Sheehan’s group.”
President Bush lending a helping hand to protesters
Mr. Bush continued, “My understanding is that the camp is going to be moved later today. I have been involved with these type of events before and I know what kind of unintentional damage can be done with littering and whatnot. I talked with my Cabinet members last night and we felt that this would be a good thing to do. I have some experience with this myself as the T-ball team that I coached in the past has always turned out for an Adopt-a-Highway program for a stretch of road on the other side of the county. We felt that this might be the best way to show a little hospitality and support and maybe help the camp relocate a little quicker. The bottom line is that I felt we needed to help her somehow. We have a saying around these parts in Texas, and probably other places too. It goes something like: “The road to, well, you know where… well it’s, it’s paved over with good intentions”, you see. This is what our new highway bill is all about. Safe and clean roads for America.”
Bush and cabinet members shown finishing with disposal of refuse
Mrs. Sheehan could not be reached for comment, but a spokesperson said that the grieving mother’s response to the events could best be described as “stunned silence.”
