what's the haps in crawford?

today i talked to several people who spent the weekend in crawford, texas protesting the war in iraq. it was described to me as big feeling and perhaps the start of something. i heard on npr that the mayor of salt lake city (where the president went today to no doubt avoid any confrontation with his visitors at home) advocated protests in that city, saying "patriotism demands that people speak out when we see our government officials acting in such anti-democratic and deceitful ways to the people of our country."

....and in other news, that the governors of both new mexico and arizona have declared states of emergency due to the lack of anything substantial being done about the quanitity of illegal activity happening at and beyond the border. this is the only way these states can get any action on an issue the president has promised to address.

so i leave this short statement with this observation - the president claims that "the only way to defend to our citizens where we live is to go after the terrorists where they live.", which seems to make some sense. however, if we consider the origins of the sept. 11th attackers, shouldn't the military being making a visit to homes in saudi arabia, egypt, lebanon, and the uae? iraq, regardless of its ill will towards the u.s. historically, has become inundated by countless foreign militants and terrorists in the past few years alone, setting up roadside bombs or denonating themselves in crowded areas. so, if one wanted to argue that iraq harbors al-qaida terror networks, it could be thus - if it didn't then, it sure does now.

n.b. - rest assured, dear reader, that i have no intent of making this blog such an obvious political forum. i hope that my quilting speaks better of political statements than this entry, and with more frequency...