"Raging Grannies" want to enlist, go to Iraq

[Charlie Brown]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/22/raging.grannies.ap/index.html

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- A group of anti-war senior citizens calling themselves the "Tucson Raging Grannies" say they want to enlist in the U.S. Army and go to Iraq so that their children and grandchildren can come home.

Five members of the group -- which is associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom -- are due in court Monday to face trespassing charges after trying to enlist at a military recruitment center last week.

"We went in asking to be sent to Iraq so our kids and grandchildren can be sent home, but rather than listening to us, they called the police," said 74-year-old Betty Schroeder. "It was their place to tell us the qualifications, but they wouldn't even speak to us. They should've said, `You're too old."'

[unhappycamper]

1. I posted a thread on this yesterday.

Since the story was reported by Indymedia, it was most likely done correctly.
Link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=141265&mesg_id=141265

[dhinojosa]

2. This new story has their court stuff though....nt

[DeaconBlues]

3. the spokesperson for the recruiters said that the protesters should

contact their representatives and leave recruiters alone. But what do people do when democracy is dead and politicians only listen to you if your pockets are lined with cash? We are at this position now, and our only option is to either disrupt the system or show how absurd it is. Sorry if this inconveniences a few army recruiters. Way to go Grannies!

[Qanisqineq]

4. Oh my god. The recruiters were so afraid they had to call the police?

Trespassing? I've never seen a "no trespassing" sign at a recruiting station. If they were going inside to enlist (or try to), then how were they trespassing?

Too busy to just talk to the grannies or they were bothering you? Puh-lease. I am good friends with many recruiters and they sure as hell aren't very busy down at the recruiting stations I've been to. They may be busy trying to FIND people to enlist, but there sure aren't many just showing up there.

[mccoyn]

6. I think it was verbal.

If you are asked to leave and you refuse to leave you are trespassing.

[Qanisqineq]

8. ok, I can understand that I guess. But still!

These "big tough" army guys had to call the police on little old ladies -- oh boo-fucking-hoo! :P

[mbperrin]

26. Nope, it's a public place, bought and paid for by you and me,

can no more trespass there than you can in Central Park, and for the same reasons.

[meganmonkey]

5. I love these bad-ass women!

GO GRANNIES!!!

:woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo:

[Skittles]

14. they ROCK!

:thumbsup:

[Gemini Cat]

7. Now these women are patriots!!

:applause: :patriot:
I love these women!!

[whatelseisnew]

9. I'm surprised they didn't get tasered

Oh wait, this wasn't Florida was it?

[startingnow]

10. lol!

:rofl:

They rock!:headbang: True Patriots! :patriot:

[Zorra]

11. I'm shocked that they didn't take them. Maybe there's a draft in the

works.

[Voltaire99]

12. Always impressive to me how wise grandmothers are.

Frankly, I'd throw every single bum out of Washington and let the grannies run things.

Come on. This is a day when Joseph Biden sent a letter praising the Karen Hughes appointment. (Details here: www.billmon.org)

Biden, out. All the other assclowns, out.

Grandmothers in. :-)

[kestrel91316]

13. What planet are they on that cops responded to a complaint of

trespassing and then somebody actually got cited or arrested?????

I guess this is hard for me to fathom. I am in Los Angeles where this sort of thing is such low priority that the cops would NEVER EVEN SHOW UP.

[LeftyMom]

15. Same here

Most of the time we can't even get them to show up for a car theft or a home break in. Domestic? Maybe, if you sound real concerned that somebody's about to get splattered while you're on the phone. Trespassing? :rofl:

[kestrel91316]

20. Heck, you are lucky here if they show up the same day for ..............

an ASSAULT complaint, and then their attitude is like "What did you do to provoke/deserve it?? Huh?? And what the hell do you expect us to do about it??"

Oh, and I'm a white middle-class business owner and professional. Imagine how it is for the minorities and poor.

[orleans]

16. these women had a great idea! n/t

[ninkasi]

17. I am not a member of this group

although I need to check out joining, but I will say this...I would gladly go to Iraq instead of having one of my grandchildren sent. The only two who are the right age are far too intelligent to enlist in this travesty of a war.

Should there be a draft, however, I wouldn't think twice about taking their place. I am only 62, not really old in today's society, but am disabled; even that wouldn't stop me from preventing one of my cherished grand-children's possible death or maiming.

They have most of their lives waiting to be lived, and even if I live another twenty years or so, mine is much more used up. I have had the experiences of marriage, having and raising children, having grandchildren, and now, a great-grandchild. I have lived a full life, experienced many things, and they are on the brink of making life's journey as adults.

To sacrifice the young to satisfy the war lust of the old and cowardly is to me a great sin. The ones pushing these wars are chickenhawks who did not serve themselves, when they were young and young men were dying in Viet Nam in their places.

To endorse a thing, but be unwilling to put your life on the line to support it is a craven, cowardly thing. This quite truly describes the chickenhawks who are calling for generational wars now. If you want war, Bush, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz, Bolton...then strap on your weapons and hop on the next transport plane to the battlefield, and lead by example. You are cowards, though, and will never do this, or allow your children to fight either.

[mainer]

19. Agreed! I don't think there's a mother or grandmom who wouldn't go

to protect their own kids and grandkids.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

18. Raging grannies?

So the republicans have finally succeeded in turning the American political landscape into a Monty Python sketch.

http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/grannies.htm

[WhiteTara]

24. you betcha!

but I would have named them Enraged Grannies
:)

[Orsino]

21. Lovely gesture.

I appreciate their message, really, but they shouldn't be disingenuous. If you oppose the war, say you oppose the war. If your intent is disruption, say so. Don't pretend you actually thought you could enlist, or that the recruiting center was under any obligation to tell you what you already knew. Don't pretend to believe that a senior citizen can take the place of a much younger soldier or Marine.

[Up2Late]

22. US anti-war grannies face justice (BBC News)

Saturday, 23 July, 2005, 17:21 GMT 18:21 UK

US anti-war grannies face justice

Elderly members of a US anti-war group called the "raging grannies of Tucson" are due in court following a protest at an Arizona military recruitment centre.



They have been accused of trespassing after entering the centre earlier this month, saying they wanted to enlist. The group, mostly women in their 60s and 70s, said they wanted to go to Iraq so their grandchildren could come home.

An army spokeswoman says the protesters were not serious about enlisting and were harassing recruiters. Nine people - five elderly activists and four journalists - are due to appear in court on Monday.

The Raging Grannies, who are associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, have held protests outside the Tucson recruitment centre every week for three years.

'Serious'

On 13 July the group decided to enter the premises. "We went in saying we were here to enlist, but they didn't believe us," Pat Birnie, a spokeswoman for the group, told the BBC News website. "We read a statement, sang songs, and then we left."

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4711121.stm>
(more at link above)

[mbperrin]

27. So it's not trespassing, but "harassing" recruiters.

Wow.

[stanwyck]

23. Oh, I thought you meant my idiot neighbor

who is a big Bush supporter. She thinks the war is going great. She told us she wanted to enlist. Of course, an empty boast...the military isn't taking overweight, out of shape crazy women. Yet.
Meanwhile, her Young Republican son who is all gung-ho for Bush has "other priorities".
I really resent her idiotic "I want to enlist" statement. It's just more empty talk. It's not going to happen. So why say it? She's not making the political point these women are. She's just repeating the same Rah-Rah totally inane talk of hate-radio.
Rush didn't go when he was young and able. Neither did O'Reilly. Or Lott. Or Cheney. Or Newt. Fine. They didn't want to go to Viet Nam.
But now. It's different. Well, not really. None of those guys wants to fight in Iraq, either. But, like my neighbor, they can make empty boasts.
It's just meaningless. And the Bushies are all about flat out meaningless statements.

[Up2Late]

25. Kick n/t

:kick: