Guest blogged by David Edwards
Larry Mattlage is a neighbor of George Bush in Crawford. He says he was sympathetic to the anti-war protesters when they arrived but has gotten tired of the crowds.
Deborah Mathews reports for The Iconoclast…
“Now he’s coming back out. I’m out here standing on the road. He’s got a no parking sign in his hand, walking toward his fence. I’m going to go try to talk to him. I’ve got to hang up.”
(three minutes later)
I went over and talked to the man. He is Larry Mattlage, who says he is on his property and just posted a no-parking sign.
“We’re going to start doing our war and it’s going to be underneath the law,” he told me. “Whatever it takes. So y’all go find another place to do whatever you do. ‘Cause this is our front yard and back yard.”
I asked, “Do you mean the protestors?”
Wait…..now there’s some Secret Service and cops. I’m going to get closer to hear what they’re saying. People in bullet-proof vests are here now. Two Secret Service agents are now walking up his driveway towards his house, with Mr. Mattlage. A member of the Sheriff’s Department has arrived. Mr. Mattlage is waving his arms now. All of them are now walking back this way.
CNN just reported on the situation and it seems that Mr. Mattlage claims he was preparing for dove hunting season.
“This is Texas.”, he says. He is clearly agitated.
The CNN video clip is available here. (Windows Media format)
I can understand Mr. Mattlage’s concerns…none of us would like porta potties, cars, cameras in our front yard. I wonder if Cindy could not move closer to the Peace House…Bush could always send for her when he wants to talk (like that will happen)
I e-mailed to the Iconoclast editior to see if some space away from Mr. Mattlage’s ranch would be available to avoid upsetting the long time residents.
Cindy is upsetting his dove hunting. Well, that makes sense. It is Texas, and they kill doves there.
Maybe we ought to buy the doves a rifle.
I believe Deborah Matthews is Bush’s cousin.
Lazy southern bastards.. this was all set up. Obviously Bush will allow a gun-toting redneck to live on the property of his ranch to ensure himself an extra step of protection. That’s fine.. bust out your rifle.. we’ll bust out our glocks and 9s..
I’m sorry – if you live next door to infamous people, you’re gonna have to accept the occasional crowd. I hope Cindy sticks to her guns and stays right where she is.
Mr. M.’s lucky this is the first time protesters have bothered pResident Squat at the ranch!!
I’m sorry he has let himself get so upset, but — hey! Cindy gave Mr. M. an excellent option … tell your neighbor to talk to Cindy!.
Go! Cindy! Go!
Yes, he was visibly upset and speaking incoherently, but to pull a shotgun out and start shooting is a bit much. He also made threats, and no charges were filed.
Fox News take includes this important information about Bush’s balanced life:
—snippet—-
Bush has defended his decision not to meet with Sheehan, with whom he met once before.
”Whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there’s somebody who has got something to say to the president, that’s part of the job. And I think it’s important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But I think it’s also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life," Bush told Cox News Service during a bicycle ride on Saturday.
—-Bush is bicycling for a balanced life while our troops are killed—-
What exactly is Mattlage claiming as the suffering that is being inflicted upon him?
Cindy put it so well:
"The most tragic irony is that if the Downing Street Memo proves to be true, Casey and thousands of people should still be alive."
Well, Mr. Mattlage, are you making things better by threatening to add to the dead?
Beer and guns……..Darwin is grinning.
Did this redneck complain when Bush was hosting his Saudi master at the ranch?
#4
Settle down & put your damn guns away. Jesus.
Mr. Neighborly needs to up his meds.
Mr. Mattlage like so many others are putting the blame on the wrong source.. However, he fired shots in the air not at anyone. The sherrif came immediately and calmed situation calm.
Try to remember Mattlage isn’t defending Bush he just wants his life uncluttered by having to think.
Hey alot of us have to be shaken awake.
Rawstory is reporting powerful ads to come out in the Iconoclast paper on Wed. Surely names on dogtags will wake up the sleepers !
Well, maybe it’s just me, but , my hometown wouldn’t take so lightly a drinking, angry, armed man making threats. At least require him to take a gun safety class or two. Explain to him that what goes up…must come down, when you shoot in the air.
My sense is that the Crawford P.D. is a bit like Mayberry, with a laid-back guy like Andy Griffith in charge and maybe a nerdwit like Don Knotts as deputy. In Mayberry, if a guy down the road is shooting his rifle into the air, Andy drives over there, takes him one of Aunt Bea’s blueberry tarts, and calms him down.
Of course, the president wasn’t living down the street in Mayberry. And the local cops have to yield to the Secret Service. And the Secret Service doesn’t always follow its own rules (remember how Jeff Gannon wandered around?). So it’s fair to ask, "Who’s in charge here?"
I just posted this on another thread, but it belongs here:
All the Mr. Mattlages need to sober up and look long and hard at the pictures of the wounded, maimed, dead and dying bodies of the real soldiers who are sacrificing themselves and their lives by joining the US Military which is supposed to be the Guardian Forces dedicated to protecting all Americans (like Mr. M.)
Until they quit acting like children having temper tantrums because they don’t get their own way (like kids who pitch a fit because their sibling gets over the imaginary line in the back seat of a car while traveling to a destination), they don’t deserve my respect.
Sorry — I think Mr. M. should GROW UP.