just another good ole boy

So far, the Dallas Managed News hasn't said much about Larry Northern - the rocket scientist who ran his pickup truck (dragging a pipe and chains) over several hundred small, white wooden crosses, hand-painted with the names of some (not all) American soldiers killed in President Quagmire's Oil War. He was arrested by the Crawford Sheriff's Department (good job, guys) and charged with criminal mischief. All this happened at "Camp Casey" where Cindy Sheehan is trying to make President Quagmire talk to her about His War.


.. Here's a photo of the crosses, before they were run over .. (photo is from the AP)

Now, if the rocket scientist was a black woman, he'd probably be Front Page News. No such luck: he's just a good ole' white boy, and obviously within his rahts to do what he did. The DMN will thus bury the story. However, since a few hundred others in the White House Press Corps are camped out near Crawford, and (gasp!) bored (otherwise baking in the Texas August sun), I'm guessing other news orgs will pick up the story.

Meanwhile, it's up to the blogosphere to cover this in depth. I found a good one at bellaciao.org although there are many more, including truthout.org and Lone Star Iconoclast.

The Managed News had exactly one line to say about it:

"A resident was arrested Monday night after authorities say he ran over hundreds of small wooden crosses bearing names of fallen U.S. soldiers."

Turns out (courtesy of Reuters) that the "resident" was none other than 59-year old Larry Northern of nearby Waco.

(begin speculation): let's just assume that there aren't a lot of people with that name in Waco. I Google'd [Larry Northern] and found a Waco Realtor by that name; he owns "Northern Realtors", and even has a published AOL address! Another article quotes him (2001) about the state of the real estate market in Crawford. His phone number matches one mentioned in connection with the San Antonio Rifle and Pistol Club; he participated in the Law Enforcement Challenge (apparently some Random Act of Courage in conjunction with a BBQ dinner). He was a 1964 graduate of Waco's Richfield High School.

Then again, there may be a few DOZEN folks by that name, livin' down there, in which case it'll take a spell to figger out who's who. (end speculation)

I can hardly wait for the Letters to the Editor to start pouring into the DMN, saying that Those Leftist Commies Who Are Protesting "Vacationing George" had it coming, and they're lucky that Larry Northern and some of his fellow Good Ole Boys didn't just take their huntin' rifles and shoot`em all, because the bad publicity is hurtin' his real estate business.

Once the dust settles, the Managed News will probably name Larry Northern "Man of the Year" for 2005 (following the 2004 fiasco where they named the traitorous Karl Rove to that position). Ah, Texas .. you've become so predictable.

UPDATE: Arrest In Texas Protest Cross-Up