CRAWFORD, Texas -- This spring, a ponytailed, woolly-sock-wearing Muslim-Quaker peace activist — not a local, in other words — took out an $800-a-month mortgage on a $54,000 colonial home. The activist, Johnny Wolf, and a group of supporters who oppose Bush's foreign policy have dubbed it the "Crawford Peace House."
They hope to offer visitors a "center for spiritual growth and intellectual understanding," an interfaith house of worship and a place where journalists can go to find a viewpoint different than what they say is a "cult of war" at the ranch.
"One of the neighbors told me, 'Well, you're just a bunch of old hippies.' Well ... yeah," Wolf said. "And for $800 a month, we get to challenge the leader of a superpower. It's great. Every fourth or fifth car that passes waves at us. And some people tell us we're No. 1 — they flip us off."
And the moral of the story:
Wolf, like the new businesses, is taking advantage of Bush's presence: He wants to get a message across. In Wolf's mind, the war in Iraq marks the beginning of a new era of U.S. aggression, and he has grown frustrated with what he says is the Democratic Party's failure to stand up to the Bush administration.
"I guess it's up to regular people," he said. "So here we are."
Their site is here.