Several grandmas I know have hooked themselves up with the Red Hat Society, begun in England as a gloriously goofy notion but now bastardized into a typically commercialized fad.
Yesterday, back in my old stomping grounds, Albany, a bunch of grandmas (and assorted supporters) gathered at a recruiting office to protest the war that’s destroying many of their grandchildren. According to the Troy Record,
COLONIE – A group of grandmothers gathered outside the Colonie Center Air Force recruiting center Tuesday to enlist for the war in Iraq.
They said they wanted to replace the soldiers who are currently doing third and fourth tours of duty overseas…. “We feel it is our patriotic duty to enlist in the U.S. military in order to replace our grandchildren, who have been deployed there far too long and are anxious to come home now while they are still alive and whole,” Patricia Beetle of Castleton.
“By this action, we are not supporting the use of military force in Iraq – in fact, we are totally against it – but inasmuch as it exists, our goal in joining up is only to protect young people from further death and maiming,” she added.
The group also took pot-shots at Bush Administration officials like Vice President Dick Cheney, who was successful in receiving numerous deferments from serving in the military during the Vietnam War…….
I never seem to be in the right place at the right time. Years ago, when we lived in Castleton, it was a really redneck town, and we were not so affectionately called “those communists on the hill.” Where was Patricia Beetle when I was protesting the Vietnam War??? (See my story about that on my old weblog;scroll down to “A Little History.”)
And, in Albany, I lived within walking distance of Colonie Center. I would have been right there with those kindred grannies.
Red Hat Society vs. Raging Grannies. Hmm. Which one sounds like my kinda group?
Actually, there is a New York Grandmothers Against the War (it’s really a New York City Group), which is affiliated with Grandmothers for Peace International.
There’s also a link from the home page of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom to sign a global petition with “Women Who Say No to War.” Over on my sidebar is a link to Code Pink., the sponsors of the petition.
Meanwhile, love those Raging Grannies!
I keep trying to imagine them in combat fatigues and tooling around in humvees. I suspect it would bring a lot of things to a grinding halt out of curiosity alone.
No question – Raging Grannies. Me, too.