Angry in the Great White North

The "Bring Them Home Tour Now" is actually three distinct tours, and I've noticed that no congressional representative is actually willing to meet with these people.

Central Tour:
Dallas, TX (August 31): 3:00pm, the tour will meet with representatives from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson's office to express their concerns [met with aide Cynthia Hall].
Indianapolis, IN (September 5 - 7): 9:30 AM, Meeting with Senators Lugar and Bayh at their offices (tentative) [actually met with aides only; dismissed as "second stringers"]
Columbus, OJ (September 8 - 9): 3:00 PM, Delegations to Sen. DeWine and Sen. Voinovich's offices to deliver families' letters
Cleveland, OH (September 9 - 11): 1:00pm, Afternoon visits with aides of US Senator George Voinovich and other federal representatives.
Harrisburg, PA (September 14): 3 to 5pm, Congressional Visits [actually, only met with a senate candidate, Chuck Pannacchio, who attended a rally that gathered 80 people]
Baltimore, MD (September 18 - 20): 10AM meeting with Senators [sic] Cummings and Cairn [sic] [can't find a press release or other evidence that meeting with Representative (not Senator) Elijah Cummings actually met with the tour; there is no Senator or Representative Cairn, but there is a Representative (not Senator) Cardin, and again I find no mention anywhere of a meeting (though it has been his practise to send aides)]

Northern Tour:
Des Moines, IA (Sept 2 - 3): 10:00am The Delegation will visit Congressional Offices [no meeting with actual congressional representatives]
Madison, WI (Sept 3 - 4): 9:00 am- Speakers to visit congregations and attend services [no evidence of a meeting with actual congressional representatives]
Chicago, IL (Sept 5 - 8): 10 AM: Visit Congressman Rahm Emmanuel's [sic] office [no evidence of a meeting with Congressman Rahm Emanuel (note spelling)]
3 PM Visit Congressman Hastert’s Office [no meeting with Congressman Hastert]
10 AM: Visit Congressman Mark Kirk's office [no evidence of a meeting with Congressman Kirk]
Boston, MA (September 16 - 17): 11AM - 1PM Visits with Congressional Representatives [no evidence of any meetings]
2 PM Meeting with Governor Mitt Romney requested [no evidence of a meeting with Governor Romney]
New York City, NY (September 18 - 20): Congressman Charles Rangel (invited) [he showed up]

Southern Tour:
Austin, TX (August 31): [met with Lloyd Doggett's aide]
Houston, TX (September 1 - 2): Visit Tom DeLay's Congressional office regarding the Iraq war [met with aide by phone]
Atlanta, GA: [not on agenda, but Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney addressed the crowd]
Columbia, SC (September 13 - 15): 3:00 Meetings with Congressional Representatives [two media (1 2) reports mention no meeting]
Raleigh, NC (September 15): 3:00-5:00 PM Media Interviews / Legislative Visits with NC Representatives [actually met with the staff only of Senator Elizabeth Dole and Congressman Bob Etheridge

So three buses adding to the global warming, and I can find evidence of only two actual meetings with members of congress, and Charles Rangel is a bit of a loon anyway, equating the war in Iraq to the Holocaust.

Now separate from the three tours, Cindy Sheehan has been working the West Coast. Diane Feinstein was a no-show, but there were meetings with Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, and Maxine Waters.

By and large, it looks like the tour is meeting with a lot of aides. Just about no one outside of California wants to have their picture taken with the tour. Politicians are media hungry and will use just about any excuse to be in the paper.

Just about any excuse.

Except the really bad ones.

I guess Cindy Sheehan's tour counts as one of "really bad ones" for most American politicians.