dieseltrooper
Inactive
TOMBSTONE, Ariz. - Dottie Dalton is one tough cookie. She said she plans to patrol the border with her lounge chair and a two-way radio. "I'm not a fast runner,' Dalton said. "But I can sure use a phone.'
The Murietta grandmother, who refused to give her age, is innovative when it comes to quick-witted phrases and has sold numerous T-shirts to Minuteman volunteers with "Undocumented Border Patrol Agent' in big, bold letters on the front.
"I'm the oldest one of my friends,' she said, laughing as she waited to register for her part in the border patrol at the Tombstone Tumbleweed, the newspaper in Tombstone, Ariz., conveniently operated by Chris Simcox, a co-founder of the Minuteman group.
The buildings in the town, where the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday fought their famous gun battle against the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral, make her feel like she is a part of history, she said, and she is adamant that her small role in the controversial project will make a difference for future generations.
Her friends agreed. Robin Hvidston of Upland said they are standing together on the border issue.
Terrorists may get through the border one day with weapons of mass destruction, Dalton said. The elderly woman filled with spunk doesn't see herself as a racist or vigilante but a citizen with serious concerns about security.
"We're not vigilantes,' she said with a boisterous laugh. "We're vigil-aunties.'
All her friends burst out laughing, and for a moment everyone forgot that the actions taken by their group are being watched by people around the world.
"We are opening ourselves up to a serious terrorist attack if our borders stay the way they are,' she said. "But I tell you, me and the girls are having one heck of a good time doing something so serious.'
And they were. Most of the volunteers hanging around outside the Tombstone Tumbleweed were talking and chatting as if they were at a 40-year high school reunion.
"Catching up on old times' was a phrase heard more than once. "I remember when' was another one.
Most were elderly. Most were wearing hunting gear or something similar. And if someone was not paying attention, it would be easy to miss the guns holstered at their sides.
But Dalton and her friends say they were not afraid to embark on their four-day-long patrol, which begins today.
This was a political protest and a message to the Bush administration that Americans are fed up, they said.
Friday's events, on the other hand, were a way of connecting with others from around the country who feel the way she does, Dalton said.
"We need to make our voices heard,' she said.
As night fell, Dalton and her friends headed back to their $5 dormitories at Miracle Valley Bible College, only 2 miles from the Mexican border. They were heading back to play a game that made Tombstone famous: poker.
And Dalton said she was taking no prisoners.
The Murietta grandmother, who refused to give her age, is innovative when it comes to quick-witted phrases and has sold numerous T-shirts to Minuteman volunteers with "Undocumented Border Patrol Agent' in big, bold letters on the front.
"I'm the oldest one of my friends,' she said, laughing as she waited to register for her part in the border patrol at the Tombstone Tumbleweed, the newspaper in Tombstone, Ariz., conveniently operated by Chris Simcox, a co-founder of the Minuteman group.
The buildings in the town, where the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday fought their famous gun battle against the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral, make her feel like she is a part of history, she said, and she is adamant that her small role in the controversial project will make a difference for future generations.
Her friends agreed. Robin Hvidston of Upland said they are standing together on the border issue.
Terrorists may get through the border one day with weapons of mass destruction, Dalton said. The elderly woman filled with spunk doesn't see herself as a racist or vigilante but a citizen with serious concerns about security.
"We're not vigilantes,' she said with a boisterous laugh. "We're vigil-aunties.'
All her friends burst out laughing, and for a moment everyone forgot that the actions taken by their group are being watched by people around the world.
"We are opening ourselves up to a serious terrorist attack if our borders stay the way they are,' she said. "But I tell you, me and the girls are having one heck of a good time doing something so serious.'
And they were. Most of the volunteers hanging around outside the Tombstone Tumbleweed were talking and chatting as if they were at a 40-year high school reunion.
"Catching up on old times' was a phrase heard more than once. "I remember when' was another one.
Most were elderly. Most were wearing hunting gear or something similar. And if someone was not paying attention, it would be easy to miss the guns holstered at their sides.
But Dalton and her friends say they were not afraid to embark on their four-day-long patrol, which begins today.
This was a political protest and a message to the Bush administration that Americans are fed up, they said.
Friday's events, on the other hand, were a way of connecting with others from around the country who feel the way she does, Dalton said.
"We need to make our voices heard,' she said.
As night fell, Dalton and her friends headed back to their $5 dormitories at Miracle Valley Bible College, only 2 miles from the Mexican border. They were heading back to play a game that made Tombstone famous: poker.
And Dalton said she was taking no prisoners.
