What we're saying

Loved the foreign traders in their white shirts and ties. Nice accents, but the facts are a bit shaky.

My favorite quote was the very last: "When the financial guys win, they win alone."

Ultimate Irony: 2 Fox reporters detained by police at RNC protests

Dispatch from the Angry Middle:

If this isn't the ultimate irony. Yes I'm laughing as I type.

This from Lubbock Texas:

Media Arrested With Protesters on RNC's Final Night
2 MyFox Journalists Detained, 1 Arrested

ST.PAUL, Minn. (MyFox National) -- Two MyFox journalists were among several media professionals detained or arrested Thursday night on a bridge where about 200 protesters were taken into custody enroute to the site of this year's Republican National Convention finale.

MyFox national editor John P. Wise and MyFoxDFW.com editor Alice Kalthoff were reporting on the protests. Police set off smoke bombs to disperse the crowd after which protesters were directed to head toward the bridge. That's when the protesters, along with the journalists, were stopped by police on the bridge and told that they were all under arrest.

It turns out that 19 news media journalists were detained and/or arrested while covering the RNC protests, including journalists from FOX, the AP, and Minneapolis' own KARE-TV. Many said that their press credentials were ripped off or ignored.

Local coverage from Minneapolis/St. Paul's KARE11:

ST. PAUL -- Police in St. Paul and Minneapolis made more than 800 convention related arrests during the four-day run of the Republican National Convention.

Nearly 400 of the arrests came on Thursday - the convention's last day. A large share of those took place Thursday evening on the Marion Street Bridge, several blocks west of the Xcel Energy Center.

Police used flash-bang grenades, smoke, pepper spray and tear gas to herd scores of protesters and several journalists onto the bridge.

Dressed in riot gear, police then blocked both ends of the bridge before ordering protesters and journalists to drop to the ground and place their hands on their heads.

My favorite part of the local coverage was the link embedded in the middle of the story:

Click here: Was hosting the RNC worth it?

Two more AP journalists arrested at RNC

Dispatch from the Angry Middle:

Two more journalists were arrested while covering the protests at the RNC on Thursday. Amy Forliti and Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, who were assigned to cover the story, were ordered to sit on the pavement with their hands over their heads, before being led away by police.

They join AP photographer Matt Rourke (also on assignment to cover the protests earlier in the week,) who was arrested and detained on Monday. Unlike Amy Goodman and her producers, and undoubtedly due to strong backing by the AP News Wire, Rourke was released without being charged.

Kudos to the AP for doing your job, even in the face of the violent and un-Constitutional behavior of local police. This is the work of real journalists: not simply regurgitating press releases, but covering real news as it happens, no matter the physical or political consequences.

The RNC: Brought to you by Mace

If you have any trouble with this video - sound or otherwise - please click here.

Again... what country is this?

Protester in St. Paul tries to hand the police a flower. Protester is sprayed in the face with something that appeared to really hurt.

A flower. She was obviously a terrorist. Obviously a threat to national security. I can see why the dude in the body armor felt threatened.

These marching robots in black look like something out of Star Wars (Darth Vader's guys.) They also remind me of old films depicting Nazi storm troopers. Creepy. I suppose they'll be shooting infants next. That usually follows.

I guess if your face is completely hidden from view, and you're a really tough dude dressed in black armor (in the proud tradition of Klansman hiding their faces under sheets,) you feel empowered to assault a woman holding out a flower.

Very manly. Very American, patriotic and... are we sure an alien army isn't invading us? I'm confused. You say this was Minnesota? Really? I always associated Minnesota with Garrison Keillor. Remind me not to visit any time soon.

If you have any trouble with this video - sound or otherwise - please click here.



Don't you imagine our troops in Iraq wish they could get such nice body armor? They're actually being shot at, and every day. Ah, alas for national priorities. Our government is much more threatened by Americans carrying flowers.

The canary in the mine: pre-emptively held at gunpoint

Our tax dollars are paying for this?

"I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault rifles, pump action shotguns," said Bruce Nestor, the president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who is representing several of the protesters. "The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children were held at gunpoint."

Read more

Press statement from Democracy Now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 1, 2008

Contact:
Mike Burke: mike@democracynow.org

**UPDATE**

Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar Released After Illegal Arrest at RNC

Goodman Charged with Obstruction; Felony Riot Charges Pending Against Kouddous and Salazar

ST. PAUL--Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.

All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar's violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, "I'm Press! Press!," resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman's arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested.

On Tuesday, Democracy Now! will broadcast video of these arrests, as well as the broader police action. These will also be available on: www.democracynow.org

Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful detention of Kouddous and Salazar who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were arrested on suspicion of rioting, a felony. While the three have been released, they all still face charges stemming from their unlawful arrest. Kouddous and Salazar face pending charges of suspicion of felony riot, while Goodman has been officially charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a "peace officer."

Democracy Now! forcefully rejects all of these charges as false and an attempt at intimidation of these journalists. We demand that the charges be immediately and completely dropped.

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities' law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, including a photographer for the Associated Press.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism's top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and the subsequent criminal charges and threat of charges are a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists.

Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

Footage of Democracy Now! Producer Nicole Salazar being brutally assaulted by police and arrested:



If you have any trouble with this video - sound or otherwise - please click here.

The Nation: Amy Goodman arrested in St. Paul

Now this from 'The Nation' magazine:

This morning in St. Paul, Minnesota, an estimated 50,000 antiwar protestors gathered for a big rally outside the state Capitol building originally planned to coincide with the start of the now-delayed Republican National Convention. In the face of this peaceful, permitted protest, as Ari Berman reports, were a phalanx of cops seemingly ready for the apocalypse, turning downtown St. Paul into a surreal scene featuring tear gas and dozens of arrests. Berman also got exclusive video of the aftermath of the violence.

Among the arrested, reports John Nichols, is radio host Amy Goodman, who was detained with two members of her staff.

Nichols wrote:

I was with Goodman earlier this afternoon, as she was reporting on the major anti-war demonstration. She and her crew were, as always, interviewing everyone they could in the calm, assured manner that has made the daily Democracy Now! program a widely-watched and well-regarded news programs on radio and cable television stations across the country.

Moynihan and Burke, in their statement, say that:

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

They are urging journalists and concerned citizens to contact the office of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (651-266-8535) and the Ramsey County Jail (651-266-9350) and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar.

The calls are important.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild are also on the case.

Two years later: grief, anger

Today is the two year anniversary of the day the levees broke.

The two year anniversary of Day One.

Not day one of the storm, which had already passed the city by. Today is the anniversary of Day One of Federal abandonment. Day One of 'you're doing a heckofajob Brownie.' Day One of people trapped in their attics until they finally drowned or succumbed to the heat. Day One of the endless Coast Guard rescues... the very Coast Guard that can't even get new, updated boats from our government today. Day One of what would turn out to be months of desperate attempts to save the people and the thousands of abandoned animals that struggled to survive in the searing heat and black, stinking flood water of New Orleans.

Day One of America's awakening... to the epic betrayal of George Bush.

From yesterday's commentary in the New York Times:

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 29 — This city remembered Hurricane Katrina’s second anniversary Wednesday with sadness, hurt and flashes of anger over a recovery that has returned it to only a portion of its former self.

President Bush stopped in, dining at a famous Creole restaurant and visiting a restored school in the Lower Ninth Ward. But his brief visit appeared to mean little to citizens still focused on day-to-day struggles and mourning the storm’s continuing losses.

There were ceremonies — marches, Masses and speeches — all over town Wednesday. But the city hardly needs an anniversary to help it recall a disaster that upended the life of virtually every resident here. The still-ruined neighborhoods and, beneath the surface, the mental scars, are merely exclamation points for what Hurricane Katrina has become for people in New Orleans: a fixed point of reference around which conversations and lives continue to revolve.

At a memorial ceremony at the Charity Hospital Cemetery, Mayor C. Ray Nagin choked up, evoking “the young who cry every time there’s a hard thunderstorm, because they’re afraid another storm is coming.” Mr. Nagin rang a bell at the precise moment a major levee broke two years ago, and the musician Irvin Mayfield, who lost his father in the storm, played a raucous and angry dirge on his trumpet in the sweltering heat.

None of us has healed. The people of New Orleans haven't healed. I haven't healed. I'm sure most Americans who watched the horrific coverage from New Orleans, for weeks, haven't healed. Maybe someday... if anyone in our government ever develops a heart and decides to really rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast, we can all finally heal from this.

But not this way. Not while it still looks, in some places, as though the storm ripped through there yesterday. Unlike 9/11, we've never had a chance to heal from this; we're expected to 'stuff it,' and somehow forget about it, while the damage is all over the place. This is our country; our city, our people, our pets. Insane.

The wound festers inside of us, and we are continually reminded - as New Orleans languishes, completely neglected while billions of dollars are lost and mismanaged in Iraq - that our government doesn't care about Americans. Not only black people (although surely the Bush Administration has proven to have a particular mean streak when it comes to attending the needs of the African Americans.)

No; the fact is that the Bush regime doesn't like or care about any of us. We aren't George's base. If you can't afford to shop at Neiman Marcus -- you can't afford George Bush. It's as simple as that.

“It’s one thing to come and give a speech in Jackson Square,” Mr. Bush said, referring to his visit immediately after the hurricane that has been derided as simply an orchestrated photo opportunity. “It’s another thing to keep paying attention to whether or not progress is being made. And I hope people understand we do; we’re still paying attention.”

Still, as the modest protest march from the Lower Ninth Ward made clear, Mr. Bush remains the favored target of the fervent activist community that has blossomed here in the wake of the storm. “George Bush, you can’t hide!” the marchers shouted, though Mr. Bush had already left town by then. Onlookers peered curiously from a fried-chicken restaurant as the protesters, led by a clownish figure on stilts, made their way up St. Claude Avenue; some along the route hung back.

“This is a purposeful noise we’re making here,” said one of the marchers, Levon Leban. “If nothing else, I hope people around the country will understand it’s not over, just because the water has receded.” A man held a sign out of a car window that read, “The Right of Return for Everyone,” and anti-Bush slogans resounded.

“Nothing’s changed in two years,” said Robert Goodman. “Everything the mayor and president do, that’s just for show.”

At the Industrial Canal, which obliterated the Lower Ninth Ward two years ago when its levees failed, political figures and religious leaders dropped flowers into the murky waters from the Claiborne Avenue Bridge.

“It’s still a struggle,” said Reynard Green, who showed up to be a part of it. “I’ve got a job, but my family’s not back yet,” said Mr. Green, a waiter in the French Quarter who lost his house in the upper Ninth Ward. “It’s hurting. They want to come back, but there’s no place for them to stay.”

Mr Bush: If there is one thing people do understand, it is that you are 'paying attention.' Because no one could do so little, for so many suffering people, and for so long... by accident.

Bushie accuses war protesters of 'not paying taxes'

Anti-war, pro-impeachment protesters heckled Nancy Pelosi as she attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for some boring, federal building. (OK, it was a big, expensive building and an obvious delight to the Neocon hosting the event. Nice that it was at least energy efficient.)

About a dozen people chanted "Impeach now!" as Pelosi spoke at the dedication of the $144 million, 18-story landmark office complex, which boasts cutting-edge energy efficiency features. The demonstrators also unfurled a large "impeach" banner that directly faced Pelosi and other speakers.

The protesters - kept well away from the action - were nearly loud enough to drown out Madam Pelosi; but she of course ignored them (and believe me, we're all becoming used to that treatment -- aren't we Nancy?)

Then the Bushie Neocrat-in-charge had the temerity to accuse the protesters, relegated to the outskirts of the ceremony, of 'not being taxpayers' like the important people who had been invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Ah, the sneering disdain of the 'upper class.'

Pelosi ignored the protesters, who were loud enough to compete with her remarks, but not loud enough to drown her out. The event was held outdoors, with invited guests kept outside a police barricade but well within shouting distance.

However, a Bush administration official fired back at the demonstrators, accusing them of not paying taxes. Peter G. Stamison, appointed by President Bush as the General Services Administration's top official for the Pacific Rim region, acted as master of ceremonies.

"I think we all as taxpayers—those of us taxpayers, as opposed to you people back there—are the ones that make this work," Stamison said of the government efforts that brought the new building to life.

"Excuse me, I pay taxes!" a protester yelled.

Roll that truck back. Did I hear that right? A Bushie accusing anyone (who obviously isn't in the multi-billionaire club) of not paying taxes?

Get out!

Someone should give this guy the memo... the only people who get a pass from paying taxes these days are neocons and oil companies.

The rich get the tax-cutsies and the tax-breaksies. Everyone else pays the taxsies - everyone. Future generations should have lots and lots of taxsies, because this administration has plunged our nation into debt for generations; all while making a tidy profiteering haul (all taxsie-free!) from this bloody oil war.

We're paying for it. We paid for the right to protest it, buddy.

That comment really takes the cake - and the ribbon from the ceremony (which someone should wrap around that bone-head's mouth.) The most idiotic Bush-brain comment of the day... and it didn't even come from Bush!

White House Policy Illegally Silences Americans Critical of Bush

I'm shocked - SHOCKED - to see that the Bush administration would sink to this level of partisan posturing!

It would seem that the ACLU has gotten ahold of an Advance Manual written by someone in the Bush Administration, detailing how to spot potential Bush critics - and then illegally block them from entering the venue.

According to a recent ACLU release:

"The White House has gone too far in its attempt to make dissent invisible," said Chris Hansen, a senior ACLU attorney who is lead counsel in this case. "When taxpayers foot the bill for a public event, the president does not have the right to use a partisan litmus test to stack the audience with his political supporters."

Turns out this manual led to the arrest and removal of attendees at taxpayer-funded events. (Oops - that's illegal!)

"When the president attends a public event, the First Amendment does not allow him to speak or listen only to those who agree with him," said Arthur Spitzer, Legal Director of the ACLU of the National Capital Area and co-counsel in the lawsuit. "Public places cannot be 'cleansed' of all dissent just to make the president look popular on television."

No wonder everyone is always waving flags and cheering! And here I thought he was paying them... silly me, threatening them with police is a lot cheaper.

It would seem that Bush's goon squad arrested two people at a Fourth of July presidential appearance simply for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts; and two Denver residents were actually thrown out of a town hall meeting because they had an anti-war bumper sticker on their car!

The Ranks had tickets to attend the July 4, 2004 event, but drew attention when they removed their outer garments to display t-shirts bearing the international "no" symbol (a circle with a diagonal line across it) superimposed over the word "Bush." Although other people in the audience were allowed to wear pro-Bush paraphernalia, White House event staff demanded that the Ranks remove or cover their t-shirts. When the Ranks refused, the White House staffers instructed local police to arrest the couple, causing them to be removed from the Capitol grounds in handcuffs, jailed and charged with trespassing. Ms. Rank was also temporarily suspended from her work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. City officials later apologized for their part in the arrest when they realized they'd been used as political operatives by the White House.

Similarly, Weise and Young had tickets to attend the March 21, 2005 Denver town hall on Social Security, but they were singled out after a staffer was informed that Weise had a bumper sticker on her car that read, "No More Blood for Oil." Weise was stopped upon entering the event and warned that she had been "ID'd," but was allowed to enter. However, shortly after reaching their seats, Weise and Young were forcibly removed from the event by a staffer who later admitted that he was acting under orders from White House officials.

There are actually a few other examples in the press release.

The ACLU is suing former 'Director of the White House Office of Presidential Advance' Gregory Jenkins for writing the manual... but I'm betting George just told him "keep them damn librals outta my sight, K?"

I can't say I'm surprised to read about this, but it's always fun when they get caught red-handed, isn't it? Although maybe not quite as fun for the people who were tossed from the building - or arrested on illegal pretenses.

That Card is played out

Andy Card was roundly booed by both students and faculty when he took the stage to receive an honorary degree at UMass.

And get this: Card was awarded an honorary doctorate in public service!

Good God - no wonder they nearly rioted. The day 'public service' includes bullying a sick man in a hospital room in an attempt to subvert the Constitution... oh never mind. UMass students and faculty took care of business.

Apparently democracy and open discourse are alive and well on the UMass campus (and it's obvious they have all been watching Jon Stewart!)

The protesters - actually, that included nearly everyone in the room, save the bozo who decided that honoring Card would be a good idea in the first place - waved signs, hoisted banners and shouted their disgust for nearly two minutes straight. What a catharsis. Its fun just watching it. Graduates even wore anti-Card signs pinned to their gowns and caps.

Neocons now on the run... perchance the sleeping giant has awakened at long last?

Protesters, counter-protesters: all support the troops

We all care deeply

Yes, there was coverage on yesterdays March to the Pentagon.

Quite a bit of coverage - and photos. (More coverage, from CNN, and more photos.)

Apparently, we've reached critical mass, although I can already see that the coverage is slanted. But that was to be expected.

I suspect one reason this march received more coverage than the last march, was due to the influx of 'anti-protest' counter protesters. They seem to draw the mainstream media - no big surprise - and it appears there are more interviews with counter protesters than those who came for the march. I've noticed time and again, that the mainstream media doesn't reflect the feelings of the majority of Americans (which is probably why so many of us come out to the Internet to find our news.)

I also suspect that marches with 'counter protesters' are much more exciting to cover for the mainstream media. There is always that chance that there will be something they can sensationalize - violence, or perhaps 'a clash.'

You'll notice if you read the articles, that when talking to the counter protesters, they describe 'proud marines' and 'Vietnam vets' (although there are just as many - or more - taking part in the march itself. You'd never know this from the coverage. This is intentional.) When describing the marchers, the media may give a short, passing comment about the many, many participants from the military and their families... but they go ga-ga over 'anarchists' and other exotic-looking revolutionaries.

In truth... most people who march these days are professionals with jobs and families - or people from military families, many who are parents of soldiers that have died in the war. There are some young people, college age participants, but not nearly enough. Yet. (Just wait until there is a draft, and they'll come out of the woodwork.)

I also doubt the 'head counts' reported in the newspapers. This is a lesson I learned in January. The LA Times still claims that only 100,000 showed up in January for the march around the Capitol. I was there - there really were 500,000 people, maybe more. If you look at the photos taken by participants (and not just the handful of carefully picked photos posted by the media) you will see a massive crowd filling the National Mall, and overflowing onto side streets. Perhaps not the largest in history, but very, very big. Half a million, easily. Why does the media continually undercount the crowd size? To discourage future marches, and to keep the general populace from 'getting ideas.' This is also why there is so little coverage. Remember, our media has gone corporate...

Yesterday, there were military veterans, families and active duty warriors on both sides of the tape. Yet as always, everybody disagrees about who has the right to claim that loaded phrase 'support our troops.'

Counter protest protesters occupied the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, supposedly to keep 'disrespectful anti-war protesters away.' Ironically, many of the protesters - who bused and flew in from all over the country for the march to the Pentagon - are actually military families, Iraq war veterans, parents of solders who died in Iraq... and yes, Vietnam veterans. So imagine now, that you are a veteran, and you see an angry mob has occupied the Vietnam memorial, and is holding it against you. How would this make you feel?

Would any of these people - ever - dream of desecrating a war memorial? Does anyone - I don't care what your ideology - have the right to keep a Vietnam veteran, or any other veteran, out of the Vietnam Memorial?

This angers me.

I confess that I can understand why some people feel 'you must support the war to support the warriors'. This has been ingrained in our thinking for generations. But as someone who disagrees with that philosophy, I cannot understand the nastiness - the judgmental vitriol from those who oppose all protest.

The assumption that those who protest the war - including many who fought in the war - are 'unpatriotic,' confounds me. I wish I understood how anyone could hold such animosity towards those who disagree with the basis for the war, but care deeply for the well being of the troops.

Are they all simply brainwashed by the media (most likely Fox,) or some other propaganda arm? Are they somehow locked into mental images of wild-eyed, drugged out hippies throwing stones at returning Vietnam veterans (I don't remember any such images from the 60s, but I was very young.)

Where does this hatred come from?

The marchers appeared, for the most part, to hold no such hostility in return... although when confronted with a sign that says 'go to hell traitors,' or 'peace sucks,' I know I would experience mixed emotions... and perhaps the desire to set the record straight. I've learned that this is impossible. These ideas are fixed in stone, and the hatred runs deep. I'm sure Fox continually fans the flames of the hatred, every day. This is, of course, what Fox does best.

Senator Chuck Hagel (R, Nebraska) and a Vietnam veteran, once believed that opposing the Vietnam war was wrong. His brother Tom (also a veteran, and who actually fought along side his brother Chuck) came home from the war convinced that he had been used, and was an outspoken critic. Chuck and his brother actually came to blows over their differences of opinion, shortly after they returned. Now, years later, Chuck Hagel has come full circle. Hagel is now considered to be the fiercest, most out-spoken Republican critic of the Iraq war in the Senate.

Hagel said he came to his own moment of truth, after listening to tape recordings of former President Lyndon Johnson admitting that he felt the war was pointless. Apparently Johnson made this statement in 1964 - before the Hagel brothers were deployed to Vietnam. Johnson went on to say that he feared he would be impeached if he tried to withdraw.

“The dishonesty of it was astounding — criminal, really,” Mr. Hagel said. “I came to the conclusion that they used those people, used our young people."

I was on a march in Washington D.C. two months ago, and I stayed well away from the anti-protesters. I have no beef with them. I feel they are welcome to their opinion, because we are all Americans and that is what 'freedom' is all about: the freedom to disagree. I have no interest in fighting with fellow Americans. My beef is with my government.

But come on... stupid comments like 'If you don't love America, leave it?' Imagine yelling something that stupid, right in the face of an Iraq combat veteran. These men and women fought for the right to protest. They watched friends die, many are injured for life. How dare anyone judge them?

If counter protesters also fought in this war and other wars, and disagree... fine. I respect that. But they need to learn a little respect as well. America's greatness rests in our right to disagree. All are patriots. All 'support the troops.' There are no 'traitors' here - the traitors are embedded in our government.

That said... I'm sure there were more than a few idiotic comments from among the ranks of the marchers as well. Some people can't see a sign calling them 'traitors' and walk quietly by without responding in kind. I see no point in engaging. Freedom of speech cuts both ways.

And as for the rest of us, those who are not in the military but who oppose this war on principle: why would anyone get on a bus and ride for 16+ hours to protest this war, our government's abuse of our troops, and this administration's attacks on our Bill of Rights -- if we didn't love America? If we didn't love America... wouldn't we all just stay the hell home on our couches, in comfort, pop a beer and watch American Idol?

The opposite of love and support, is indifference. Can't we all get along?

Members of a coalition of Christians opposed to the war actually demonstrated at the White House the night before the march- and many were arrested. It would appear that people from all ideologies, all walks of life, are uniting in the belief that this war - and the accompanying torture and abuse of Geneva conventions - is wrong.

These 'anti-protest' protesters seem to have missed the entire point of the march, and the reason for its starting location at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Memorial is a symbol of the last controversial war - one that divided Americans just as profoundly as this war. Increasingly (even among the troops,) a majority of Americans are now opposed to the continued occupation of Iraq. There are many similarities between the war in Iraq and the Vietnam war.

So the Vietnam Memorial was an obvious place to begin - a place of great reverence to everyone. Hallowed ground. That one side felt entitled to 'occupy it' against the other, is beyond reason. But I suppose 'reason' has no place in this discussion.

Most of us believed that our country learned a powerful lesson in the wake of Vietnam. Apparently, there are still many in our government who learned absolutely nothing.

The draft-dodging, deferment stacking politicians who started this war never learned about Vietnam, because they never fought. They were protected by money and influence during the Vietnam era, and never had to face months of fear, mud, insects and surprise ambushes in the jungles of Vietnam. They had to reason to learn the true cost of war. They are somehow above getting their own hands dirty - or those of their children - on the actual field of battle, but they are very comfortable committing other people's children to the fight that they began.

It is on their heads that I hang this tragedy, this ongoing bloodshed.

I suppose this debate will continue forever. The story of the Hagel brothers - both Vietnam veterans - bloodying each other on their front lawn over this very issue, just underlines how very raw the subject matter has become in our national psyche.