Thanks for all of the posts on this thread that make a lot of sense.

Protesting is A-OK with me! I think we need to let GW know what we think of his leadership (misguided leadership) and his policies. I personally would never pay $4.20 to see GW, ok honestly not even .42 cents. For those who wanted to go see him and pay $4200, that’s fine. They’re crazy, but whatever floats their boat. I respect him only because I respect his office/position. It was the way I was raised. But as for him, I don’t like him….don’t respect him. PERIOD

I have met Rep Capito a few times. She is quite nice and seems to be a very smart woman. There are some issues we don’t see eye to eye on, but I thought she had potential. I am a little concerned though that she would bring Bush in for a fundraiser. Just makes me go, hhmmmmmm…

I almost hesitate to get into this fray, but a couple of things you said in your posting were particularly offensive.

First of all, I agree with the person who said that if you are calling the Patriots for Peace Wall of Remembrance a “Wall of Shame,” then you must be ashamed of the war itself. After all, if there weren’t an Iraq War, there will be no need for our Wall of Remembrance.

Secondly, and in further defense of the Wall, I just want to remind you that folks here in the United States spend a lot of time and money to remember those who have died. Just visit any cemetary, mausoleum, or columbarium.

Third, I want to share a bit of my experience with holding the Wall. Occasionally, we are visited by soldiers who have been to Iraq. What those soldiers tend to do is look for the names of their buddies on our Wall. I’ve been witness to some emotional moments.

Finally, I do not know anyone in the Patriots for Peace organization who gets either “giddy” or “orgasmic” over these deaths. In fact, the person who is our scribe really has a hard time doing that job. She realizes that every name on the Wall represents some mother’s child. As for myself, I make a point of saying a prayer for each soldier’s family when a new name appears in the Gazette.

Vic, let me share with you one thing the Patriots for Peace has done for Iraq vets. You may actually change your mind about us. Last Wednesday, we held a bean dinner coincidental with the $4,200/couple Capito fundraiser. Our charge was $4.20. Because of a bunch of extreme generosity, we were able to raise over a thousand dollars. We are sending those funds to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. That organization is building a hospital that will be attached to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. It will serve catastrophically disabled Iraq War veterans. What have you done for such veterans lately?

The mistake you made in your posting, Vic, is that you spoke of that which you do not know. You don’t know us at all. You don’t know why we do what we are doing. You didn’t do your homework. I can only hope that you handle other aspects of your life, and particularly your public service, in a better fashion.

When I read about about deaths in Iraq or Afghanistan (American or otherwise) I feel incredibly sick and sad. I am so sad for the potential those lives held, now extinguished, and I grieve for their families. I do not ever, ever get orgasmically excited. Rather, I am filled with overwhelming sympathy.

I know for whom I will NOT be voting when the next election comes…

Yes, Sadaam’s regime was not directly linked to the specific events of 09/11/2006. But he did offer $100,000.00 to every family of a, “martyr” who killed an American (UN Commission on Terrorism Report, 2000); He did try and build a reactor to refine nuclear material into weapons grade material - the Israeli’s blew it up; and now every jihadist from Jordan; Syria; Iran; Saudi Arabia; Oman; Yemen; Somalia; and elsewhere is trying to get into Iraq to, “kill the infidels”…Americans. Unfortunately, their rules of engagement don’t include provisions about civilians, children, women, etc. They don’t prosecute and/or expose their atrocities in their major media. If you would like to see how they treat prisoners a brief search of the web will show you the video that they gloriously display of the mutilated, demasculinated, and beheaded bodies of the two marines taken from a check point. Perhaps you would like the policy of appeasement and have these types of events occur here in America? You have the freedom to speak but you do not have the right to use the names of soldiers who took an oath for your twisted perspective. How would you feel if someone gathered the names of you ancestors and started parading them around on a banner and said that they were the, “Legacy of Cowards” - maybe you are not a coward, but free speech is free speech and if you have the right to desecrate a person’s honor in death, then why shouldn’t we all. Those soldiers on your banner took an oath and stood up for what they belived in. The Department of Defense posts the names of the fallen out of honor and respect, not to foment protest or for you and PFP to bastardize into your own message. I have had the honor of interacting with many service men and women who have come back from Iraq and they feel like they are making a difference. We don’t see the good on the news or in the media and you don’t choose to see it because of your bias. War is not pleasant for anyone, soldiers and/or civilians. What would have to happen for you to step up and defend your freedoms? - tanks rolling in Charleston?…a loved one being blown up by a fanatical group?…Where do you draw the line? I offer you the same or a similar challenge. I will drive you to the airport and buy you a ticket to move to France where your opinions are shared. You can protest all day long and be part of a nation that has a very short memory of its past…a nation which was twice invaded by following a policy of appeasement and one which inflamed all of Indochina in the 1950’s and started the Vietnam War…

Further, at the time of the start of the war over 80% of Americans approved of the actions. in July of 2003 over 70% of Americans supported the war in Iraq. The way we found out that there was no WMD was actually go in an see - you seem to lose sight of the fact that Sadaam refused to let UN inspectors check…you also seem to lose sight of the fact that he failed to comply with over 200 UN resolutions including 14 from the UN Security Council…Oh, and there were those twelve (12) years of diplomatic initiatives in between the Gulf War and the latest conflict where ole Sadaam chose not to cooperate with the world community….Read your Walden and find your Utopia…The rest of us will live in the real world…