I saw this article at Rachel Lucas’s site last night, but my internet access went down before I had a chance to write about it myself.

I have zero sympathy and zero tolerance for anyone who accosts a member of our armed services or anyone related to them.  It’s not “speech”, it’s not “dissent”, and it’s damn sure not patriotic.  The actions of these subhuman vermin are anti-American and dispicable, verging on traitorous.

I just hope that I never see anyone try this in front of me.

Emperor Misha has his own take on this.

This incident had me seeing red.

MONTPELIER, Vt.—A group of Vermont teen-agers threw rocks at a uniformed female Vermont National Guard sergeant last week, in the latest example of a service member facing hostility in the United States.

National Guard spokesman Capt. Jeff Roosevelt said the woman was not injured in Friday’s incident, which took place in Plainfield, but said the woman had decided she would no longer wear her uniform outside of work.

“We are a very tolerant state and people in the military also expect to be treated with the same courtesy and respect that we show to others,” Lt. Col. Scott Stirewalt, director of security at the Vermont National Guard, told WCAX news.

The teens blocked the sergeant as she went into a store and again on the way out, yelling obscenities at her along the way, Roosevelt said. The group also threw small stones at her car as she drove away, he added.

The sergeant said she believed the protesters had taken part in an anti-war demonstration in Montpelier that day. National Guard troops are often deployed to such events to help keep the peace.

“There were various profanities directed in her direction, along the line of ‘[expletive] murderer, [expletive] baby killer,’” Stirewalt said. “It culminated with some of the individuals throwing rocks at her, and as testament to her disciplined professionalism, she got in her car and left the area.”

I’ve tried really hard to maintain a level of civility concerning anti-war types, but I have zero sympathy and zero tolerance for anyone who would attack a member of our armed services or call them names like “baby killer” and “murderer.”  I hope that I never see something like this happen in front of me.

Link via a small victory.

This nit was so ripe that I couldn’t resist picking it.  I’ve noticed that a lot of the addlepated local media is using the phrase “War On Iraq” in all of their newscasts.  I think our history of declaring war on damn near everything (poverty, crime, drugs, terrorism, etc.) has made it impossible for them to phrase this correctly.  Saying “war on Iraq” sounds like we’re trying to wreak havoc and kill innocents.  We’re waging a war in Iraq to remove the tyrannical government and its sympathizers.

Many have written on the topic of news coverage and the so-called setbacks in the war in Iraq.  While there are those in the media who have taken an anti-American slant (*cough* BBC *cough), I’m concerned with the picture being painted by those who have not chosen such a path.  One of the problems as I see it is that the media in general lack the ability to maintain perspective and look at things in terms of a larger plan.

My fear is that such coverage will convince some to waver in their support of the war and agitate for the withdrawal of our troops.  So far, it appears that the American people understand that this war will not be without losses on our side.  I just hope that they can continue to ignore the frantic reporting.

Once the switch was thrown and the first coalition forces crossed the border, we were committed.  It is not possible to turn back now without doing incalculable harm both to our country and to the people of Iraq.  Some anti-war protesters may genuinely believe that it’s possible to bring the troops home at any time, but they are ignoring reality.  If it can be shown that the infliction of casualties will persuade the United States to withdraw forces, no one will take this country seriously for years to come.  It has been American weakness in the past that has emboldened the terrorists (according to one source I read recently, Bin Laden saw the withdrawal of American forces from Somalia as evidence that the US could be defeated and he stepped up his efforts). 

The United States will be viewed as weak and without honor, which will make us fair game for more and bigger attacks in the future.  And it doesn’t matter whether Bin Laden himself is still alive, there are more like him waiting in the wings—just look at some of our college campuses these days.  At the same time, we will have screwed the Iraqi people twice.  When we let them down in 1991, Saddam Hussein killed thousands of his own citizens who came out in favor of his removal.  We owe these poor bastards this time.  Let’s not screw them again.  Even if Saddam Hussein is dead, withdrawing our troops will not save these people as long as any of his government continues to exist.

The only option now is to see the mission through to completion.  The only way to safely bring our troops home is through victory.  Let’s hope that it happens sooner, rather than later.

The whole set of pictures from yesterday’s rally in Dallas (minus one accidental shot of a blurry street ) are now available here.

I went to the rally this afternoon and then went out for dinner and watched Dreamcatcher.  Which is why I only got back a little while ago.

Despite the rain, the crowd that showed up was still enthusiastic.  Unfortunately, I was not really able to hear what was going on at the main rally (in front of the old courthouse).  However, at the same time there were a lot of people on the sidewalk facing the street with their signs.  The motorists were generally supportive, honking and waving flags.  The crowd would respond to this with cheers.

I spent about an hour and a half at the rally and I ran into the du Toits, but only got a second to speak to them as they were on their way home (the rain finally got to them).

I took 104 pictures which I will grovel through to create a gallery later.  For now, here are a few samples: (click on image for full-size, but beware that they are at their original size of 1760×1168; I will downsize them when creating the gallery)

The French were not too popular with this crowd:

And neither were the Dixie Chicks:

Bring me their heads on a platter:

There were a number of Iraqis who know what the situation really is:

Continued under “More…”

I found this one amusing:

Finally, the real drum(s) of war:

This lady gave one of the “peace” protestors a piece of her mind:

Speaking of which, the contingent of peaceniks was kind of puny:

In contrast, the pro-American people stretched the length of the block on the sidewalk and there was a large gathering in front of the old courthouse (in a way, it was like two rallies):

A pro-America rally will be held in downtown Dallas today at 3:00pm.

Link via Emperor Misha I.

<sarcasm>It’s nice to see that “peace” protesters are respectful of other people’s property.</sarcasm>  It’s too bad that it is illegal to shoot these bastards.  They’d make great sniper practice.

TAOS, N.M.  — War protesters trashed the grounds around a northern New Mexico home owned by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, placing “No War” stickers and throwing children’s clothes around the property, authorities say.

No arrests were made during the demonstration Thursday, said Lt. Eddie Martinez of the Taos County Sheriff’s Department.

The protesters were among 400 to 500 who began demonstrating at Taos Plaza and marched along U.S. 64 to two Rumsfeld properties at El Prado, a couple of miles northwest of Taos, Martinez said.

“They got onto his property, and that would be trespassing,” he said. “There’s issues and laws they need to understand. If their choice is a peace demonstration, then they should keep the peace.”

I always seem to be disconnected when things break.  I listened to Fox on XM on the way home and watched some of the news at 6:00pm.  All signs pointed to a delay, so I went to do other things. 

I cleaned a couple of my guns and played around with this laptop to get the wireless working.  I gave up on the WPC54G for now and got a D-Link DWL-650+.  As soon as I go online I find that bombing has begun, although it’s not the main attack. 

I guess it’s time now to take the orange alert seriously.  I think I’ll take Kim duToit’s advice and pack the shotgun as soon as I convert it to pistol grip (like Denton is going to be a target ).

I missed the president’s speech as I didn’t get around to turning the TV on until 7:15.  I was surprised it went that quickly, but then I guess when you’re being direct and to the point it doesn’t take much.

Now comes the horrible last-minute waiting until we see how this whole thing unfolds.  I’m going to be worrying about the worst that can happen and hoping for the best.