Sorry, I love Edwards, strongly prefer him to either Hil or Bar, and have been against the Iraq war from the get-go, but I didn't even have to read the article to agree with Joe here. It's the Army veteran in me. I don't like it when Bush politicizes Memorial Day, and I don't think the answer is for us to further politicize it.

Incidentally, Veteran's Day is different. Veteran's day is about the living, not the dead, and I think Veteran's Day would be a perfectly acceptable time to raise a ruckus about Walter Reed, PTSD, or lack of body armor for the troops. And I think it's probably feasible to say *something* about the Iraq war on Memorial Day. I should not see "antiwar protest" and "Memorial Day" in the same sentence. Sorry. Can't go there.

To an earlier poster who said Memorial Day was nothing more than a glorification of war, or words to that affect, let me toss in my two cents. Here in the small Minnesota town where I live, Memorial Day is celebrated in three different ceremonies that take place at the WWII, the Korean, and the Vietnam memorials. No speeches glorifiying conflict and certainly no politics. Just a few words spoken to commemorate sacrifice. I'm a Vietnam (combat)vet and I always take time to stop at the Vietnam memorial site, where I reflect on the sacrifices made, the young lives taken from us too soon. Only those who have never experienced war think there is any way to glorify it. There is no glory, but there is, and should be a lasting repect for those who are willing, and have, payed the price for all our freedoms. Peace, Robert David Clark.

Much as I respect Joe Conasan's view on this matter, and can also appreciate the attitudes of the Legion and sensible writers like Happy Chick, I have to wonder out loud when it would be more appropriate to violate the selective decorum so sternly demanded by the high priests of the Bush administration.

Has there ever been a time when our troops, not to mention the resources of our entire nation, have been so cynically exploited for the gain of one small claque and its corporate pals? During the Vietnam debacle, there were many sectors of the country, and of the government, that genuinely believed we were doing something necessary, or at least something that grew somewhat logically out of the Cold War mentality. But that didn't stop many of us Baby Boomers from seeing our own fathers (and mothers), who were extremely proud of their service in WWII, gradually come to believe that Johnson and Nixon were, in turn, chasing increasingly fatal shadows.

The current regime is far more hostile to the country, democratic ideals, and to humanity in general, than any previous generation has seen. They have turned the military into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton etc, just as they have made the Justice Department an enforcing arm of the RNC. All this while working overtime, at taxpayers' expense, to demonize science and common sense.

Joe has been one of the few pundits to consistently, and rightly, criticize Dems for their chronic cojone shortage. So I ask him this: How much worse do things have to get to justify breaking tradition in order to have our voices--the voices of a clear majority, this time--heard when and where it matters? What kind of solemn occasion is Memorial Day, exactly, if our reverent silence helps guarantee thousands more dead to remember in a worse-than-lost cause?

The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor the fallen. It is Bush who made it into a big patriotic thing to remember 9-11 and support the current war in Iraq.

Edwards is on to something but he has the wrong approach. Memorial Day is a Monday preceded by a Sunday. What Edwards should do is remind us that Memorial Day is to honor the fallen and he should be very visible doing that. However, he should use the day before -- Sunday -- to call for a National Day of Hope and Prayers for Peace. It is on Sunday that he should emphasize the damage that the war is doing to our soldiers currently serving in Iraq.

Dear Joe Conason,

It is time for the nation to bend over the toilet and vomit up the sickness that is "Bush 43." Sometimes, a nice relaxed holiday just isn't appropriate.

I'm sorry, but the idea that we shouldn't protest because it recalls Vietnam is absurd. What we need is very acute memory of Vietnam. I'm a Vietnam vet. If the news media and the Democratic Party made it clear to the American people that the same arrogant assininity which gave us Vietnam is giving us Iraq, I wouldn't have to waken every morning to news of more young Americans being killed and maimed like many friends were in Nam. The gutlessness of the liberal establishment in the face of the greatest threat to our safety and liberties in my lifetime -- the Bush administration -- is why we're in the mess we're in. More power to John Edwards!

Memorial Day started in 1866 to honor Union troops who died in the Civil War. It is now a day to honor all those men and women who have died in service to their country. Normally, I would oppose any protest that might detract from what this day should be.

But what kind of protest are we talking about it? If you mean shouting and whistle-blowing during parades, no. If you mean quietly holding signs that read, "Support the troops. Bring them home," yes.

This president and his minions are not listening to the majority of the American people who want this stupid, illegal and horrible war to end now. It's time to apply some pressure. But it is a fine line. Remind everyone the protests are designed to save the lives of our young men and women who are paying too high a price for Bush's ignorance and hubris.

I can think of no higher form of paying respect to Veterans on Memorial Day than to exercise the right to free expression of opinion that they fought so hard to preserve and protect.