disrupting memorial day celebrations is a bad idea. The fact that so many folks on here don't see that shows why the Dems cant win an election unless the Republicans literally hand it too them. Huge swatches of the country house men in women, boys and girls, who actually served in the armed forces. I know many are not reading salon, or living off the marina in San Francisco, but they are out there. If a 60 year old guy wants to ride in the back of a car and feel good about his sacrifice when he was a young man, let him have it. It is an honorable thing to serve your country, even in a dishonorable war. It is a sacrifice. There are ways to respectfully protest the war and the current administration without attacking some 20 year old kid just home from Iraq, nursing his wounds, hoping he made his daddy proud. Its right to worry about alienating the newly blue hawks who came to the Dem party this last election becuase of a lack of patience and loss of faith in the current conservative party. They have pride in their country and their fellow service men and women. Don't turn that pride into a gulf between what they believe, and what the Democratic party stands for. Its morally wrong, its callous, and its just plain bad politics.

The troops. Red, white, and blue.

We support the troops. The troops are sacrificing their lives for us. The troops are sacrificing their lives for freedom. The troops are noble warriors fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. The troops are regular Boy Scouts, bringing peace and honor and fairness and restraint to Iraq.

Hogwash. Tripe. Garbage. Rot.

The troops are brainwashed tools of the Capitalist Warmongers, spreading death and destruction across the face of the world.

The troops are pawns who cannot see or will not admit that they are being used and abused even as they in turn abuse others.

Too many (not most, hopefully) of the troops are sadistic unprincipled immature adrenaline-junkie louts, bragging about killing "ragheads", raping Iraqui women, and cheerfully torturing prisoners. Encouragement for these crimes comes down from the highest levels. Punishment for these crimes is erratic at best, and unfortunately focused on the lowest ranks.

The troops are making America unsafe by following orders. The troops and the violence they spread are increasing the ranks of those willing to die in their fight against American hegemony. The troops are fighting an unjust war against a largely innocent "enemy". Blowback will inevitably arise.

The troops are in Iraq for one reason: to make already obscenely rich criminals even richer. Okay, for another reason as well: to keep George Bush from having to admit that he is a total moron, a charlatan, an international war criminal.

On Memorial Day, I shall hang my head in sorrow, and mourn not only the American dead, but also the millions of innocent people killed by the United States in the long series of wars we have fought.

Yes, you trolls, sometimes war appears necessary. Sometimes war appears to be the lesser of two evils. But understand this; the lesser of two evils is still evil. War is always evil, always terrible, always awful, never good, never beautiful, never desireable.

War is never something to celebrate.

War is Hell.

Wake up, fools. The "War On Terror" is an oxymoron, because War Is Terror.

says this regarding protesting on actual Memorial Day: "Many parades are held on Saturday or Sunday. If your parade is on Monday, however, we ask that you choose another action to honor the fallen. Then take a digital photo of yourself and your family or friends holding up the poster and tell us about it. We’ll include it in a “Democracy Photo Album” on our site."

In addition, Edwards says nothing on the website about having boisterous protests. All his suggestions are thoughtful and sympathetic. I love Joe Conason, but I think he got this one wrong.

That's Joe Conason's argument here. One can choose to believe that Memorial Day is a day simply to honor those who've fought and died, but how can you honor their memory without considering the wars in which they fought. My grandfather received a purple heart in WWI after getting his shin shot to pieces, because a bunch of incestuous and cynical European leaders committed themselves to a tragically deadly set of treaties. My father fought in Vietnam, where 50000 of his comrades died - again in the name of folly. We do their memories no justice if we forget the circumstances of their deaths. How can one pay tribute to those fallen in war and not think about the cause for which they fought? The tragedy of Vietname is that it didn't have to happen. The same is true of this war in Iraq, and to ignore that for the sake of political cover is just cowardice.

Joe Conason is probably right about the reaction that people will have to protests on Memorial Day. That doesn't mean they aren't the right thing to do. Democrats, in particular, have to grow some balls already and stand up loudly for what they believe in.

There are a number of cities already - that have Anti-War Memorial Day Ceremonies.

Madison, Wisconsin - my hometown - started that practice in the 70's.

Let's just keep our mouths shut until the US armed forces are completely destroyed.

Go Edwards, go!

I'm all for honoring the fallen but how many of us actually do that on Memorial Day? And how many of the fallen were people who sincerely believed their sacrifice was noble only if the war in which they fought truly was the war to end all wars? Would they have approved a future in which more war dead were added to the cemeteries because the American government chose to engage in military actions which only accomplishes lining the pockets of big corporations? Isn't it possible that we honor them best when we make clear we still believe in and, in any way we can, stand up for the same values for which they died?

We seem to make a big deal out of the "sanctity" of certain holidays, yet the holidays which are set aside to honor a person or persons seem to be those that most people skip the honoring part and, instead, only look forward to the day off. Some kind of action needs to be taken to stop the murder and mayhem and everyone has squandered many days seemingly in hopes that something would just appear out of thin air to turn things around. Is it o.k. to let another day go by without expressing disapproval of a war that needlessly adds more graves to the cemeteries that are already full of war dead? I don't think so and I'm certain my father and father-in-law who both served in WWII would not think so either. Would that you could look the soldiers in the eye who will die that day you claim must remain sacred and explain to them why it's more important to honor the dead than defend the living.