As you all know already, I attended the march to the Pentagon in support of our troops and the Iraqi people, and in protest of our government's policies that hurt both of those groups.  I said I'd have some details and pictures, and I'm delivering, albeit a week later.  First off, I was quoted by the French newswire, so I've seen my name on news sites from France to Ireland, Qatar to Egypt... it's great.  While the turnout wasn't what I'd hoped due in part to poor weather conditions (come on, it's just a little cold), all sources are pegging the number in the "tens of thousands."  I can tell you it was crowded and there were really good vibes in the air.  People of all ages attended, as you can see:

The little boy, by the way, is six.  At least someone's educating their children on the realities of the world today.  He kept asking people about their signs... he was very curious, and he was in the right place to learn from good people.  Good thing he didn't end up on the other side of the street.  As you may or may  not have heard, there were counter-protestors.  Allow me to explain how this works.  Peace activists say "we want to use our freedom of speech to have a non-invasive, non-confrontational peace rally on this day to show our support for ending the war in Iraq, so we're applying for a permit to do so."  We show up, we do our thing, we make our voices heard.  On the other hand, the "pro-war" activists read pro-peace sites and find out when and where we'll be demonstrating, apply for a permit to coincide with the date and location, and do nothing but confront and insult us.  They have no message, no tact, and no common sense.  We are there to stand up for what we believe in.  They are there to shout obscenities and show us their middle fingers... and they honestly wonder why the rest of the world hates the United States.  Idiots:

Yes, their message was "Go to Hell" and... I'm not joking... "Peace Sucks."  What a great message to deliver to future generations... if you can choose between peace and killing people, get out your assault rifle.  Stupid rednecks.  I've never seen so much leather on people who CLAIM to want gay marriage banned.  One man, who had a duffle bag that said POLICE, pulled out a Mexican flag, stomped on it, spit on it, and wiped his crotch with it.  First, I want to know what the hell Mexico has to do with Iraq... Second, I wonder why it's OK to desecrate the flags of other countries so freely but they're all so defensive about their own.  Show a little common sense and respect.  One girl, about 8 years old, was standing with the group shouting "Losers" as we marched past.  She'll grow up to be just like her daddy, part of a biker gang who supports war because they're too old to go fight it, misquoting the bible to support her homophobic, racist, violent views.

Fortunately, the event was a success overall.  The crowd was lively and there were some creative folks in the crowd:

Great idea, alarming statistic, and the question we all need to answer.  Pictures like that don't need much of a caption, but there are still quite a few people who don't understand just what drives me to go to these events, just what makes me hate the concept of war so much.  I saw one man at this event that brought a tear to my eye, because what he's had to suffer through SUCKS.  It's not a question of "freedom" or "democracy," we had those and they weren't being threatened.  The only thing we didn't have was Iraq's oil fields, and that's the ONLY thing we were after.  Do you want to know how we're paying for this war?  Higher taxes is only one form of payment.  This is what makes me sick, the fact that this man has to wake up every morning knowing he will never get to see his son again:

Maybe you can look into this man's eyes and see his pain and begin to understand that 3,300 isn't some arbitrary number... 3,300 dead soldiers doesn't put a face on it.  When one of them is your son, daughter, husband, wife, or best friend... that's when you realize the harsh truth.  Multiply that emotion by 3,300 and then you can understand the pain I feel as an American who is seeing all the guys he went to school with being shipped out to fight this war for profit of the rich.  Multiply it by 650,000 and you'll feel the embarassment that I feel as an American, knowing that our leader is OK with destroying other countries, lying to his own citizens, and spitting in the face of the entire world by denying democracy to his people and denying diplomacy to everyone who tries to stop his madness.  Maybe now you understand why I feel the way I feel.  I feel like a prisoner of our government, with no rights at all.  Sound familiar?

This is what is happening, we re-enact and you may think it's dramatic but it's not.  No human being deserves this.  No human being deserves to wake up to a bomb blowing up half his neighborhood and finding his wife and young children blown apart on what used to be the other side of his house.  This is why we marched, and we can only hope that our voices were heard.