WaPo wakes up

There's a lot of chest thumping going on among the bereaved mother-bashers out in the far right outreaches of the blogoshere, over this. They're throwing down the overused "we're more patriotic than thou" card. Even more pathetic, they're raising with the beaten to banal, "if you don't support this ill conceived, ostentatious military display, you don't want us to "win" the war and you support the terrorists." And one pitiful soul anted up an attempt to equate WWII with this pre-emptive invasion.

To that I say, folks, your desperation is showing but please keep it up. Every time you diss Cindy Sheehan for standing in a roadside ditch in the blazing Texas sun, beggaring her grief over her son who died for a lie, in a plea for peace, while you beat the drum for a multi-million dollar, taxpayer funded PR extravaganza intended to drum up support to send more men to die in a failing war - your self-interest shows and your influence diminishes.

The WaPo made the exactly right choice here and I'm glad to see they came to their senses. As I said before, the media has no business sponsoring a government event. This isn't a NASCAR charity, it's the Pentagon, and you need look no further than their press release for the proof that this is a political event.

It is unfortunate that the Washington Post has made this decision not to support the "Freedom Walk," but we welcome their donation to the Pentagon Memorial Fund. This is a commemorative event to honor the memory of the victims who died in the attack on the Pentagon and to highlight the yet to be constructed Pentagon Memorial.

Everyone in American will pay tribute and commemorate this important day in different ways. This event is an opportunity to remember the victims and their families, to reflect on the sacrifices made by our troops and to recommit to the work still ahead.

Regardless of how one chooses to observe this anniversary we should never forget the sacrifices – both past and present -- made by those in defense of our freedom.

I'm already on record on how this is a shameless attempt from the very label, "Freedom Walk" to connect what happened on 9/11 with Iraq. There is no nexus and whatever we're fighting for there, has not resulted in freedom. Not for us and not for the Iraqis, nor the Afghanis - if anyone cares to remember them. Not to mention that we already have holidays to commemorate soldiers that they entirely ignored. Veteran's Day and Fourth of July spring to mind immediately and isn't there something called Armistice Day? Maybe VE Day? Flag Day?

It's disrespectful to the victims of 9/11 to fold their commemoration into a military event complete with a country rock and roll concert by a man who writes songs to glorify war. They weren't soldiers, they were ordinary citizens and as such deserve a separate and more sober tribute. To put the focus on "recommiting to the work still ahead," cheats the victims of their proper spotlight on this date. If they want to recommit to the war, then do it on the anniversary of the invasion rather than use the 9/11 victims as pawns in a PR game.

And it's damned disrespectful to our soldiers to be having a big show of military pride in DC, while our troops are out there underequipped. I hear they're having trouble with up-armoring again. Or was it body armor? The VA can't afford to take care of the injured that are making it home. The money would be better spent on those causes - if it was our troops and not just the opinion polls, the White House is concerned about.

Good for the WaPo for recognizing its role is to report on the event, not sponsor it.