Earlier this evening, I attended the "peace vigil" in Old Town Alexandria's Market Square. The event marked the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq with speeches by Mayor Bill Euille, Congressman Jim Moran, Cindy Sheehan, and several others. There was also a performance by legendary folk singer, Tom Paxton. This was a somber event, with the 100 or so people essentially in mourning for the 2,300 dead Americans, 17,000 wounded Americans, and the 35,000 or so dead Iraqis. What a nightmare, and the pathetic thing is that Bush and Rumsfeld have no clue whatsoever. "Rummy" even had the audacity to claim that "Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis." What on earth is it with these Republicans constantly referring to the Nazis, anyway? Do we have a psychologist in the house?Personal highlight of the evening: finally meeting the legendary Cindy Sheehan in person. I talked to her for a few minutes about how badly we needed to get rid of George Allen this year, and she seemed to agree. I told her that James Webb was the only candidate in the race who opposed the invasion of Iraq, and also that he was the only Democratic candidate who could beat George Allen. Sheehan appeared interested.
By the way, Jim Moran gave a powerful, emotional anti-war talk, in which he spoke of America becoming "Sparta" not "Athens." Obviously, that's not the way it's supposed to be.