Name: Shaggy
Comments:
(posted on bruise board as well)

I am shocked that you would think I am "excited" about this war. I am not. Far from it. War is an ugly and terrible thing but it is reality no matter how many people whine and moan about it. I wish we could all hold hands, share a bong hit, and sing John Lennon songs all day but we can't. It is not a perfect world and war is just a glitch that makes it not perfect. I am glad people are showing their support to the troops. Those guys really need it. What they don't need is hearing about how many people are going nuts back home saying that what they are fighting and dying for is wrong. The war (conflict, whatever you want to call it) has started and there is no turning back now. Whether we want to be there or not, we are there and Old Glory needs her people now more than ever to stand behind her.

Name: Matt
Comments:
(posted on bruise board, too)
Shaggy- Our actions may not have looked like much to you, but they were tremendously helpful for us. Those who were brave enough to come out, despite their controversial position, knew that they were not alone in their belief, and we hope that we have made those who were afraid to come out feel a little more comfortable. We were actually tremendously happy with the turnout.

But it is terrifying to see how happy you are about this war. War is never a thing to be celebrated. The troops I have spoken to who have seen action (who might I thank for treating us respectfully and for understanding our respect for them) were not in the least bit happy about the fact that the US was fighting a war. Anyone who has any understanding of death, whether from witnessing the deaths on September 11 or from any other violent crime, knows that it is not by any means a good thing. What we should disagree on is whether this war is the right thing at the right time, whether President Bush's motivations are justifiable and for the good of the nation, and whether Bush's long-term strategy of independently fighting wars is appropriate.

As to this issue of supporting our troops, it is clear that we are on the same side, and I strongly agree with you when you say that we need to support them independent of position on the war. At our anti-war gathering the night the war started, those of us who cried and sang to God were crying and singing to God for our troops- our friends and family members who would be dying in this immoral, illegal war. Activists will be working to collect money for the care-package-for-troops campaign. We pray that the troops will come home alive, but wish more that they were not ever sent off in the first place and will not be sent for immoral wars in the future. I add for you that a true love for your troops involves sadness when they are put into a position where they may die.

As to Americanism- both you and I are equally patriotic. We both love this country. We both own and fly flags. We both, as mandated by the Constitution, speak our for the good of our country. And we both (as I hope you are, too) are acting for the long-term protection of our national security.

I in no ways see Shaggy, or those who have tried to interrupt our free speech (this means those few who yelled and honked horns so that we could not hear each other), as a prototype for those who he sides with, so please don't take this as an attack on people who disagree with us as a whole. I know that many people who disagree with us are coming from well thought-out positions, and understand that we, too, love our troops and our country.

Name: Nick Pietron
Year: Older than some
Major: MSTD/POSC minor
Comments:
I was there with Shaggy and I can't agree more that the anti-war rally was real pathetic. I just don't know what these people were trying to do, all of their arguments were completely unrelevant! "Hey! We shouldn't go to war because my pants!" I mean, at least one solid argument would have given me the opportunity to at least respect their viewpoint wether I agreed with it or not. I don't know what's up here, but way to go Andrew and your crew for standing up for what you believe in! The worst part about it was that all of the people who were in some form of Armed Forces kept coming up to the pro-war side and thanking them. These anti-war people say they are fighting for our troops, but all of our troops are on the other side fighting for what they believe in, our country and our freedom! This proves how selfish their pleas are, the people they are fighting for aren't even on their side. The funiest part of that rally was when an old veteran came up to the podium and said he had a story to change everyone's opinion on the war and tell how corrupt our government is because he was in a war and how we shouldn't be fighting wars. Then he went back out into the crowd without ever telling a story. I guess the story was just that he had a story. Sure as hell didn't change my side! Oh well, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but some opinions are just so uneducated, and those are the ones that piss me off. The other day someone told me that Saddam Hussein has nothing to do with his freedom. THAT IS COMPLETELY ETHNOCENTRIC AND UNEDUCATED! Our relations with other countries and their political leaders have EVERYTHING to do with our freedom. We didn't get to be a free country without fighting wars somewhere. It's sad. I just wish people knew what they were tlaking about before they start fighting for something.

Name: Greg
Comments:
Whatever. I don't even care anymore. This country is stupid, so is W. The country is full of hypocrites and everyone's proud.

Name: Andrew "Shaggy" Kinback
Year: 2003
Major: Media Studies
Comments:
I posted this on the Bruise Board:

Anyone see that pathetic War Rally on the 21st? We had Anti-War people on one side and Pro-War people on the other (Pro-War side was lead by our own Andrew Lent, way to go boy!). These Anti-War peeps had all these strange old fogies come up and spew crap they learned from the 60's, played a few guitar songs from the 60's, and strange enough half the campus hippies were present (as well as lot of girls/boys that you couldn't tell if they were girls or boys.). Hmmmm, all this anti-war movement and the 60's are coming up a lot. Aren't the 60's over? I am Pro-War and I support my troops to the last. But singing to the oldies and whining to a bunch of pothead college students isn't really doing much as you can tell. We are at war people, we need to support our troops if you want them there or not. Go USA. Kick some ass. (This is an opinion. If you don't like it then...A Sphincter Says What? Too bad. God bless this country.)