Why Lala Lipscomb hated the protestors, and thought at first they were against the soldiers: likely because right wing pro-war people spun it that way. That's what they said then and that's what they're still saying. Read DougR's post.

I think we did something afer Viet Nam that, for a society, is extremely rare: we listened to people (veterans) and actually learned something.

I'm against the war, but I'm not against folks in the military. I'm for them. These people put their trust in their leaders to not get them killed for a bad reason. We all should be able to trust our leaders, but soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are the ones who can get killed if that trust is misplaced.

There is a perception that members of the military are all as hawkish as Bush & Co. It's simply not true. There are Republicans, Democrats, and independants. Some would have thought the war was right and still do. Some would have changed their minds. Some of those who went would have thought it was wrong from the outset and either gone anyway or been court martialed. Most who are still alive and still in Iraq likely believe there are things happening now that should be being done better.

People in the military aren't any more fond of viewpoints disagreeing with theirs than civilians are. It is definitely NOT demoralizing though, to know that the voting public cares about what happens to them and doesn't want them to get killed for a stupid reason. A person in the military will likely tell you he may disagree with a person's viewpoint, but will defend to his death your right to express it. There is occasional truth heard in the harmonics of voices on all sides of an issue shout at one another.