As a grassroots political activist, I can't even count the number of times I've been harrassed while in the line of duty, be it on a picket line, walking in a march, demonstrating, at rallies, etc.

In fact, it is so common for "decent Americans" to "spit on" dissenters, it never even gets discussed, except in passing among ourselves when it occurs.

My favorite epithet that gets hurled at us over and over again is "Why don't you go vote!" :)

To me, it is ludicrous in the extreme that people even have this discussion. Who ever said standing up for what you believe in was easy, and that you wouldn't get shit for doing it from your fellow citizens?

I'll start taking the claims made by some troublemakers that VV were spat upon seriously, just as soon as they stop making spurious claims about it, simply as a means to silence anti-war messages and political dissent.

Americans have many, many other people they enjoy spitting on nowadays, like Muslims and Arab Americans, for instance.