Ron, I wonder where that report came from. Can you tell me? I have briefly perused the Free Republic site to see their posts on the parade, and did not see anything about it. It sounds like something convenient that someone just made up after the fact, like all the other "spitting on vets" stories when someone tries to confirm them. In any case, ass-kicking is a very lame response to such boorishness and stupidity. The cops generally don't care "who started it" and we'd all end up arrested for something that a mature person could easily rise above, as I'm sure a vet would if this ever actually happened. I'll leave the lame responses to you guys, who imagine you are equipped to carry them out.

And the warm glow is even warmer after reading the clueless, hateful posts from the Freepers. Their signs were mostly just idiotic: "Hippies smell" and the like. That these people could not get more than 40 people there despite weeks of pleading says a lot. It looks as though there aren't enough brownshirts to fuel a Bush putsch after all.

Iowan, I agree that vandals should be arrested. My wife, who as you know works in the Capitol, told me that the Capitol Police were quite put out over some incidents, and had to basically shut the doors for a while to prevent unscreened entry. They were also annoyed that the parade route changed at the last hour, necessitating the closure of Independence Avenue. So far, I've heard nothing about vandalism. Maybe the accounts were overblown. One guy with a spray can does not constitute an indictment of the antiwar movement. A really cynical person might even suspect agents provocateurs from the other side. But it's likely that the "artist(s)" was/were self-styled anarchists along for the ride. I saw more of that at the IMF/World Bank demonstrations a few years back. They're morons.