As an interesting note, someone stole my Support the Troops magnet that was next to my Kerry/Edwards sticker on my car…apparently I can’t have supported both last fall.

The thoughtlessness isn’t all one-sided.

Agreed. I know of many instances in the KC area where Kerry/Edwards yard signs were taken from people’s yards…repeatedly. I’m talking about four or five times. Pretty ridiculous stuff. I never heard of this, but I’m sure the same thing happened to Bush/Cheney signs as well. There are idiots on both sides.

However, recently, I have seen some photos in the media of young children with their parents at rallies and even protesting at military funerals. They were actively participating with their signs and their hate-filled faces. This sort of behavior can be taught and aplauded by parents. It’s a shame but when you think that they make KKK outfits in Junior sizes, then maybe you’ll understand — or at least be horrified just like me.

I don’t know what was going through those boys’ minds. Certainly I was raised to respect the flag, no matter who’s house it’s flying from.

As an interesting note, someone stole my Support the Troops magnet that was next to my Kerry/Edwards sticker on my car…apparently I can’t have supported both last fall.

The thoughtlessness isn’t all one-sided.

It still sounds suspicious to me, as it hardly takes all twenty flags to set a car on fire. Like Glenn Reynolds, I think that the fact that every single one of the flags went into the flames meant something, even if it turns out that the Wessel home was just one stop on a night of destruction and debauchery for these two unsupervised morons.

He attempted an apology, yes, but he couldn’t help but turn it into a statement/guess about their political motivations. If you can’t see that from this, then I fear you might be apologizing for him yourself.

Concerning political motivations, of course this could be politically motivated. And while I don’t have any kids of my own, I do have a 15 year old brother who is intelligent, but could care less about politics. I’m sure if you took a poll of his friends, you’d find the same mindset. And a poll of 13 year olds? Even less I’m sure.

What bothers me about this story is it feels like the groundwork is already being laid for “Ah-ha! They were politically motivated” if their parents happen to turn out to be Democrats. And to do that inside of an “apology” seems pretty weak to me.

But goy, thanks for linking to it. I’ve had a spotty internet connection all night so it fell through the cracks. I’ll put the link in after I post this comment. However, I obviously disagree with you about the apology being clearly presented.

Perhaps if you offered the benefit of the doubt, i.e., considering the possibility that Ed was describing WHY he came to the conclusion that he did…??

Oh, and one other thing. Was it just an accident that you didn’t link to the actual CQ post, where the retraction, correction, apology and regret are all clearly presented?

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005090.php

If you don’t think 15 and 13 year olds can be politically motivated, then perhaps you don’t have teenagers.

Well, yeah, they most certainly can be. I recall reading about a female National Guardsman in the northeast (I think Vermont, but don’t recall for sure) who had rocks thrown at her by teenagers who also yelled “baby killer” at her. So, yes, it’s certainly possible for kids that age to be politically motivated, especially if their parents are.

I’m not saying these two were. I don’t know that.

But I do think that most teenagers who do things like this are more likely to be up to no good than making political statements.