Got it.

But they were celebrating this week. Oh, they managed to keep the solemn faces when they were standing on the courthouse steps with their candles and signs when the Channel 8 cameras were rolling. But it was a festive mood otherwise. One guy even got a date out of it. Part of the reason for their celebration was that the Wednesday night vigil, which usually draws a grand total of 7 or 8 “Women in Black” (male and female — that’s the group’s official name) this time was up to more than 250.

Never mind that some of the new faces explicitly said they were there in support of continuing the military work in Iraq and in support of the soldiers finishing their mission. It was a big number, and they were loving it. High fives all around.

Then I looked at the newspaper front pages online from that day. Some of them were artful packages; the kind of thing you spend days putting together. The merging of artwork, graphics, photos, and text was state-of-the-art. The rest of you won’t get to see it, but when the state newspaper publisher conventions roll around, and the prizes go out for best design, I’ll bet you hundreds of those layouts will be nominated, and rewarded. There’ll be backs slapped and drink rounds bought.

For most of us in the media, and most of those in the peace movement that I can see, the men and women in uniform are abstractions. The only two military veterans I ever worked with in this newsroom are gone (one’s retired, the other’s dead). Only one of my co-workers has a son who has seen active duty in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The number “2,000″ is more real to us, as a class, than the face and life of any individual soldier or Marines.

I do know better. Better than you, evidently. And I am disgusted.

Again, you should know better. Disgusting.

http://www.zombietime.com/2000_iraq_deaths_party/

Disgusting. You should know better.