What REALLY Happened At Today's Boston Veteran's Day Parade

Today at Boston's City Hall Plaza, the Veteran's Day Parade and Salute featured a wonderful group of veterans from every war since WWII. They were joined by hundreds of New England citizen gathered to honor them. And there were at least 200 JROTC participants marching and performing during the parade, shouting their salutes to the veterans who have gone before.

And then there were the so-called "Veterans for Peace." Also known as "pathetic, self-absorbed losers."

Like the majority of people who showed up today to support our troops, I was annoyed when the first "Veterans for Politics" stood in front of the podium just before the program was set to begin. When he was joined by another dozen or so angry anti-Bush activists, my annoyance turned to anger.

These so-called "veterans" stood and blocked the audience's view of the platform where wreaths were to be placed in remembrance of fallen heroes. These obnoxious idiots stood, holding their signs and preventing the tribute from taking place. It should be noted that the signs were about "impeachment" and foreign policy, not about veterans or their sacrifices.

Far from honoring American heroes, these self-absorbed jerks flew the American flag upside down, in the presence of hundreds of people who had been shot at to keep that same flag flying above battlefields abroad.

It turned my stomach, not for any insult towards me--these "VFP" lame-brains can't make a complete sentence, much less an argument worthy of being taken seriously--but for their incredible insult to the veterans.

Once these egomaniacs brought the program to a stop, once they had ensured everyone saw their junior-high-level "statement," the assumption was that they would at least have the decency to go away.

Wrong.

The American Legion representatives politely asked them to move along and stop blocking the podium. The "Angry Spoiled Brats For Stupidity" refused. A police officer also asked politely. Again, they refused. More activists joined them, one from the notoriously nutty "Code Pink" group. Some burned out hippie with a rainbow "PEACE" flag. So much politics, so much self-aggrandizing anger. But no respect for our veterans.

To the credit of the military members--active and retired--in attendance, nobody grabbed these political prima donnas by the scruff of the neck and tossed them onto Tremont Street. But finally, the police officer in charged sighed in resignation. "We'll have to arrest them."

The arrest began and, again, the childish foot-stompers ensured that the salute to our veterans could not continue. Instead of filing away peacefully, each insisted on being arrested in front of the audience. If their hope was to inspire some sympathy, the Veterans for Idiocy know even less about public relations than foreign policy.

The crowd didn't boo. It didn't jeer. The true patriots gathered wouldn't waste their breath. The crowd did exactly the right thing, and ignored them.

I, on the other hand, did not. When I took to the lectern, I confronted these cowards directly. I pointed out that they've got 364 days a year to march around Beacon Hill and make their point. All the rest of us asked for was two hours--TWO HOURS--to honor our veterans. But these reprehensible social rejects didn't have the decency to allow even that.

I called them out. But did they have the guts to approach me? No. In part because, despite the name, not all the participants were veterans. Some of them essentially lied, presenting themselves as veterans to try to steal honor they did not earn.

But veterans or otherwise, they're all spoiled brat '60s weasels who just want attention. Who can't stand the idea that their ideology is still so unpopular, can't stand the fact that they lost the war to stop the war in Iraq, and now are humiliated because our soldiers and Marines are making them look even more stupid by winning it.

So they spewed their pointless anger, fine. But the utter, abject disrespect they showed for the men and women in uniform was disgusted and repulsive. If they had any shame, they would filled with humiliation right now.

But if they had any shame, they wouldn't be the egomaniacal weasels that they are.

UPDATE: Media coverage is just beginning to appear, but I predict it will focus on the protesters and not the veterans themselves.