How was your Weekend? Cross posted at My Left Wing

I spent the weekend participating in the Army Men Project with Kvatch's Kommandos. The deployment of plastic soldiers bearing tags saying "Bring Us Home From Iraq" among other statements is a small, intimate protest that invites people to pick the soldiers up. It is the least strident protest I've ever participated in, and it is elegant in its whimsical nature and use of an iconic toy.

And I spent the weekend with good friends, one of whom is a Viet Nam combat veteran, who is so articulate in his crticism of this administration. An intersting comment he made last night: he said that while the Iraq war is at a similar point to Viet Nam when Johnson turned the mess over to Nixon, the major difference is the body counts. Iraq has about the same number of troops deployed as we had in Viet Nam, but the deaths are not at the same numbers, and most of the deaths are not combat related -- they are murders caused by cowardly actions. He said that until the death toll in Iraq reaches the numbers of Viet Nam, public opinion will not change very much -- that we are essentially preaching to the converted when we talk amongst ourselves.

We also talked about the corruption of this government. We agree on so many levels except one: I believe we can be a voice for change and he believes we are at the end of the line. He's a cynic, I'm skeptical.

But I say this: we must never give up, never give up, never give up.