Thursday, August 25, 2005

Left Sinks to New Low (Yes, It's Possible). This is what happens when people do not govern their usage of the First Amendment with simple, common decency. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton." Take it from a wounded soldier. Kevin Pannell, who was recently treated at Walter Reed and had both legs amputated after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004, considers the presence of the anti-war protesters in front of the hospital "distasteful." When he was a patient at the hospital, Pannell said he initially tried to ignore the anti-war activists camped out in front of Walter Reed, until witnessing something that enraged him. "We went by there one day and I drove by and [the anti-war protesters] had a bunch of flag-draped coffins laid out on the sidewalk. That, I thought, was probably the most distasteful thing I had ever seen. Ever," Pannell, a member of the Army's First Cavalry Division, told Cybercast News Service. "You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with," Pannell said, adding that other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment for the anti-war protesters. "We don't like them and we don't like the fact that they can hang their signs and stuff on the fence at Walter Reed," he said. "[The wounded veterans] are there to recuperate. Once they get out in the real world, then they can start seeing that stuff (anti-war protests). I mean Walter Reed is a sheltered environment and it needs to stay that way." Now, before the liberals start ranting and raving about their freedom of speech, this is not about that. It's about decorum and respect. They can protest, but they ought to be more thoughtful about it. "[The anti-war protesters] have no business here. If they want to protest policy, they should be at the Capitol, they should be at the White House," said [counter-protester] Nina Burke. "The only reason for being here is to talk to [the] wounded and [anti-war protests are] just completely inappropriate." [GOP Bloggers] 3:08:17 PM    comment [] trackback []

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