Quote of the day

Are there people in this country who actively dislike U.S. troops, and hope bad things happen to them? Sure, probably. But there are also people in this country who rob old ladies, molest little kids and believe in alien abduction. The far right loves to dredge up the occasional creep who thinks spitting on soldiers is cool and insists that this represents the "true" face of the antiwar movement. The rest of us should ignore this kind of idiocy.

Let's move on. To some on the left, "supporting the troops" has come to mean "protecting the troops": keeping them out of harm's way, ensuring that they have the support services they need and generally avoiding sending them to places where they might get hurt — such as, well, Iraq.

-- Rosa Brooks, in an LA Times piece