Why counter protest?

Conservatives will be forgiven for asking "why bother counter-protesting the anti-war crowd? It's not going to change anyone's mind and the local press will never report on it." The answer is simple and the Star Tribune (of all places) actually reported on it.

Before he was deployed to Iraq in 2005, as anti-war sentiment spread around
the country, Minnesota National Guardsman Bryan McDonough asked his parents to
promise that they would never "disrespect" his decision to serve.

Last week, 10 months after their 22-year-old son was killed near
Fallujah, Thomas and Renee McDonough made good on that pledge, rallying on
Capitol Hill with hundreds of other military families from around the nation.

"It's really about what our son told us," said Thomas McDonough of
Hugo. "He believed in it." I would venture to guess that every one of us here
knows at least one soldier who has not only been in Iraq but that also believe
in the mission that they were sent there to perform. I am blessed to know more
than a few who know what progress is being made and I am in awe of their
accomplishments.

The Star Tribune then went on to report something that I am sure stuck in their craw just a little.

Minnesota, like much of the nation, polls almost 2-1 against the war. And
Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican facing reelection next year, has been
looking for a middle ground in the debate.

Yet the nation's leading "pro-victory" groups, Vets for Freedom and
Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, are led by Minnesotans. Peter
Hegseth, who heads Vets for Freedom, has become the national TV face of pro-war
veterans; Merrilee Carlson, who lost a son in Iraq, has become one of the
nation's leading "Gold Star" mothers.

"It is the Silent Majority no longer," said Carlson, who lives in Hastings
and serves as president of the 55,000-strong Families United group. "It's too
important for us to stay quiet."

I first heard Merrilee Carlson speak at John Kline's April town hall meeting. Her words were inspiring yet the anti-war partisans in the crowd refused to acknowledge the sacrifice that this woman made, sending her son off to war half a world away. Peter Hegseth was a frequent correspondent with the Powerline guys so he is well known to many of their readers. What many may not know is that TN's own Dave Thul is also a member of Vets for Freedom. All three of these wonderful people have helped inspire me to "get off of the couch" to join the fight.

It is past time for those who do not agree with the "withdrawal at all costs crowd" to get up, get out and make our voices heard in every way possible. We need to let the vocal anti-war folks know that they do not speak for all Americans and that we do get a say in the direction this country moves in, just as much as they do. Then maybe we can have an honest, realistic dialog on where we go and how we get there.