Yesterday veterans from across the country and generations gathered to protest the closing of war memorials during the shutdown. What happened though was something they didn’t expect. It turns out that the march was hijacked by some big names in politics, including Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin. This led to the even organizers firing back at these people and the Tea Parties that decided the would turn this even into their own, ignoring the will of the people who actually organized what should have been a great event in democracy. The following appears at the top of the organizers web page now:

The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC was not in alignment with our message.  We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain. The core principle is about all Americans honoring Veterans in a peaceful and apolitical manner.

Over at Politcsus USA, Jason Easley has this to say:

Tea partiers are proud of themselves for taking an event about veterans and turning it into another platform to showcase their hatred of this president, but they should be ashamed of themselves. The people who turned the march into an anti-Obama rally shamed and humiliated our veterans. Every vet knows that it doesn’t matter what political party a president is from, they are still the Commander in Chief. The organizers of this event may or may not be conservatives, but it is clear that they didn’t want the tea party mob, or Palin and Cruz’s grandstanding at their event.

Another extremist was also there yesterday, Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, who had this to say:

“I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up,” he said.

So in an event highlighting the people who were brave enough to put on the uniform and fight for our democracy, the Tea Party decided to force their way in and use the event to promote their anti-democracy, racist and hatred filled agenda. Perhaps this is the very reason the Tea Party is viewed favorably by less than 25% of this country. It really is a sad and sickening display of a bunch of close minded bigots.