I'm still a little disappointed I didn't set up a live blog from yesterday's conference. There were so many times I would have loved to chime in with a spur-of-the-moment-not-so-well-thought-out response.

Like when Eli Paintedcrow, an outspoken anti-war activist who served in Iraq, said: “This is not a war. This is genocide.” I’m vehemently opposed to the war and believe we need to bring our troops home, but what we’re doing in Iraq is not genocide. We might be killing innocent civilians for what seems like a lost cause. We might be engaging in horrid torture and abuse. But U.S. soldiers are not committing genocide. It’s not Paintedcrow’s mischaracterization of the war that disturbs me about her comment. It’s that in doing so, she cheapens the term “genocide,” and makes the campaign to stop genocide in Darfur – the subject of an informative and inspiring afternoon panel starring the dreamy John Prendergast - even more of an uphill battle.

Or when Sy Hersh criticized the crowd’s favorite (actual favorite, not sarcastic favorite) president for not speaking out against the war: “I get so mad at Bill Clinton I can’t see straight.” It’s a shame he can’t take a real leadership role on this for the sake of his wife’s political future.

Or when Rajai Hakki, a Muslim who served as a Marine interpreter and rifleman in Baghdad and Fallujah, said he was happy to be speaking to America’s next leaders and “more immediately, perhaps, the next Monica Lewinsky.” The wounds might have been too fresh for this crowd. But Hakki saved himself with a memorable quote about why he enlisted: “I felt like I had to prove my Americanism.” Deep.