9.01.2004
Purple Heart Bandages Spark Furor
Thanks to this link at CNN, you too can read about the new low the Republican Party has reached. Apparently many delegates have taken to wearing band-aids with purple hearts painted on them on various parts of their bodies. Some sported them on their chin while others casually fitted them on their wrists. When it was pointed out that this type of action might be dishonorable, considering that we have troops in Iraq as we speak, a republican delegate had this to say:
... she didn't see the bandage as a jab at U.S. troops who have been wounded in combat -- more than 6,000 of them so far in the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
"It is not in any way defaming of them, because I know people who have received Purple Hearts and I know that they're not boasting about their war record. They're proud of their serving their country. And, I mean, I just met a woman who lost her husband yesterday in Iraq. And there's a whole entirely different mood."
Pat Peel, the delegate singled out in the Democratic response, promised that there would be many more purple heart bandages on the floor Tuesday.
Brilliant plan. Embarass the party, then do it again the next day! The NYTimes has a nice picture of one of the bandages and the type of idiot who wears one in this story:
"It was inappropriate," Karl Rove, the president's chief political strategist, said of the bandages on CNN. But, he added, "I understand why some people who were in Vietnam feel very strongly about what Senator Kerry did and said when he came back."
When Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, was asked about the bandages on CNN yesterday he also said they were inappropriate but said, "I have more controversy and questions about what he said after he came back because of the very issue of how it's seen by veterans at that point in time."
Nice job, fellas. Skirt the issue and make a personal attack on Kerry. Rove, especially, should shut the hell up since he never even served. Brownback has no clue, since he served from 86-93. The Gulf War is the only one he likely served in. While a traumatic experience, I'm sure(I have a number of relatives who were involved as well), I don't think it can really compare to 'Nam. Anybody care to look up Sam's bio further and tell me if he even fought in a war? I'd hedge bets he probably just sat back in reserve duty the whole 7+ years. What a mess this is.
... she didn't see the bandage as a jab at U.S. troops who have been wounded in combat -- more than 6,000 of them so far in the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
"It is not in any way defaming of them, because I know people who have received Purple Hearts and I know that they're not boasting about their war record. They're proud of their serving their country. And, I mean, I just met a woman who lost her husband yesterday in Iraq. And there's a whole entirely different mood."
Pat Peel, the delegate singled out in the Democratic response, promised that there would be many more purple heart bandages on the floor Tuesday.
Brilliant plan. Embarass the party, then do it again the next day! The NYTimes has a nice picture of one of the bandages and the type of idiot who wears one in this story:
"It was inappropriate," Karl Rove, the president's chief political strategist, said of the bandages on CNN. But, he added, "I understand why some people who were in Vietnam feel very strongly about what Senator Kerry did and said when he came back."
When Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, was asked about the bandages on CNN yesterday he also said they were inappropriate but said, "I have more controversy and questions about what he said after he came back because of the very issue of how it's seen by veterans at that point in time."
Nice job, fellas. Skirt the issue and make a personal attack on Kerry. Rove, especially, should shut the hell up since he never even served. Brownback has no clue, since he served from 86-93. The Gulf War is the only one he likely served in. While a traumatic experience, I'm sure(I have a number of relatives who were involved as well), I don't think it can really compare to 'Nam. Anybody care to look up Sam's bio further and tell me if he even fought in a war? I'd hedge bets he probably just sat back in reserve duty the whole 7+ years. What a mess this is.
