They just can’t help themselves. It’s like an addiction they know they should kick, but they’re not strong enough to conquer.
The same day that Bush tells Matt Lauer that John Kerry’s military service was more heroic than his own and as the Republican’s national convention kicks off with a claim about focusing on the future, GOP delegates think it’s funny to mock wounded soldiers.
Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them.
Morton Blackwell, a prominent Virginia delegate, has been handing out the heart-covered bandages to delegates, who’ve worn them on their chins, cheeks, the backs of their hands and other places.
Here’s CNN’s Dan Lothian holding up the “bandages” that are being distributed at the convention:
Blackwell, who’s responsible for this hilarity, is the president of a group called the “Leadership Institute,” which trains college kids to become right-wing activists. (I’m sure they’d love feedback about what the public thinks of this little stunt, if you wanted to contact them.)
Regardless of who’s behind this garbage, it just goes to show that Republicans, even on national television and on their best behavior, can’t stop embracing the dishonest smear they love so dearly.
The DNC’s statement on this yesterday was spot on.
“It is inexcusable for a Republican delegate to mock anyone who has ever put on a soldier’s uniform. It is inexcusable to mock service and sacrifice. Our service men and women put their lives on the line every day. If they are wounded in the line of duty it is because they are fighting on the frontlines for freedom. Anything but complete respect for their service is unacceptable.
“Mindful of the fact that over 3,700 purple hearts have been issued during the Iraq war so far and none of us know how high that number will climb, I call on John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, before they speak, to tell their delegates to disavow these tactics. I call on these two men to use the power of their positions to tell their delegates that service matters, sacrifice matters, and that no Republican delegate should ever mock the service of our soldiers.”
Obviously, McCain and Giuliani didn’t heed that call. Worse, those responsible for distributing this trash aren’t embarrassed; indeed, they have vowed to keep it up.
Pat Peel, the delegate singled out in the Democratic response, promised that there would be many more purple heart bandages on the floor Tuesday.
Some days, it’s difficult to hide my contempt for these people.