convention reaction to Eastwood is the sequel to convention delegates wearing purple heart bandaids

[karynnj]

After seeing video of Eastwood's ridiculous disrespectful nonsense. That this was the lead in to Romney's speech - shown in network time makes it worse. Two observations - that I haven't heard mentioned are:

1) Many of the delegates that cheered and laughed at this convention were probably the same people who wore bandaids mocking John Kerry's wounds that he got when he risked his privileged, promising life as a 25 year old. If not the same peopel, they were their spiritual descendants. In both cases, they went far beyond any reasonable bounds in stating their lack of respect for - in this case - the sitting President of the US. Now, many might say that this was because Obama is exotic, black and/or unAmerican. Yet 2004 shows that they treated the 10th generation direct descendant of the first governor of MA, Winthrope, who Reagan famously quoted on the shinning city on a hill. Remember that Kerry, with that impeccable history and a decorated war hero was treated as foreign and unpatriotic.

What the reaction shows is that among the people there - including the entire Republican power structure, this is somehow ok. Yet, they are claiming THEY will be bipartisan. How exactly does that work?

2) There has been NO statement from Romney or anyone else condemning the substance of this. The ONLY negative comments have been with regards to the lost opportunity to show a video of Romney. (Ann Romney mentioned this.) Note also that - as in 2004 - there are NO media calls for Romney to disavow this. Yet remember in 2004, John Kerry was pushed to reject Whoopi Goldberg's inappropriate crude, not funny joke at a fundraiser made before Kerry was there. Here, you had both Romney's listening to this without saying it was inappropriate.

[riverwalker]

1. the Purple Heart mockery will burn me forever

absolutely disgusting

[progressivebydesign]

3. Considering that was a GOP-led initiative to discredit Purple Heart recipients...

I cannot even fathom why any vet would vote for them. Ever.

it wasn't like someone in the hall thought it was funny... Karl Rove's mentor had these produced and distributed with knowledge of the GOP.

[pinboy3niner]

4. +1000 from a Purple Heart recipient. nt

[karynnj]

5. Same here

The fact that they were not "punished" by the voters or the media made it sadder. I really hoped that John McCain would have asked that they all be removed at the beginning of his speech out of deference to all the soldiers who were given them.

That it was a medal due to wounds - not bravery or gallantry (as Kerry's two other medals were) made it worse. The fact that they argued that he was not insured enough was beyond sick. The fact that a healthy, athletic 25v year old was wounded three times was something very real and a sacrifice that Cheney, Bush and Romney who all supported OTHERS dying for the war did not give. As it was, we knew from 2002 that they even attacked Cleland who lost three limbs.

I remember one time where some media person had the lack of sense to mention those bandaids to Dr Vanessa Kerry. Tour of Duty has some passages written by Kerry in his journal where he worried about dying for a war he already thought useless - and once noting that a small change in the trajectory of a piece of shrapnel could have led to him dying or being seriously maimed for life.

Almost everything else would have been fair game - including his protesting, his Senate career and yes, even his windsurfing, which would have been endlessly praised as showing his fitness and his skill if he were Republican.

[progressivebydesign]

2. Exactly what I thought this morning. These are the same people that mocked Purple Heart recipients.

They're going to LOVE Clint's freakish dawdling outburst.