Flag flap sullies candidates' vow to stand together at Ground Zero

[BlueJessamine]

Source: McClatchy Washington Bureau

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — On the same day that John McCain and Barack Obama pledged to put political differences aside and appear together at Ground Zero for the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the two campaigns were engaged Saturday in a flap over the American flag.

The spat began in this Republican stronghold at an airport rally for McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. Before the Republican presidential ticket took the stage, a radio personality emceeing the event announced that veterans were going to give the rally crowd thousands of small American flags that were discarded and rescued from Obama's massive Democratic National Convention rally at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium.

The emcee, radio host Dan Caplis, told the estimated audience of 12,000 that the flags were going to be thrown away or burned, soliciting loud jeers.

McCain supporters said the flags were found by a vendor at Invesco Field after the convention. The vendor allegedly found trash bags full of flags in and around garbage bins, recovered them and gave them to the McCain campaign.



Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/51941.html

---

The DNC says that the flags were snatched — not discarded — from Invesco Field by the McCain camp.

This a cheap political stunt right out of the Karl Rove playbook.

McCain continues to attack not only Obama, but his supporters.

First it was Palin attacking community orgainizers, now they attack our patriotism.

Obama-Biden 08!!

[alsame]

1. Obama should demand an apology from McCain. eom

[progressivebydesign]

32. ABSOLUTELY! An apology and demand for a return for the flags! n/t

[dkf]

2. Stealing...what typical Republican behavior

[stillcool]

3. It's the trickle down effect..

stealing starts at the top.

[Epiphany4z]

4. boy they are really getting desperate.

DNC: flag story completely false (Fox Noise, the GOP and the RW are despicable liars)

McCain Plays the Cameron Card
According to a article just out from Huffington Post, the story about flags from the Democratic National Convention being thrown away is simply false. The story was jumped on and apparently authored by the McCain campaign. But the real tell is down in the Huffpo piece where it traces the story to none other than Fox News' Carl Cameron.

Longtime readers of TPM will remember that back in October 2004 this site caught Cameron publishing a series of fabricated quotes attributed to John Kerry on the front page of the Fox News website.

After I placed a series of calls to Fox News inquiring about the story, the story was eventually pulled, and Fox was forced to issue an apology and retract the fabricated story. Fox spokesman Paul Schur told TPM: "Carl made a stupid mistake which he regrets. And he has been reprimanded for his lapse in judgment. It was a poor attempt at humor."

Why anybody would believe anything this joker says is difficult to fathom. But he's good enough for McCain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/06/thrown-away-flags-story-f_n_124499.html

[BlueJessamine]

5. thanks

for the tip/link to huffpo.

[Epiphany4z]

6. your welcome

it is important not to let these scums pull this they hate america crap..what a bunch of dip sticks

[abbeyco]

7. Typical of the host - Caplis

He's a 'died in the wool' Repuke. I think he's trying to build his cred to run for office here at some point - but the problem is is that he's a 'trial lawyer'. He's beat the drum against Obama since he started becoming the front-runner.

He's a guy that has a pretty decent sized talk radio audience in Denver and will do anything, anything to see Barack go down; repeating the McCain/Palin lies and talking down his partner, Silverman and any caller that 'dares' to speak the truth about McCain/Palin.

Mobilize Denver - let's keep the good will going from Barack's speech at the DNC!!!

[zuzu98]

12. yup. Apparently he has a history of lying about Obama:

http://colorado.mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/dancaplis

Is his station a Clear Channel station? Perhaps some emails or phone calls are in order...

[Wizard777]

8. If Mc Cain mentions the flags at the 9/11 event. Obama should tell him the flags were STOLEN.

The person that stole them committed grand larceny (at a cost of 1.00 per flag x 12,000 flags = 12,000.00 = grand larceny.) Obama has the right to use retail figures that just increases the severity of the crime.) Obama should tell McCain he expects the STOLEN flags to be returned or paid for.

[Epiphany4z]

10. It is false

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/06/thrown-away-flags-story-f_n_124499.html

[Wizard777]

16. Oh they were "found." So they're looking for a white guy on Grand Larceny.

Because we all saw white people "find things" as blacks "looted."

[jwirr]

9. If I am not mistaken this very trick was pulled at another Democratic

Convention. This is a repeat. I do not have any links but I heard it talked about before the last night of our convention. We are going to have to learn to be careful they will exploit anything they can. True or not.

[Epiphany4z]

11. false

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/06/thrown-away-flags-story-f_n_124499.html

[jwirr]

40. I mean that the pugs used this trick/lie before in another campaign.

[EC]

13. DNC should file theft charges, get it on record

instead of just saying they were "snatched" they should come right out and say stolen...

[BlueJessamine]

14. Just like Rachel

Maddow who called McCain/Palin on their quote stretching the truth-"they were lying."

[Faygo Kid]

15. Screw McCain. This whole thing is ridiculous. Do nothing with him, Barack.

Cheap bullshit, indeed. This is a no win situation.

Screw McCain.

[Oreillynsf]

17. Why "snatched"

Why does the DNC pull punches on this stuff?

[humbled_opinion]

18. We Really Need to Petition The DNC

Leaders to launch an investigation into this... It gives the appearance that Democrats would actually throw flags in a trash bag. That gets some traction in middle America we can leave nothing to chance in this election. Obama needs to address this quickly and publicly and explain that those flags were to be used at another campaign location and tell people they are filing an investigation into what happened and if theft was involved the DNC should be repaied by the MCCain campaign....

[Limelight]

19. Why do we always let them frame the debate?

I totally believe that the flags got flagnapped by the repubs, but even if folks did throw them away, which I imagine they did discard them... SO WHAT?!

They're little plastic flags, disposable, they're meant to be discarded! Throwing them away means NOTHING about your patriotism. This is every bit as ridiculous and disingenuous as the flagpin nonsense. Patriotism and love of country is something you carry in your heart, not your hand.

With all of those evangelicals in their ranks you'd think the right would know the difference between treating the flag as a symbol and treating it as an IDOL.

Apparently not though.

[humbled_opinion]

36. No they will say....

Good men died to protect that flag and to toss it aside and discard it after you used it for symbology is just disrespectful....

but like I said I dont think they were discarded they were meant to go to another venue... The DNC needs to get out front on this ....

The election is too close to have something like this sway even some remote voters.

[BlueJessamine]

42. Well said

"Patriotism and love of country is something you carry in your heart, not your hand."

[ticapnews]

20. Two things

1) It's odd that these flags were discarded so neatly. If they were thrown out as trash, why were they not mixed in with the other trash? No cups, no paper wrapping, no chewed bubble gum...that's weird.

2) They were handed out to the folks at the McCain rally? And where are they now?

[mcg]

21. The DNC should demand that the flags being returned or file charges,

the republicans should be able to return them because they haven't thrown them away, yes?

[progressivebydesign]

22. I commented earlier about the flags inside the plastic bags, waiting to be sorted thru.

There was a pic that someone was circulating saying the flags were "in the garbage" The bags there were in were recycling bags, and they looked like they were waiting tobe sorted out. There was no garbage in those bags... and in fact, there was the portion of a "recycle" cardboard container near the bags. The maintenance people probably went thru the place, and at the instructions of the DNC collected them from chairs and floors (because in a crush of people, things get left behind.), to be separated and saved for later.


What awful, awful, people. They will use ANYTHING, ANY stunt, to get an advantage. Those fuckers should be in prison.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. I wish somebody would burn the tattered, dirty remnants of the flags

that people insist on hanging from bridges, car antennas, and even their own yards. All this hoo-ha over flag burning has made Americans forgetful of the proper way to dispose of a flag which has become soiled or tattered beyond repair. American pride has become cheap crap, like the outsourced goods we love to buy.

[True_Blue]

24. Flag flap: Flags at convention 'rescued' or taken?

Source: 9 News Colorado

COLORADO SPRINGS - Some supporters of Sen. John McCain brought trash bags of American flags they say they found after Sen. Barack Obama spoke at INVESCO Field at Mile High to a rally for McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin.
Advertisement

McCain supporters said a vendor found the trash bags full of flags after the Aug. 28 event.

In a statement, Damon Jones with the Democratic National Convention Committee said, "Stories circulating about flags from the Democratic National Convention are false. More than 125,000 American-made flags were distributed at the Convention - any flags removed from the Convention after the event were taken without authorization."

Jones continued by saying, "It's disappointing that someone would take American flags without authorization and then falsely describe their intended purpose. We have the utmost respect for the American flag and it's sad to see them being used for a cheap political stunt."

Read more: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=99204&provider=top

[Robbien]

25. So many momentous events happening this weekend

and there goes our stellar news media wisely allocating resources by focusing in on a GOP stunt.

[NavyDavy]

26. par for the course....cheap 80s repuke trash

[Wizard777]

27. I vote for Stolen + Grand Larceny + McCain receiving stolen goods= Bust 'em!

[stillcool]

28. Jeez..where did they get that story from?

Fox News' Carl Cameron and Bonney Kapp reported that they had "been told" that "a vendor at Invesco Field found the flags, which were going to be thrown out, and turned them over to the McCain campaign."
------------
UPDATE II: Another statement from the Democratic National Convention Committee: "Stories circulating about flags at the Democratic National Convention are false. We distributed more than 125,000 American made flags at the Convention - the flags removed from Invesco field were intended for other events and taken without permission. It's disappointing that someone would take American flags without authorization and then falsely describe how they were being used. We have the utmost respect for the American flag, and it's sad to see them being used for a cheap political stunt."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/06/thrown-away-flags-story-f_n_124499.html

[LynnTheDem]

29. The rampant nationalism in this country is sick, and frightening.

Ypou have far too many other things to worry about.

Grow the fuck up, America.

[Bennyboy]

30. FAUX NEWS reported it too......

Somewhere here is the video...

[Bennyboy]

31. Here is the video of FAUX NEWS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_0mPmDnlvI
And the thread it comes from http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=183254&mesg_id=183254

[countmyvote4real]

33. This is bordering on a flag fetish. Seems much ado about nothing to me.

On second thought, this is just stupid when there are more important issues at stake.

[progressivebydesign]

34. I think I've figured this out -- and why the McCainites are full of shit.

I was thinking about that pic of the bags of RECYCLING that had the flags inside. Another thread around here had the pics. Inside the bags were ONLY recylables, and the torn remnant of a disposable recycling box, as used at events like those (cardboard.) The items with the flags were water bottles and cardboard boxes -- no garbage.

Now.. we have the McCain liars saying that a vendor "rescued" the flags from the garbage. Bullshit. The flags were inside recycling bags, and were obviously sorted out from the recyclables and set aside. THEN they were taken by that vendor. A vendor would not grab all the bags of recycling and take them to McCain. More than likely some overzealous vendor or operative stole them.. and turned them over to the rethugs.

Obama or Biden needs to come out with a press conference demanding an apology and either a return of the flags, or the purchase of new flags. Don't let them do this shit to us again. BUT he should ALSO point out that once again, the McCain ticket is incapable of talking about the issues.

[daleo]

35. Each of these flags were aborted 1111@1111

The culd hav growed up to b big streng Marine flags 111@111 But atheest traaters aborted thse flafs !!1112@11

[Hawkeye-X]

37. Caplis is a known Rethuglican shithead.

It's best to ignore his Rush Limbaughian style of talk.

Hawkeye-X

[scarface2004]

38. operation rescue to the rescue!!!!!

crock o shit!

[Ian David]

39. Make no mistake: Republicans are the enemy. They are the 5th columnist fascists in our midst. n/t

[kayell]

41. A quick reminder of how Republicans respect the flag

Bush autographs a flag.