At the Republican convention last night, a patriotic video was shown on the big screen. It contained veterans, children, the Constitution... you know, all the things that Republicans routinely vote against.
This video, entitled "Pledging myself to the Flag of the United States of America," was based on a wonderful essay by 15 year old Victoria Blackstone. Towards the end of the video, there are scenes of a folded flag being handed to a family member while American troops look on... at times looking directly into the camera.
These are not real troops... after the fold, I'll tell you why that matters to me.
According to this report by CBS, the RNC used what Rush Limbaugh might call "phony soldiers" in these clips. Here's the video - pay attention from 3:00 - 3:18
But CBS News found that the footage of the ‘funeral’ and soldiers is what is called ‘stock’ footage. The soldiers were actors and the funeral scene was from a one-day film shoot, produced in June. No real soldiers were used during production.
The footage, sold by stock-film house Getty Images was produced by a commercial filmmaker in Chicago. Both Getty and the production company, Mr. Big Films, confirmed that the footage was shot on spec and sold to the Republican National Committee.
I just think this is so incredibly fitting. We all know John McCain's record on veterans' issues. I don't question his patriotism, nor do I question Sarah Palin's. Indeed, both of these families have had or will soon have members in active duty. However, McCain's voting record seems to indicate that he doesn't believe our heroes are entitled to first rate health care, educational benefits, or to NOT be sleeping under bridges. He may say otherwise, but like the Katrina investigation that he supported but voted against, actions speak infinitely louder than words.
I'll leave it to Paul Rieckhoff, and ultimately you, to add any further commentary on this news:
A veteran’s advocate said that with soldiers still deployed and in harm’s way, there is an obligation not to sugar coat reality.
"What it does reveal is a serious lack of understanding and a lack of personal connection to the military," said Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Updated for clarification
The reason this matters to me is because John McCain's campaign went apeshit when Barack Obama canceled a campaign stop at a veterans hospital in Germany. This was the correct decision on Obama's part... troops are not to be used unwillingly as political props, ever. I think it's entirely appropriate for the RNC to have used stock footage instead of real troops in this video... but I don't ever want to hear Obama's devotion to American soldiers questioned by the Republican Party again. They've shown the same sensitivity in their actions that Obama did. No more, no less.