photo © Simone Cortesi for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlikeBoston Globe
The death of a taboo
Posted by Sasha Issenberg September 4, 2008 08:41 PM
ST. PAUL -- One of the most enduring taboos in American politics, the airing of graphic images from the September 11 attacks in a partisan context, died today. It was nearly seven years old.
The informal prohibition, which had been occasionally threatened by political ads in recent years, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 CST, when a video aired before delegates at the Republican National Convention included slow-motion footage of a plane striking the World Trade Center, the towers' subsequent collapse, and smoke emerging from the Pentagon.
The September 11 precedent was one of the few surviving campaign-season taboos. It is survived by direct comparisons of one's opponents to Hitler.
Words fail. Words just fail.
Exploiting death for political gain. From the party of morally and family values.
I thought I would be more surprised.
Oh, and don't forget the fake military funeral. $5k at Getty Images.
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.
Rieckhoff, who is at the convention with a contingent of veterans added that a video tribute to Medal of Honor winner Michael Monsoor, a Navy Seal killed in Iraq, shown on Tuesday night, used combat video that appeared to him and several other veterans of the Iraq war to have been staged.
After a Web search of videos played at the Democratic National Convention last week, CBS News found no obvious use of stock footage.
The RNC did not respond to CBS News’ request for a comment.
Seems they like to exploit the death of others all around.
1 comment:
They always have, now isn't any different. But, as with so many other abhorrent behaviors, it seems at least half the country has chosen to remain blind to faults, misinformation, intentional inaccuracies and flat out lying. Sensationalism has been the status quo of the GOP for a long time, and especially in the last 8 years. Look at the Jessica Lynch story; it was sensationalism at its finest.
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