"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Friday, July 29, 2016

North Carolina: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I'm sure you've seen this story, but if not:

Tim Kaine was shamed by the North Carolina Republican party for promoting the interests of a foreign government last night, after the GOP misidentified a pin on the VP-candidate’s lapel. [He] wears a Honduras flag pin on his jacket but no American flag,” the NCGOP wrote. “Shameful.”

Kaine sported a flag pin on his lapel with a single blue star on a white background with red stripes. Someone at the NC Republican party, knowing that Kaine had served a year teaching teenagers carpentry and welding skills as part of a Jesuit mission in Honduras, made the leap that Kaine would be unsophisticated enough to wear the Honduran flag while addressing the DNC and the nation.

More research would have revealed that his son, Nathaniel Kaine, is a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, and the blue star pin is a recognized symbol for the “Blue Star Families” — those with loved ones who are deployed abroad.

Give yourself a treat -- read the reactions at the link.

Just to demonstrate the utter cluelessness of the NC GOP, here's an image that looks most like the pin Kaine was wearing:


Here's the national flag of Honduras:


Almost identical, aren't they?

Lord love a duck.

By the way, according to Tom Levenson at Balloon Juice, the NC GOP did apologize to Kaine and his family.


2 comments:

Pieter said...

From what I read, I got the impression that the only apology the NC GOP issued was on social media, not by direct telephone conversation, mail, e-mail, or face-to-face. And it happened a day after the initial accusation. So, as so often happens, the GOP has put out an untruthful story, let it simmer for a full media cycle, and then quietly back-pedaled on it, leaving the initial disinformation to cloud the atmosphere permanently. To which I say, "Typical GOP trick."

Hunter said...

Well, at least they apologized. If it had been Trump, he would have either doubled down or pretended he never tweeted it.

Live by the tweet, die by the tweet.