School used as Walter Reed backdrop disavows permission or support for McCain campaign

[bigtree]

Walter Reed Middle School's principal Donna Tobin said in a statement that use of the school's image had come as a surprise.

"It has been brought to the school's attention that a picture of the front of our school, Walter Reed Middle School, was used as a backdrop at the Republican National Convention," Tobin said.

"Permission to use the front of our school for the Republican National Convention was not given by our school nor is the use of our school's picture an endorsement of any political party or view."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080905/od_afp/usvotemccainschooloffbeat



edit: I missed this from GDP: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6955224


update: Shortly after posting (TPM) got an email from Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member Tamar Galatzan who represents Walter Reed as part of her district. She had her own thoughts on McCain's use of the middle school:

"Though I am flattered that Senator McCain chose to use a school from my district as backdrop to his remarks at the Republican National Convention, I wished he had checked with me first. As a strong believer in public education, I don't think the Senator is the most appropriate person to showcase one of the premier schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is unwilling to bring fairness and equity to No Child Left Behind and ensure that schools like Reed get the resources they need from the Federal Government. From what I've heard, that's not a priority for the McCain/Palin ticket."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/school_raps_mccain_for_using_i.php

[Bandit]

1. McCain said get me a picture of Walter Reed and some staffer

found this picture. They wanted to exploit wounded veterans but because of their usual incompetence they end up looking the fools. I find it quite amusing..

[Midlodemocrat]

2. It's hilarious. Talk about idiots.

Did no one even glance at the screen prior to McLame's speech to see how the picture looked.

You cannot make this shit up. :rofl:

[bigtree]

4. they played it off

As McCain delivered his opening remarks, those watching from home saw a color flash on the screen behind him. It was green -- a vision that made politicos all over the country groan. (They remembered McCain's appearance before a green background in June, an aesthetically unfortunate incident that was ridiculed by bloggers and comedians alike . . .)

Many were relieved when the camera panned out and revealed that McCain was actually standing before a larger image of a stately-looking white brick building (the green, it turned out, had actually just been a close-up of the place's perfectly groomed lawn).


"The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech and the public school was simply part of it," said spokesman Tucker Bounds.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/mccain-walter-r.html

[bigtree]

3. from DNC in February:

One year ago today, the American people first learned about the dreadful conditions at military hospitals and outpatient facilities treating wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Amid the national outrage sparked by those reports, John McCain saw an opportunity to bolster his presidential campaign. Days after the story broke, McCain blamed the scandal on former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, saying "the fruits of Rumsfeld's policy were on display at Walter Reed military hospital in Washington."

McCain failed to mention that the fruits of his own work were on display at Walter Reed, too. As a top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, McCain helped rubberstamp six years of Bush Republican budgets that consistently shortchanged veterans and military health care. McCain also failed to mention that he put his presidential aspirations ahead of our veterans and wounded warriors by voting against Democratic proposals to increase funding for military and veterans' hospitals by eliminating some of President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Despite McCain's finger-pointing his rhetoric about Rumsfeld's mismanagement, McCain failed to mention that he had consistently refused to join calls for Rumsfeld to be fired.

"John McCain's double-talking, say-anything-to-win campaign strategy shows why America's veterans and military families simply cannot trust him in the White House," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "The Maverick McCain who used to stand up for his principles has been replaced with a more shameless version that will do anything to appease the right wing of his party, even if it means promising four more years of President Bush's failed policies."


http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/02/walter_reed_ann.php