Posted on 06/04/2004 7:09:10 AM PDT by The South Texan
Kerry owes apology to the vets he 'drafted' His campaign's use of images from "South Texas Heroes" was at once presumptuous and insensitive.
June 4, 2004
It would be convenient for the presidential campaign of Democrat John Kerry to lay the blame completely on a lower level operative for the unauthorized and cavalier manner in which the names and photos of Hispanic military veterans apparently were lifted from a copyrighted book and placed in a television ad.
And much of the blame does lie with the political advertising guru who took great liberties with the South Texas citizens who earned their title of veteran at great personal cost.
But before the lifting of photos from this newspaper's book is summarily dismissed as a campaign flub, a couple of points ought to be noted. Every campaign ad, by federal law, now has the candidate taking responsibility for the content of their message. That is why the viewers of the ad, which was aired in six states with large Hispanic populations, heard John Kerry say at the end, "I am John Kerry and I approved this message."
That means candidate Kerry holds himself responsible for what his ads say. And we hope the candidate also holds himself responsible for the disrespect shown to the veterans and families whose images were used in a cheap attempt to exploit the Hispanic vote.
In his campaign against President Bush, Kerry has made much of the proposition that the person in charge is responsible for what goes on down the line.
If that's true, and we think it is, then Kerry should explain how the images of citizens were appropriated for a campaign they may not even endorse.
The ad, which did not run in Texas, features the faces of 16 Hispanic veterans. But two of those veterans say they never gave Kerry permission to use their images in a campaign ad and the families of others say likewise that the images of their deceased veterans were used without permission. And, not coincidentally, 15 of those same photos appeared in a copyrighted book published by the Caller-Times; Kerry's campaign never asked for permission from this newspaper to use those photos.
The veterans and families of veterans are understandably upset. Any why not? The Kerry campaign, in effect, appropriated the lives and wartime experiences of these South Texans and used them for its own purposes. The title of "veteran" is one that Kerry says he holds dear. For good reason is the book in which those photos appeared called "South Texas Heroes." The South Texans who appear in that book earned their right to carry the name of "veteran" at a high price, some even with their lives.
They and the families deserved the courtesy of at least a phone call before their photos were used.
If President Bush apologized for everything the libs want him to apologize for, he'd be saying "I apologize for" all day long!!! GIMME A BREAK!
Gosh, whoda thunk that John Kerry of all people would exploit veterans and servicemen for his own benefit?
I'm shocked..shocked and saddened!
He is better than those other veterans, so why apologize?
Soon his stentorian, sleep inducing voice will be history and we'll not hear it any more.God knows what excuse he'll use for the job numbers just released. But he's always good for a laugh.
They seem to be giving his speeches equal time on cable and I have a mighty fast channel changer at my fingertips.
I've found the little curley thing that wll advance bits at a time and does wonders for kerrys speeches. Far as that's concerned the mute button is showing some wear,too.
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