Virginia Republicans Thank Soviet Communists Instead of US Vets

Honestly, does no one employ fact checkers any more?


Virginia Republicans Thank Soviety Communists Instead of US Vets

Quote :

It's hard to invite controversy by suggesting that U.S. troops deserve praise and thanks. But Virginia Republicans managed to do just that last week; an ad intended to attack Democratic state Sen. Mark Herring for his veterans' services record backfired badly when the central image in the mailing turned out to be a photograph of a former Soviet officer.

"Always thank a veteran . . . because Mark Herring won't!" the mailer exhorts readers. But the campaign message appears alongside an image of a soldier wearing Soviet military garb--including a medal featuring the trademark "CCCP" insignia of the Red Army, as a local GOP politics blog called Too Conservative noted.

As someone who took two years of Russian in high school, I knew it was the wrong uniform the minute I saw the CCCP insignia.

Quote :

Herring's Republican opponent Patricia Phillips confirmed to Yahoo News Monday morning that the mistake--caught by local blogs Friday--was indeed just that. She explained that her campaign has expressed "sincere regrets" and communicated its "sincere intent to honor veterans" of this country.

No apologies to Mr. Herring, of course. He's probably a lousy commie anyway.

What drives me up the wall about this sort of thing is that I used to work for a newspaper. I spent close to 14 years there, and there were all manner of checks and balances set up to make sure that the right story went with the right picture at the right time. If it didn't, you printed an apology and admitted you'd made a mistake, and whoever screwed up got dressed down.

It's not that their deliberately being duplicitous. It's like they can't even be BOTHERED to try get it right. Possibly because their followers are so uneducated, they don't know what an American Military Uniform looks like either. And it frightens me-that someone else had to point the mistake out to them. These people want to be elected to some of the highest office in the land, and they don't even know what a U.S. Military uniform looks like.

Rabid Badger wrote:

And it frightens me-that someone else had to point the mistake out to them. These people want to be elected to some of the highest office in the land, and they don't even know what a U.S. Military uniform looks like.

In all sincerity the guy has one of the most Yankee-like faces, possibly British, I've seen. I'll try and see if he's an actual Soviet vet, or a re-enactor.
Also, is it possible that the picture was incorrectly labelled by the service which provided it? Still, fail abounds. Even I know that the US uniforms use the fruit salad, not medals.

The Unoriginal wrote:

Rabid Badger wrote:

And it frightens me-that someone else had to point the mistake out to them. These people want to be elected to some of the highest office in the land, and they don't even know what a U.S. Military uniform looks like.

In all sincerity the guy has one of the most Yankee-like faces, possibly British, I've seen. I'll try and see if he's an actual Soviet vet, or a re-enactor.
Also, is it possible that the picture was incorrectly labelled by the service which provided it? Still, fail abounds. Even I know that the US uniforms use the fruit salad, not medals.

I dunno. How would you tell an American face from a Russian face? Aren't there lots of people of Russian descent in America?

On the uniform, though--yeah, major fail. That is obviously not an American military uniform. And as to Mark Herring not honoring Soviet vets--weren't the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. enemies for roughly 45 years?

And wasn't it a group of Virginia Republicans who were responsible for this piece of crap?

Spoiler:

Just something about the shape of the eyes, and how his cheeks have become hollow. It's not a particular detail I can put my finger on. but he looks more like, say, Dennis Hopper rather than Lev Tolstoj.

What moron mistook that for an American military uniform? Aren't Republicans supposed to be behind the military 100%? And they don't know what the damn uniforms look like?

^ Psshhhh, Republicans are also supposed to be hard-core Christians and they constantly prove themselves to have never read the bible.

Lapin wrote:

What moron mistook that for an American military uniform? Aren't Republicans supposed to be behind the military 100%? And they don't know what the damn uniforms look like?

Republicans are behind the imaginary American soldier in their heads. Real soldiers? Not so much.

The Unoriginal wrote:

Also, is it possible that the picture was incorrectly labelled by the service which provided it?

I think you hit the nail on the head here.

The person in charge of producing an image for the article probably went to a stock photo site and just searched for "veteran" assuming that all photos would be of american veterans.

Royalty free imaging! Who gives a shit if they're actual veterans or models, or what war they fought in? They make great eye candy.

Hey, just because he's not an American doesn't mean that he can't be a vet!

Did anyone ever see the movie "Battle of Britain"? There were Messerschmitts in RAF markings...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That's a pretty common tactic with props for war movies, though: If the real thing isn't available, find something that looks like it and do a little creative painting and modification to enhance the resemblance.

For another example, see Saving Private Ryan: The German "Tiger" tank is actually an ex-Soviet T-34 with a bunch of crap bolted on.

Herring won. Who thinks this ad improved his chances?

The Unoriginal wrote:

Did anyone ever see the movie "Battle of Britain"? There were Messerschmitts in RAF markings...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hey, the one in the foreground IS a Messerschmitt! Maybe it was sposed to be a captured plane being put to use? I don't think they would do that however.

But anyway, hell yes we should honor Soviet soldiers! Because they basically defeated the Nazi's for us. If you look at the numbers, that's where the main fighting of WWII actually took place. Most of the German Army was on the Eastern Front, that is where most of them were killed, and also there was the horrendous Soviet death toll.

zeke wrote:

and also there was the horrendous Soviet death toll.

You mean like how Stalin put more of his own people to death than Hitler?

Mr.Doobie wrote:

zeke wrote:

and also there was the horrendous Soviet death toll.

You mean like how Stalin put more of his own people to death than Hitler?

No. Because that is an absurd lie of course. Although Stalin did launch repression that was mis-directed and killed innocent people. But nothing anywhere like the 20 million killed by Hitler.

By the way, did you know after the war ended we killed 500,000 to a million Germans? We purged about 10million of them whose ancestors had settled in other parts of Europe back to Germany and in the process many died. Look it up. My point is, you don't hear that because it doesn't serve the right purpose. Did you know Jimmy Carter exterminated hundreds of thousands of Indonesians? Nobody got paid to write that book either. Know how many millions of Indians Winston Churchill killed? Check it out.

Or you can just sit back wanking off while you have this stupid "Stalin killed more than Hitler" bullshit pumped into your brain for you.

Are you seriously going to defend Stalin now?

You are aware that 20 million is the lower end of the Stalin death toll estimates, right?

Oh wait, I forgot. I've just been educated stupid by the man, man. The only people who really know how many people Stalin killed are communists. How convenient.

zeke wrote:

stuffstuffstuffstuffstuffstuffYOU'REJUSTASHEEPLE!

Did you know nothing in your list changes the fact that Stalin was a horrible dictator who murdered millions?

zeke wrote:

Or you can just sit back wanking off while you have this stupid "Stalin killed more than Hitler" bullshit pumped into your brain for you.

Stalin did kill more people than Hitler, dumbass. Get your facts right before you start spewing this shit.

zeke wrote:

Mr.Doobie wrote:

zeke wrote:

and also there was the horrendous Soviet death toll.

You mean like how Stalin put more of his own people to death than Hitler?

No. Because that is an absurd lie of course. Although Stalin did launch repression that was mis-directed and killed innocent people. But nothing anywhere like the 20 million killed by Hitler.

Remember, kids: With Communism, it's not genocide. It's a wee oopsie.

Here's a link that I don't agree with totally, but still it does contain some actual facts and logic instead of the usual BS.

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There is a well funded project of crazy lies and truth twisting to equate the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany. The purpose is to make capitalism represent the "end of history", and its horrors the only thing humanity can hope for. People who repeat by rote this "communism is Nazism BS" should check out the real story, instead of just joining in and defending this awful capitalist system and ruling out a real, radical, and possible alternative.

And check this shit:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Maybe, it's the amount of coffee I've consumed today, which is high, I admit. But I seem to remember some uranium mines and Stalin sending folks out to labor in them until they died horribly for whatever crimes his delusional self dreamed they had done to him.

So...explanation for that please? I am eager to hear it. This is the most entertaining fairy tale I've heard in awhile.

Lapin wrote:

Maybe, it's the amount of coffee I've consumed today, which is high, I admit. But I seem to remember some uranium mines and Stalin sending folks out to labor in them until they died horribly for whatever crimes his delusional self dreamed they had done to him.

So...explanation for that please? I am eager to hear it. This is the most entertaining fairy tale I've heard in awhile.

Lies. Only communists know what really happened.

Quote :

instead of just joining in and defending this awful capitalist system and ruling out a real, radical, and possible alternative.

"Josef Stalin was a horrible ruler that killed millions" = I support the system the way it is with no questions.

Penguin wrote:

zeke wrote:

Mr.Doobie wrote:

zeke wrote:

and also there was the horrendous Soviet death toll.

You mean like how Stalin put more of his own people to death than Hitler?

No. Because that is an absurd lie of course. Although Stalin did launch repression that was mis-directed and killed innocent people. But nothing anywhere like the 20 million killed by Hitler.

Remember, kids: With Communism, it's not genocide. It's a wee oopsie.

Look, I am not going to apologize for Stalin, but that is not what zeke said at all. Mr. Doobie said that Stalin PUT MORE OF HIS OWN PEOPLE TO DEATH than Hitler. Stalin only executed about 600k people, all the rest of the death toll is other assorted deaths people blame him for because he was in charge at the time. Hell, Hitler had about that many "of his own" people put to death just for being mentally disabled, not to mention all the jews, roma, gays, and so forth. I would quote numbers but it is a little hard to determine how many "of his own people" Hitler put to death when, umm, he sort of waged a war that resulted in tens of millions of people from all over Europe being executed (not dying in combat, this is just people in countries he had already taken over and POWs I am counting here).

Now if you are going to discount the whole "his own people" thing and the whole "put to death thing" it still does not stack up. Added to the 600kish political executions, another 100kish from deportations, and 2 million who died in labor camps you still do not get to the 11 million who died just from the holocaust alone. Hum, OK, well 300k POWs were killed in labor camps in The USSR during WW2... Ooh wait, it looks like another 2 million Soviets POW were killed over in Germany. Well, look, 5 million people under Stalin's rule died of a famine caused by a disruption in food supply caused by the bolshevik revolution... that counts, right? Over in Germany shit-tons of people died of starvation as a direct result of Hitler's war, but he was dead by then so that was not his fault, right? Hmm, So which category do the deaths of 19 million Soviet civilians who died at German hands during WWII? Are those Hitler's fault for invading and then summarily executing non-combatants (including millions of children), or are they Stalin's fault for being in charge at the time? People who present 20 million deaths under Stalin as a "lower" estimate seem to believe these deaths were Stalin's fault, along with all the Soviet soldiers solders who died in combat in WWII and pretty much everyone else who lived in the USSR and died between 1928 and his death in 1953!

Now if you are taking "put to death" off table AND limiting the discussion to deaths taking place only among their respective people, then I guess Stalin does have a higher death toll! I guess all communism forever must be worse than Nazism because Hitler was better at killing more of the other side's guys during War. Also Germany was a smaller country with fewer people. Also Hitler did not run the country as long. But more Soviets than Germans died!!! That is all that counts, right?!