Russian ships displayed at DNC tribute to vets

Politics • October 2012 • Views: 1,566

On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.

While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America’s best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above.

These were the very Soviet-era combatants that Nathman and Cold Warriors like him had once squared off against.
[…]

Recent Pages by Curt:
Windows 8: The hackers are already in it Time to rethink the dpi for your main web and mobile site images Felix Baumgartner's Point of View - Red Bull Stratos Free Fall Operation White Widow....a Sci-Fi-Short Animation TRR: Is a General losing his job over Benghazi?

Jump to bottom

12 comments

andres Mon, Oct 1, 2012 8:51:50am

On one hand, this is a major gaffe that would spell trouble for any candidate.

On the other hand, compared to the gafferrific RNC Convention, this is a minor blip almost unworthy of mention.

This is how bad the Republican Party and Romney/Ryan are doing. Jon Stewart was right: Obama is the luckiest dude on the planet.

Destro Mon, Oct 1, 2012 9:02:06am

re: #1 andres

Why would it spell trouble? It's such a non-issue. The cold war and the militarist mindset that grew out of that is over.

Gus Mon, Oct 1, 2012 9:43:40am

Freeperville.

Randall Gross Mon, Oct 1, 2012 10:04:05am

I down dinged this because it's old news, and was paged here as it happened - why it's resurfacing again is obvious. Look ! Over there! bad Democrats! (don't look at that deflating Mitt balloon)

John Vreeland Mon, Oct 1, 2012 1:31:11pm

Some flunky picked the wrong photo. There aren't many people in the Navy today who would have spotted that error. Heck there weren't many people who could have done it when I was in and I'm retired. Now that I have time to look them over I can see they aren't ours, but that would be difficult if they were only onscreen for a moment.

Not the sort of thing that is going to change anyone's vote.

John Vreeland Mon, Oct 1, 2012 1:33:09pm

Shame on Obama for not correcting this repugnant error. No doubt Mitt with his years of service and military expertise would have spotted it long before it showed up at his convention.

thecommodore Mon, Oct 1, 2012 1:50:45pm

Remember how Obama told Putin he'd have flexibility after the election? Well this is a smoke signal that all systems are go. A subtle revelation that he hates America and it's military. Pretty diabolical if you ask me.

Bubblehead II Mon, Oct 1, 2012 4:21:10pm

Stale old news. So old, it isn't even shiny any more.

andres Mon, Oct 1, 2012 6:08:01pm

re: #2 Destro

Why would it spell trouble? It's such a non-issue. The cold war and the militarist mindset that grew out of that is over.

At least it's an embarrassing moment.

re: #4 Randall Gross

I down dinged this because it's old news, and was paged here as it happened - why it's resurfacing again is obvious. Look ! Over there! bad Democrats! (don't look at that deflating Mitt balloon)

Absolutely. It's the closest the Republicans have to a major gaffe from the Democratic Party. This is in the same league as the Romney's airplane windows blooper. It's just that Obama can't compete with Romney in the gaffe producing category. Since the DNC, how many gaffes, and implosions have the Romney campaign suffered? Enough to eclipse this for sure.

danhenry1 Mon, Oct 1, 2012 7:08:18pm

re: #7 thecommodore

He was speaking with Medvedev, not Putin. Makes you statement worthless. Please get your facts straight prior to spouting off.

Gus Mon, Oct 1, 2012 7:11:12pm

Looking further into this beyond my observation of the outrageous outrage over at Free Republican and even at the Navy Times site. It was a dumb mistake and they apologized. Your average video graphic artist doesn't know apples from oranges when it comes to military hardware or flags. This was a simple error and not part of some grand conspiracy. The good news is that I didn't even hear thing one about this up until know. A few nights ago I was watching one of those air disaster videos and the narrator call an A320 a 737.

Gus Mon, Oct 1, 2012 7:11:51pm

re: #10 danhenry1