Yup, the "Purple Heart Lady"This photo had become an image that had an historical effect on me.
It's one of those photos that achieve a certain landmark importance, that become time capsules, icons to a brief moment captured in an instant, alive for eternity. The sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square at the end of World War Two, The child running down the road with her skin burned off from Vietnam, etc...
This photo had become my own timeless capture of America at it's ugliest. This useless waste of cells, this veritable bag of shit, with a Purple Heart Band-Aid, poking fun at John Kerry's service, and by doing so, at every veteran who has ever received one. This walking sack of macaroni and cheese eating refuse had come to MY CITY, MY STATE, to show her "cleverness" and her support for the idiot-king boy child.
And what do I find on the net?
THE HORROR, THE HORROR! SHE"S BACK!!!!And boy, all I have to say is it's way too bad the South did not win that fucking war! I really have come to believe that they have evolved some down-right faulty genes.
Thanks Texas, thanks for it all! Why don't you just go Fuck Yourself!?She turns up at a dinner with John McCain, and is saluting a woman who is now in Jail on charges of shooting a Doctor who has performed abortions. Hmmm, this is who McCain hangs with. And they are up in arms about Obama and Ayers. Ayers, who has down something useful with his life. And this woman, a waste of cellular material. From the dailyKos: Purple Heart Lady - she's back
Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 05:13:33 AM PDT
I was watching the Daily Show online clips of the Republican Convention. When they showed shots of the crowd, I thought hey, I know that woman from somewhere. It couldn't be. Is it? It is. I'm pretty sure. Slightly more boofier hair now, but same angle-downed nose and receding chin when she laughs. Short of a DNA test I can't be 100% certain.
But dang, even if I'm wrong (many women may look similar), it sure as heck looks like her.
New hat this time around, and new buttons pinned to it.
Here she is this year at the 2008 RNC, cheering a long term Senator Vietnam war hero candidate who married an heiress who's family fortune was made from a delicious compliment to fries and burgers:
And here she is four years ago at the 2004 RNC, jeering a long term Senator Vietnam war hero candidate who married an heiress who's family fortune was made from a delicious compliment to fries and burgers:
Now, I can't even begin to fathom what goes through the mind of a person like this. And I'm not even going to express an opinion of how disgusting I found the whole thing four years ago, and I'm not even an American so I can't even imagine how you guys felt.
Any decent person would believe that she'd be too ashamed to show her face in public ever again. But nope, there she is in all her hypocritical glory.
Bugger me if this doesn't truly symbolise the modern American Republican party and its hypocrisy. Not just of the double-talking leaders and pundits, but the party faithful themselves.
UPDATE: At Gitmo Bay's suggestion in the comments, I googled her (even further info about her provided by boofdah in the comments):
Pat Peale is the woman in the photo wearing a "purple heart" band-aid, ... One of her sons works for Phil Gramm, ex-Republican Senator from Texas.
from the comments section:
She's a classic type that H.L. Mencken used to so brilliantly skewer.
"A [wo]man full of faith is simply one who has lost, or never had, the capacity for clear and realistic thought. [Sh]e is not a mere ass; [s]he is actually ill. Worse, [s]he is incurable."
Who is she? Well let's take a look: ( the blog is from 2004, so the links are all down)
from democraticunderground.comSeptember 7, 2004
By punpirate
I want you to remember the name Pat Peale.
Pat Peale is the woman in the photo wearing a "purple heart" band-aid, mocking John Kerry's war wounds. She's also mocking every soldier, sailor, airman or marine ever injured in battle, for whatever reason.
If you think she's just another mindless twit who happened to slap a joke on her chin on her way into the Republican National Convention, think again:
She's known Karl Rove since he was "a youngster."
She's fixed dinner for George W. Bush.
She's also whipped up lunch for that hungry Republican crew of "rioters" in Florida who were determined to stop that nasty ol' vote count from proceeding in the 2000 election.
One of her sons works for Phil Gramm, ex-Republican Senator from Texas, and the other of her sons works for Fred Thompson, ex-Republican Senator from Tennessee.
When Texas Democrats went to Oklahoma to prevent redistricting, she chased after them, doing her "chicken dance" for the cameras.
She's not an accidental delegate, caught with a stupid band-aid on her chin. She's one of the insiders of Republican Texas politics, and she had this to say about her wearing of a "purple heart" band-aid which she intended to shame John Kerry, but ended up shaming all with the medal:
Peale said she does not apologize for her comments or for the bandages, but that she did not mean to insult Purple Heart recipients.
"I'm not apologizing for what I did. It was in jest," she said.
Peale said her behavior pales in comparison to the antics of crowds of liberal protesters outside the convention center.
"There were certainly a lot of things coming from the protesters that were not in jest," she said.
She said along nearby 42nd Street, there were several demonstrations that took pornographic themes. Other protesters, according to Peale, rode bicycles and attempted to run delegates off of the sidewalks. Many were anti-war but shouted angry rhetoric about President George W. Bush.
"It's not fair for the police and the city of New York to pay to protect us from the protesters," she said, adding she believes in the right to protest but that many of the demonstrators have acted "belligerent."
Pat, you believe legitimate protest is horrible, compared to your denigration of a medal signifying suffering in battle. I've got some ABC-type news for you.
No apologies necessary on my part, Pat. Not for me, anyway. I managed to get through three years of military service during a war I despised. No Purple Heart for me. I was lucky.
But, there were the people I knew who didn't fare so well, some who died, some who were injured, one with his arm cut off in a wartime accident, and another, on patrol inside the Cambodian border, who had a grenade rolled at him while his trousers were down, taking a shit. Geez, Pat, it only took off his right hand and laid shrapnel up and down his right side. No big thing, huh?
I'll leave it up to my father to mention his injuries in the "good" war, if he wants, but I will say that they did involve falling out of a burning bomber, his face on fire, broken bones which the Germans did not set and months in prison camp.
Then there's my girlfriend's father, first a Marine in that same "good" war, later a Green Beret, earning, the hard way, a Purple Heart at Guadalcanal and a Bronze Star and Navy Cross in New Guinea.
Then there's all those injured in Korea, Viet Nam (including Kerry) and the first Gulf War.
Then there's the thousands of killed and wounded coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Quite a few people with brain damage and missing limbs.
No biggies. Band-aids would do, right?
What have the chickenhawks been teaching you about honor and sacrifice, Pat Peale? Nothing, from what I can see. They have been teaching you, however, how to smear a veteran who happens to be running for President against your favorite son. In doing so, you've mocked and smeared all veterans - even those haplessly partisan swift boat vets who would choose to lie out of mistaken loyalty to comrades or George W. Bush.
You can say you meant no disrespect, but that's the Republican way - smear and then say, "hey, that's not what I did." Believe me. You did just that - exhibit disrespect - on your chin.
The chickenhawks are the people who are in charge of this government of ours at this moment and who are seeking your vote, and who are claiming to be tough on terror. These people ran from danger, Pat Peale. Bush got preferential treatment to get into the Air National Guard ahead of hundreds of others to avoid Viet Nam (don't believe it? Watch 60 Minutes this Sunday and listen to Ben Barnes). Dick Cheney got five deferments, and applied for his parenthood deferment as soon as his wife, Lynne, was pregnant.
These people avoided service and are now making fun, by proxy, of people who were injured in battle. And they're using you to do it.
Read the following names of high officials in our current government and see if you recognize them: Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Cheney ("more important things to do"), Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove, Spencer Abraham, Elliot Abrams, Don Evans, Andrew Card, Asa Hutchinson, John Ashcroft, Dennis Hastert (current Speaker of the House - his knees were bad, but damn, he could still wrestle in college).
None of these people served a minute in the armed forces as active duty soldiers, in any capacity. All found a way not to do what John Kerry volunteered to do.
Or how about these well-known personalities? They heavily promoted our most recent wars and/or a Draconian reactionary conservative agenda in this current administration and past administrations:
Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Bill Bennett, Newton "Newt" Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan, Michael Savage, Joe Scarborough, Gary Bauer, Jerry Falwell, Meldrim Thomson (former governor of New Hampshire who spent not a whit of time in the military, but introduced a bill to order the equipping of the NH National Guard with nuclear weapons), Jeb Bush, Saxby Chambliss (who beat triple-amputee veteran Max Cleland in Georgia by putting him on political posters next to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden), Tom DeLay (House Majority Leader, who once said there were no spots for him - a Caucasian man - in the military during the Viet Nam war because Blacks and Hispanics had snapped up all the spots) and Trent Lott (former U.S. Senate majority leader).
None of these people served, either. These are the people that you, Pat Peale, squeal over, fawn over, swoon to meet. Let's see, what name needs further mention?
Oh, yes, Pat Peale is very fond of George W. Bush. The very same guy who left the Air National Guard well before his term of service was up, refused to take two consecutive annual flight physicals (violations of regulations punishable by board of inquiry and courts martial, if necessary), and still can't prove where he was for months at a time.
Pat Peale, you're the woman who makes fun of people with Purple Hearts, and does it because you're a friend and admirer of George W. Bush, the man who wants all of us to re-elect him to the Presidency. Naturally, you couldn't have had your fun without the help of Morton C. Blackwell, who passed out the fun bandages with the neatly drawn purple hearts on them. Blackwell is another fun guy, who was a proud member of the Emergency Committee to Defeat Al Gore.
As with your friends above, Morton never was in the military, but he did manage to become a board member and executive director of the Council for National Policy, and to co-found The Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell. He even found time to be a special assistant to Pres. Ronald Reagan.
Of course, Pat, you're entitled to favor whomever you wish in this political contest, are entitled to believe that the service your friends did not have to perform should be done by others, and that the rich and well-connected should suffer neither the same obligations as those who did serve nor the need to acknowledge the sacrifices of others. Go right ahead and vote for George. You'll make him and his friends very happy.
I'll bet you'd even send us one of those "purple heart" band-aids. If we pay for the postage and handling and make a nominal donation to George W. Bush.
But, Pat, I don't want your nasty little joke. And I'm betting that a lot of veterans out there don't want it, either. All they want is a little respect, and maybe some of the help with their injuries that the government promised them when they went away to fight on your behalf, something neither you nor the Republican Party are eager to provide.
In fact, I'm betting that, come November 2nd, a fair number of veterans won't want George W. Bush and his merry band of chickenhawks - and that they won't because of you and what you represent.
punpirate is a New Mexico writer who knows that a band-aid is all that veterans can expect to get from this new breed of Republican.And Another Snippet from 2004:Heads up Florida, Pat Peale (RNC bandaid lady) is headed your way  | An excerpt from an article in the Gainesville Daily Register, Sunday, October 10, 2004 by Andy Hogue (cretin4 on free republic)
Pat Peale, former Cooke County Republican chairman (sic) is preparing to lead a batallion of political soldiers to the battle ground state of Florida. The group is participating in a statewide campaign called "The Mighty Texas Strike Force". The Republican Party of Texas, confident that George W. Bu$h will draw more voters statewide than Sen. John Kerry in the Nov. 2 general election, is hoping to share the wealth of GOP voters with "battleground states", according to a press release.
The mission: To campaign for Bu$h and other Republican candidates in the battleground states and to make sure that hurricane-damaged areas have polling places. The "Strike Force" is sending Texas Republicans sometime this week (the day and time of their departure is being kept "top secret", Peale said) to states where the polls indicate a narrow race between Bu$h and Kerry.
Peale's team will head to Palm Beach County, Fla., the site of a notoriously close election between Bu$h and Vice President Al Gore in 2000. "This time is even more important because with the damage from the hurricanes, people are more concerned with getting their lives up and going." Peale said, adding that votng could be a low priority for those rebuilding their homes and businesses. "Many polling places have been destroyed (by the storms). We want to be down there to see that we have no problems with the polling places".
"By making sure that we do not have the pitfalls that we had the last time, we protect the integrity of elections and make sure that votes are not disenfranchised," Peale said.
For more information on the Mighty Texas Strike Force contact Peale at (940)665-7708.
Sorry no linkee, the local paper doesn't put the Sunday edition on the internets.
Everyone should should safer now that Pat Peale, the RNC bandaid lady, is protecting the integrity of the elections in Florida.
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And so I close the page on this photo. I now know the story behind it, and somehow it has become just a snapshot, what it should be seen as. I know who this piece of Texas shit is, and the genes behind her. What a fucking nightmare it's been.
On October 11 we’ll get a preview of Sarah Palin’s future career: a former insta-celebrity akin to a reality show star who flies around the country to show her face at sports games and clubs and say funny slogans like “Dontchaknow?” for five minutes to a bunch of drunks. Her rate will be $200 in scratch-off tickets, a Bud Lite-sponsored dildo and two baskets of fried shit for supper. This is her future, and it all kicks off October 11 when she 
