Tuesday, November 01, 2011

9470: GOP Halloween Fun.


From The New York Daily News…

Virginia county GOP committee in hot water over image of Obama with bullet in his head, meant as Halloween joke

Both Democrats and Republicans are outraged over emailed pic

By David Boroff, New York Daily News

A Virginia county GOP committee found itself in hot water after using an image of President Obama with a bullet through his head to make a Halloween joke.

An email sent by the Loudoun County GOP that included an image of Obama as a zombie has been widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike. The image also includes a picture of a disfigured Nancy Pelosi. “We are going to vanquish the zombies with clear thinking conservative principles and a truckload of Republican candy,” says the email, which served as an invitation to a Halloween parade.

The image of the President was created from a copyrighted AP photo of Obama in 2006, when he was still serving in the Senate, according to The Associated Press.

“The disgusting image used today on a mass e-mail has no place in our politics. Ever,” Pat Mullins, chairman of the state’s GOP party, told the Washington Post website. “The Republican Party of Virginia condemns the image and its use in the strongest possible terms.”

“This is a disgusting and violent portrayal of the president of the United States,” Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy told The AP. The Republican governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, called for an apology.

Mark Sell, chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, backtracked and issued an apology.

“The Loudoun County Republican Committee yesterday sent an email to its members that represented a light-hearted attempt to inject satire humor into the Halloween holiday,” Sell says in a statement. “Apparently, some individuals have interpreted an image of Barack Obama that appeared within the email as intending to portray the president as a victim of a violent crime. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we deeply and sincerely apologize to the president and anyone who viewed the image if that was the impression that was left. The LCRC deplores any effort to display, suggest or promote violence against the president or any other political figure.”

The controversial image was first reported on the northern Virginia blog, Too Conservative.

With News Wire Services

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