Go away for a couple of days and miss a whole lot. Pete's Legislative Minority Report in the Anton Newspapers almost got away from us. To miss the April 18th edition would have been like missing christmas.
What started out as a 9 year old girls patriotic drawing of a American flag painted horse has turned into a controversy. Horse breeder Jim Vena's 9 year old daughter drew a flag draped horse and her father commisioned a version for the "Horse of a Different Color" program. The artist who created the horse Pauli Suominen, is a Marine Vietnam War veteran. Legislator Dunne was the first to make a stink about the horse as reported in the Long Island Press and Newsday. Dunne said "I want that horse out of Nassau County." This all because Dunne and others don't believe the flag should be on a horse or actually because it is an election year and it's time to politicize everything. Too bad for Dunne that Jim Vena is a republican. Now enter Pete Schmitt....
Pete states like Dunne "The United States Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion both have strict guidelines about the use of the American flag. Both veterans groups state that the flag shall not be used for any promotional purposes, and are vehemently opposed to the use of the flag in this manner." Now this is not law, just opinion. The amazing thing us that the flag has been placed on everything from shirts to underwear to political bumper-stickers and car dealerships yet there is nary a comment from Schmitt and Dunne about that. At the young republican sponsered "pro-troops" rally in Mineola, the misuse of the flag was in abundence yet Schmitt and Dunne said nothing. We can understand a disagreement but as usual it turns political "I am ashamed to see the disrespect that the administration has shown to the thousands of veterans of Nassau County and to all Americans by allowing our nation's colors to be painted on the rear end of a fiberglass horse." Par for course Schmitt uses his Legislative Minority Report to bash Democrats and do so dishonestly. To say that the flag is "painted on the rear end of a fiberglass horse" can only be considered a blatant deception. The whole horse is the flag. Schmitt knows this but it doesn't sound as good as saying the flag was painted on the ass. There is also another sticking point as the artist points out in the Long Island Press "I see nothing controversial about having an American flag on a horse when it's not an exact American flag." We would like to see Schmitt go after the 9 year old girl who wanted to express her patriotism and the the war veteran that painted it. We don't see Pete having the guts to go after them. If Schmitt and Dunne cared about veterans they would publicaly rebuke Bush, Pete King and the republicans in congress for trying to cut veterans benefits by billions of dollars.
more later......
Friday, April 25, 2003
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