Palin's bonus screw-up

By GottaLaff

I just got home from work, and found this in Comments via Pigboy. Thanks for the correction, which we gladly make when we find out our info is wrong:

UPDATE via Nicole at Crooks and Liars:

Looks like the original writer and I should have fact checked more closely. Per a comment at the original op-ed:

About Ms. Palin's HeroBracelet.

We sent her those bracelets during the last election. When we learned that her son, Track and Senator Biden's son were both being deployed overseas, we sent them both Deployed HeroBracelets with their son's names.

We've been providing Deployed HeroBracelets since 2004 for families to wear while their loved ones were serving. They can be made from sterling, copper, leather or bronze colored anodized aluminum (black is reserved for KIA).[..]

So she isn't out of line for wearing the Deployed HeroBracelet. There are ten's of thousands of families around the country wearing them right now. On the HeroBracelets web site, we've got hundreds of letters from families, many vowing to not take the bracelet off till their loved one comes home.

Chris Greta
Director HeroBracelets.org
www.herobracelets.org

Original post:

Just when you think Bonkette McIgnorant can't make herself look any worse... well, think again:

"The name on her black memorial bracelet -- one, like the gold star, a demonstration of a friend or associate who was killed in action -- is that of her oldest son, Track. Track served honorably in Iraq, and both he and his parents should be thanked for his selfless service to his country. He is also alive.

"Commemorating Track's service by wearing a black memorial bracelet which is reserved for those dead or even a red bracelet for those missing in action, demonstrates a horrifying contempt for those who gave their last full measure of devotion or an almost unbelievable ignorance of the importance of symbols in American history..."

"Sarah Palin, please take off the bracelet. Be thankful you have no reason to wear it."

Not only did she mega-embarrass herself again, she did it tastelessly.

Barbie wears live people. And the humiliation continues...

Soldier's mother 'ecstatic' about Obama's bracelet

By GottaLaff

There are two sides to every story, especially when it involves a divorced couple. Side One, the ex-husband:

Shockingly, however, Madison resident Brian Jopek, the father of Ryan Jopek, the young soldier who tragically lost his life to a roadside bomb in 2006, recently said on a Wisconsin Public Radio show that his family had asked Barack Obama to stop wearing the bracelet with his son's name on it. Yet Obama continues to do so despite the wishes of the family. [...]

Jopek began by saying that his ex-wife was taken aback, even upset, that Obama has made the death of her son a campaign issue. Jopek says his wife gave Obama the bracelet because "she just wanted Mr. Obama to know Ryan's name." Jopek went on to say that "she wasn't looking to turn it into a big media event" and "just wanted it to be something between Barack Obama and herself." Apparently, they were all shocked it became such a big deal.

But, he also said that his ex-wife has refused further interviews on the matter and that she wanted Obama to stop wearing the reminder of her son's sacrifice that he keeps turning into a campaign soundbyte.

Side Two, the ex-wife. Hey ex-husband, looks like you lost this one:

The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was "ecstatic" when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama mentioned during Friday's debate the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son.

Tracy Jopek of Merrill told The Associated Press on Sunday she was honored that Obama remembered Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb.

Jopek criticized Internet reports suggesting Obama, D-Ill., exploited her son for political purposes.

"I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet," she said.

Me neither! Where's that pre-nup! Void it and give everything to Tracy.

Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet. [...]

Jopek says Obama's comment rightfully suggested there's more than one viewpoint on the war. [...] "I think these bracelets should be looked upon as an honor that both candidates wear them to respect the troops," Jopek said. "My request to both of them is that they honor the troops by lifting the conversation to the issues, and that they continue to live up to the standards our military deserves."

Tracy apparently got custody of the sanity.