Henry Olsen: The GOP must make it clear: Eric Greitens's ad is out of bounds

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Opinion ǀ The GOP must make it clear: Eric Greitens’s ad is out of bounds

By Henry Olsen
Columnist
June 21, 2022 at 1:28 p.m. EDT

The new campaign ad from Republican Senate candidate Eric Greitens is beyond reprehensible. It’s a test for whether anything is out of bounds in today’s GOP.

Greitens’ spot is a tacit call to violence. In it, the disgraced former Missouri governor cocks a shotgun and says, “We’re going RINO hunting” (RINO, of course, refers to “Republicans in name only”). He then joins a group of men dressed in tactical gear storming a house, weapons ready to fire. Greitens enters the house and tells the viewer to “join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO-hunting permit. There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.”

This would be a disgusting, tasteless ad at any moment. Whatever you think of your political opponents, it is never acceptable to implicitly threaten violence against them. But in the current political environment, it’s positively vile.

Political tensions are rising on all sides. The Jan. 6 Capitol riot was at best a terrible protest gone wrong; at worst, it was a serious attempt to undo an election. Abortion rights fanatics are firebombing or disfiguring pregnancy clinics run by pro-life organizations. A man was recently arrested with a gun near Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s home and said he wanted to kill the justice. Throw in the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Tex., and any reasonable person would see that it’s best to cool passions, not inflame them.

But Greitens is no reasonable man. ...

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/21/gop-republican-missouri-senate-race-eric-greitens-rino-hunting-ad-is-out-bounds/

[global1]

1. Does The FCC Have Any Jurisdiction Over Such Ads....

being put out to the public?

[Eugene]

2. The ads were posted on social media (esp. Twitter and Facebook).

While FCC has the power, the most likely course of action is for the platforms to police themselves.

Facebook and YouTube have taken it down. Twitter has flagged the video, but it is still viewable otherwise.

[Grins]

3. Bwahahahaha! Yeah; that'll happen, Henry.

Here’s where the amazing ability of pigs flying is mentioned.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

4. Call the NAVY Inspector General's Office

1-800-522-3451. Call them right now.

Greitens is breaking Federal and DoD laws with this ad and he damn well knows that.

He misrepresents himself, offers no caveat to his video and violates his oath - He is still in the NAVY Reserves.

Not only is this sexual predator a disgrace to the NAVY, he's a disgrace to NAVY SEALS.

Call the NAVY I G today.




SEMPER FORTIS.

[Postal Grunt]

5. Greitens is no longer associated with the Navy

Fortunately, we can all calm down since Greitens is no longer affiliated with the Navy or the Navy Reserves and hasn't been since May 2021. That is easier said than done because he and his campaign are trying to claim we've all got it wrong because the ad was intended to be funny.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article262743357.html

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/greitens-says-violent-video-about-hunting-people-was-meant-to-be-humorous/article_3b8e8c20-61b6-5f4b-a384-30d042bd5d0f.html

[LoisB]

6. Yeah, I almost split my sides laughing. Place sarcasm thingy here

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

7. FYI

I called the NAVY IG, spoke to a senior staffer I know (from the old days) and he told me that the IG had received a substantial number of angry calls and they WERE investigating it and would release a statement about what they conclude. They are taking this seriously.

And as I am retired NAVY, raised in a multi-generational military family, DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN. This man is advocating violence on a massive scale. There are many unbalanced, vulnerable and malleable people out there who will see this ad and think that he is speaking to them.

The Capitol Riots ring a bell ??

This kind of gratuitous violence has become all to common and has no place in this nation and many military vets are seething about this ad. This is not something we endorse, but it is people like YOU, telling the rest of us to "calm down" that makes it look like, oh, ho hum, just another political ad.

NO. It is not. It is a call to violence.

Don't bother responding to me.