Friday Photos: The real Walter Reed
Last night, you may have noticed something odd in the background of John McCain’s acceptance speech. Roughly a minute into the Arizona senator’s remarks, a fancy-looking building with a nicely groomed lawn popped up on the jumbo screen behind him. I remember thinking: What’s that? His spread in Sedona? Why would they possibly want to ...
Last night, you may have noticed something odd in the background of John McCain's acceptance speech. Roughly a minute into the Arizona senator's remarks, a fancy-looking building with a nicely groomed lawn popped up on the jumbo screen behind him.
Last night, you may have noticed something odd in the background of John McCain’s acceptance speech. Roughly a minute into the Arizona senator’s remarks, a fancy-looking building with a nicely groomed lawn popped up on the jumbo screen behind him.
I remember thinking: What’s that? His spread in Sedona? Why would they possibly want to show that? Turns out, it was a photograph of the Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California:
Whoops. An image that was probably meant to underscore McCain’s support for veterans has become a hilarious blooper that will no doubt end up as fodder for late-night talk show hosts and the Democratic Party.
Walter Reed Middle School’s principal, Donna Tobin, posted the following statement Friday on the school’s official blog:
It has been brought to the school’s attention that a picture of the front of our school, Walter Reed Middle School, was used as a backdrop at the Republican National Convention. Permission to use the front of our school for the Republican National Convention was not given by our school nor is the use of our school’s picture an endorsement of any political party or view.
What the McCain team likely meant to show was D.C.’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which treats wounded soldiers and was the subject of a damning Washington Post investigation in 2007.
The most amazing part about this debacle is that whatever poor intern or tech dude got the wrong photo had at least three plausible chances to get it right. Below is a shot of Walter Reed General Hospital on the WRAMC campus on Georgia Avenue:
That building in the background is a newer facility, the Heaton Pavilion:
And here’s the Walter Reed National Military Center, a new building in Bethesda, Md., that President Bush inaugurated on July 3:
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