This is Pat Peale, a convention delegate from Texas and nasty old bag, wearing an adhesive bandage emblazoned with a Purple Heart.

Why is she wearing an adhesive bandage with a Purple Heart on it?

Because she’s joining hundreds of other delegates on the floor of the convention to mock John Kerry and to belittle the wounds he received while fighting to defend freedom in Vietnam.

Why would Republicans mock the wounds of someone who fought on their behalf to safeguard the freedoms they cherish?

I don’t know. You should ask Pat Peale.

So where did she get her funny Purple Heart bandage?

It turns out the bandages -- which came with a message that read, "It was just a self-inflicted scratch, but you see I got a Purple Heart for it" -- were distributed by delegate Morton Blackwell of Arlington, Va.

Who’s Morton Blackwell?

He’s a guy who just happens to be an old friend of Karl Rove who helped get Rove started in politics when he trained him as a Republican organizer back when little Karl was still in high school.

Neat coincidence, huh?

And did everyone enjoy the joke as much as Pat Peale did? Well, not exactly. In fact, the national commander of the Military Order of The Purple Heart, an organization that represents wounded veterans, said his 38,000 members were "outraged that an award that has been earned by them for shedding blood on the battlefields of the world would be so denigrated by using it for the purpose of political advantage."

So what did the Bush campaign have to say about the bandages?

"It was inappropriate," Karl said of the bandages on CNN. But, he added, "I understand why some people who were in Vietnam feel very strongly about what Senator Kerry did and said when he came back."

I see. So it was inappropriate… but also kind of not so inappropriate, too!

Thanks Karl, Morton, and Pat!