Political Neepery

I am happy to note that one of the Turner channels ran 1776 last night, I hope you all decided to watch. I popped in the DVD when I got home because it was on at 8 and we were out.

It is now fewer than 200 days until George III will be out of the White House. Yesterday, as we drove to a friend's house to have dinner and watch the Studio City fireworks, I heard the news report about the protest when George III addressed new U.S. citizens at Monticello, Virginia.

At first I couldn't make out what was being said because of the loud, interfering, whirring in the background. I realized that was the sound of Thomas Jefferson spinning in his grave.

Then I tried to listen to what the protester(s?) was actually shouting. I swear to god, it was the list of grievances against the king from the Declaration of Independence. If anyone heard a better version of what was going on, I would dearly love to know if that was it. How very appropriate if it was.

Even the L.A. Times ran an editorial about how relevant the Declaration sounds to our country today. Maybe that's why 150 members of the newsroom got axed this week.

I am not, by the way, shedding any tears for Jesse Helms. Anyone who looks at him as a hero is not someone I want to know. He was a racist and helped keep alive that kind of hate.

I'm also tired of hearing how Wesley Clark's remark that being shot out of the sky does not equate to being ready to lead this country is a reason to jettison Clark from any short list for VP. How that quip, made in response to a proposition by an interviewer, can be construed to questioning someone's patriotism is just plain silly--I thought it showed that the General is mighty sharp without a speech writer in sight. That the main stream media is letting this be the story of the week shows a clear lack of journalistic responsibility. Getting shot out of the sky does not mean you know how to be a leader any more than having your PT boat destroyed does (although getting your men to safety despite your own injuries and then doing what needs to be done to get word out for a rescue of the survivors has a lot to say about leadership.)

I'd like to know why the MSM doesn't stop and evaluate the situation. The remark was a humorous one and has been yanked out of the context of the interview. Running additional material from the interview shows that there was nothing said to denigrate John McCain's service.

General Clark graduated at the top of his class at West Point after getting in on merit, was wounded in Vietnam, and made a career in the military, including being the Supreme Commander of NATO (a title that West Wing's President Bartlett called the one that was almost as good as his.) John McCain graduated near the bottom of his class at Annapolis (his admission no doubt was a legacy because of his father and grandfather), crashed several planes either before or after spending 5 years as a POW (I can' t remember those particulars), and can't seem to "straight talk" if his life depends on it. But I get it. General Clark is an "elitist" and John McCain is "one of the guys." The guys have got to stick together.

John McCain is not fit to polish General Clark's boots and I am mighty pissed that Barack Obama let the Republicans frame the story as one that questions patriotism rather than one that questions training, experience, and competence.