John McCain and Sarah Palin

As a retired military member, I can respect McCain’s service, but it does not justify all of the accolades that he receives (we had a lot of worthless, terrible, people in the military). If Obama was not a minority, it would be more okay for him to attack McCain on this issue--highlighting his failures and lack of intellectual competency as demonstrated in the military. McCain did receive preferential treatment because his father and grandfather were in the military. Military members know how the son and grandson of Admirals can receive preferential treatment. It is clear from McCain’s record that he was not a very goal driven office, more like an under performer (somewhat like George) but it is not fair game to bring this out and the media won't comment on it. However, the important thing that needs highlighting is McCain’s Judgment. His selection of Sarah Plain speaks volume to his motives and his judgment. The selection of Palin as Vice President Nominee shows the selfishness of John McCain to select someone for political purposes only. I get really tired of the news media and its inherent prejudices. McCain and Palin story is no more a great story than any other American Story that represents the values and ideas of this great nation. Sarah Palin's story is that of an attention getter. She first wanted the spotlight by being a beauty queen, then she wanted to be on TV (ESPN), and when those things failed, she decided to be a celebrity politician. I was stationed in Anchorage Alaska and I know a little bit about Wasilla (prejudice for one), but that's a "give-me" in most of small town America. The media does not comment when Sarah Palin says that her time as a small town mayor is equivalent to a community organizer, when there is really a big difference. As a mayor you are in charged and you do not have to work with people, you are treated differently because you are the boss. As a community organizer you must posses a skill of leading people that you are not the boss of (like Senators and Representatives) and getting those people to work together for a common purpose. The media and the McCain camp seems to forget that Obama was a state senator for 11 years, where is Palin’s equivalent experience. All of the media talks about what a great job Palin did with her speech, but no one notes the fact that she had been training for public speaking—as a beauty queen and aspiring sport announcer on ESPN. No one within the media comments on the shotgun weeding of the daughter and boyfriend. I am sure the boyfriend has been placed under enormous pressure to marry the daughter, so that everything looks good.