OK, enough is ENOUGH!

I took a long break from blogging. Several reasons for this, but the main one is that I felt pretty good about the delegate count math behind the Obama vs. Clinton primary slugfest. Most of my ideas on the contest were reflected in other blogs and websites.

The sharp stick that has poked me and awakened my ire is Sen. McCain's selection of Gov. Palin as his running mate. As a veteran, I had always had a deep respect for Sen. McCain, and I would have voted for him, had Sen. Clinton been the Democratic Party's nominee. However, the selection of a running mate so grossly unqualified, has really crossed the line.

McCain cannot claim to have America's interests first and foremost in his heart and mind when he has selected such an inexperienced politician to serve in an office that's a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Even more damming is the fact that McCain's staff has admitted that McCain himself has had very little contact with Palin. How can he possibly advocate that she has the credentials to step into the Presidency should he be incapacitated? Where is the record of service that he saw that put his mind at rest with her credentials? How can McCain say with a straight face that they will make a good governing team when he doesn't know her very well?

At her introduction today, she looked like a bubbly McCain cheerleader rather than a VP pick. The age difference was so strong that if you tuned in without knowing who she was, it would not have been surprising for her to have introduced her "dad" John McCain to the crowd.

Palin had very little to say about herself (her resume is razor thin) and there is nothing in her background to suggest that she could be even remotely effective at the national level. McCain's selection of her as a running mate puts his judgment--and, yes, even his patriotism--in question. To me, as a veteran of the Armed Forces, who was subject to the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, I do view this as a failing in McCain's patriotism. I am disgusted with Sen. McCain for making such a blatantly pandering choice that clearly goes against everything he has stood for as a Navy pilot and veteran.