Potholes and Garbage

Question: Who said

"I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time. "

Answer: John McCain in the Republican Debate, October 21, 2007.

Of course then he was running against Mayor Giuliani, mayor of one of the largest cities in the world, and Governor Romney, governor of Massachusetts with 6.5 million people.

Let me make sure I understand McCain's reasoning.
Being the mayor of one of the largest cities in the world doesn't adequately prepare you to be president.
Being governor of Massachusetts, population 6.5 million doesn't adequately prepare you to be president.

But being mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 5,469 and governor of Alaska, population 670,000 does adequately prepare you to be the proverbial "heartbeat away from the presidency."

I think Barack Obama said it well last night. Being mayor of a small town is a tough job. You have to make sure the potholes get filled and the garbage gets picked up. Sounds like qualifications to be the strongest person in the free world to me. So please send Sarah back to her potholes and garbage and get serious about who is going to be president of the United States.

Situation Ethics at the ERLC

I seldom give Richard Land credit for anything, but I will give him credit for consistency in his condemnation of Rudolph Giuliani. Of course, I do wonder if he would be quite as concerned about the divorces if Giuliani were more conservative politically. Especially, in light of his comment, "I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control."

Oops

I spoke to soon. Read the rest of the statement. Although McCain has been married twice, Land said, the senator's other credentials and history of conservatism earn him more respect than Giuliani. Land said. "When you're a war hero [like McCain], you have less to prove on the character front."

So being a war hero excuses you from the moral absolutes that Land and his ilk are so fond of slapping us in the face with. I really do find it interesting that a man who claims to be a spokesperson for a large group that follow the "Prince of Peace" sees being a warrior as somehow justifying other moral failures.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing either McCain or Giuliani for their divorces, I'm just trying to figure out what kind of situation ethicist Richard Land is.