People, please

The news stories and TV news segments screamed, "Gloria Steinem attacks John McCain's war record." Apparently, when discussing the Republican front runner's years spent as a prisoner of war, Ms. Steinem said, "This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so."

I watched this with a shrug. I'm not surprised this created an uproar, but an attack? I don't see it.

Ms. Steinem, who supports Hillary Clinton, presented a hypothetical situation of a "Joan McCain" having spent years as a captive of the Viet Cong, suggesting the scrutiny the fictitious "Joan" might be under that would not even be considered of John, like "What did you do wrong that resulted in your capture?" and "What terrible things did you have to do?" She ended by making the above statement.

I respect John McCain for his terrible ordeal, but I must agree with Ms. Steinem. I don't believe that being a prisoner of war qualifies John McCain to be President any more than Congressman John Lewis having the shit beaten out of him on Bloody Sunday qualifies him to be President (entirely hypothetical; we all know Rep. Lewis is not in the running.) These are men who made personal sacrifices to make America a better place.

But, that said, it might have been better (especially for Hillary) if Steinem kept her mouth shut, since I don't believe John McCain is pulling a Rudy Guiliani (i.e., building his candidacy around his war record).

Something else I must mention, given the title of this column. The owner of a popular hot dog restaurant in Manhattan, Gray's Papaya, has put up a large poster in the window of his business that says, "Yes, Senator Obama, we are ready to believe again." When the New York Times did a story on this, people immediately began to respond that they would not be eating at Gray's anymore.

Only in America.