Leadership, huh...

It seems like an eternity ago, but it was only June 3 of this year.

Barack Obama was clinching the Democratic nomination, when John McCain took to the stage in a sparsely populated room in New Orleans, La., to launch his first attack. McCain planted himself in front of a puke green background and declared himself, "A Leader We Can Believe In." That decision, as well as practically every decision since, has proved him to be anything but a leader.

Even if you start on the night in front of the now infamous green backdrop, McCain was the spectacle of a follower. His theme, "A Leader We Can Believe In," was obviously cribbed from Obama's "Change We Can Believe In." He littered his speech with derisions of Obama followed by the mocking, "that's not change we can believe in."

There you have it. On his speech to launch the general election, McCain uses a knock-off of his opponent's words as the Republican theme and slogan. Leadership?

The rest of the campaign has not fared much better for McCain, and every bump in the road can be mapped back to an absense of leadership. First, he sputtered around from slogan to slogan, never really settling on one long enough for it to take root. When that approach faltered, he then brought in the Bush attack team who savaged him in 2000 and turned the reins over to them.

Bush's team immediately plunged McCain's campaign into an appalling display of negativity that ran counter to everything he had modeled throughout his career. The so-called leader did nothing.

The pathway continued downward. McCain offered no grand vision, no overriding philosophy, no uplifting message, just juvenile attacks that his opponent was a celebrity. According to McCain, Obama's great sin was that people liked him...that voters would assemble to actually listen to him. Record-breaking crowds gathered across the United States and throughout Europe for first-hand exposure to the message of hope and change. No one was following 'the leader.'

Then came the worst mistake of all. After vetting vice president contenders for months, he held a short conversation with a little-known governor from Alaska. Thirty minutes later, he had a nominee. The leadership virtues of consultation and deliberation, of exercising reasonable judgment, were all casualties to his impulses. It was the Magic 8 Ball at the helm. The leader followed.

The other missteps are recent enough to recall with clarity. He careened through the economic meltdown, bouncing from position to position like a pinball. In a final act of desperation, he cast his sailor's honor overboard and began steering his campaign through the mud and sludge directly to the rocky shore.

The passengers aboard the SSS McCain Disaster, sensing their iminent doom, have begun to jump overboard. The captain of the ship plows on...either oblivious to the fact that his crew is deserting him or powerless to do anything about it. Neither being a striking display of leadership.

So here we are...nine days before the election, and news organizations are reporting this his VP nominee is the latest to abandon him. She had always let it be known publicly when she didn't agree with one of McCain's decisions (pulling out of Michigan, not using Rev. Wright to attack Obama, for examples), but we were to see a more brazen display of disloyalty. Campaign staff for both McCain and Palin are going on the record to say that she is out for herself at this point. Ignoring advice from McCain and doing her own thing. And with all this going on, not a word from McCain.

Leadership, huh.

Rein in the Kings

The Kings are at it again. Who knew a family with so much promise could be so dysfunctional for generation after generation.

Shortly after the death of Coretta Scott King, I had the nerve to say out loud that Mrs. King’s life was one big lost opportunity. After all the horrified gasps, I asked my friends to name one thing that Mrs. King ever did for anyone for which she didn’t also benefit. I’m still waiting on an answer. In fact, I even consulted Wikipedia and couldn’t find anything worth mentioning.

I reached my conclusion about Mrs. King because I have watched as she presided over the Atlanta bougiouse year after year, yet contributed nothing to the world at large. To make matters worse, she sold Dr. King’s work to Time Warner for $5 million and aggressively sued anyone who tried to share in what has become a national treasure—the words of Dr. King.

The New York Times reported on it more than 10 years ago.

Until now, the King family has carefully guarded the release of these primary sources and recently sued CBS for selling a videotape of King's ''I Have a Dream'' speech. Last year, Intellectual Properties Management succeeded in stopping a California Republican political advertisement that featured portions of the speech. And in 1993, the estate filed suit against USA Today, which is owned by Gannett, after the newspaper published the text of the speech on its front page. The newspaper settled the lawsuit by paying the estate a $1,700 licensing fee and legal costs.

Just protecting her investment, I guess.

Now with mom dearly departed, the children are taking up the embarrassingly selfish behavior. It’s reported this week that the children are in court bickering over who owns the rights to their mother’s papers. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III are actually suing Dexter King for control of her posessions.

The three surviving King children have looked more like adversaries than siblings in recent months as they struggle to settle three lawsuits. On Tuesday, lawyers for Dexter King asked a judge to demand that Bernice King -- as administrator of her mother's estate -- turn over personal papers, including love letters between the civil rights icons.

The case is ongoing in Atlanta civil court, and the judge has appointed a special master to catalogue dozens of boxes belonging to Coretta Scott King.

Control of the documents is threatening to derail a $1.4 million book deal with New York publisher Penguin Group for a memoir about the civil rights matriarch.

It’s beyond sad to see what this family has become. They inherited an American legacy that could have afforded them the opportunity to lead any cause they chose. A spouse or child of Dr. King could have easily garnered support for any of array of issues. Yet, 40 years after his death, they are fighting in court to get their hands on their mother's $1.4 million. You could do a lot of good with that kind of money, but they won’t.

By the time Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in his 30s, he had led a 385-day boycott to give Montgomery Blacks the dignity of sitting wherever they chose on city buses. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was one of the trailblazing organizations in the civil rights movement. He led a march on Washington, D.C., where he delivered an address that occupies an unrivaled place in American history. He even earned the Nobel Peace for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination through nonviolent means.

What have any of the other King's accomplished?

Eventually, one of them will win the suit, but they will all lose. A birthright squandered. An opportunity wasted. And a pathetic display that would make their father cringe. If only they had inherited some of his dignity.

Top 10 reasons to reject McCain

With apologies to Dave Letterman and the Home Office, here are the People's Pundit's Top Ten Reasons to Reject Sen. John McCain:

No. 10 -- After creating signs, posters, commercials, and gazillions of specialty items proclaiming 'Country First,' McCain subjects us to endless recitations of his "I'm a war hero" story. Yeah, you got smacked around for five years. Get some counseling. Enough already.

No. 9 -- Speaking of counseling, after selectively dribbling out parts of his medical records, we learned he hasn't released ANY mental health records. Ok tough guy. You just reminded us that you were tortured for five years and subjected to inhuman cruelties. Shouldn't we get some assurances that you won't literally go cuckoo for coco puffs?

No. 8 -- Cindy Lou? Ok, I'm not mad at you for this one. Crashed three Navy planes, Millions of dollars. Ex wife payoff fund, Millions of Dollars. Marrying a stupid-rich know-your-place Barbie and getting seven houses, 13 cars and your own plane while she stands behind you gazing adoringly? Priceless.

No. 7 -- Insanity: Employing the Hillary Clinton campaign strategy of highlighting your experience, denigrating Obama's positivity, and randomly smearing your opponent yet expecting a different result. Helloooo! Get a clue. We already saw how this movie ends.

No. 6 -- Suspending his campaign to go campaign. In the worst of all stunts, McCain gambled his reputation to try and lead 535 people who had no inclination or reason to follow him and over whom he had no leverage. Stupid.

No. 5 -- No poker face -- Telegraphed to the entire world when he was angry, exasperated and disgusted in every debate. How are you going to conduct serious, hardnosed negotiations when everyone knows how to push your buttons?

No. 4 -- He dissed Dave. Really? You thought it would be a good idea to blow off Dave Letterman to go do an interview on the SAME NETWORK? Really?

No. 3 -- Joe the Plumber. After lifting up Joe the Plummer as the symbol of the poor would-be business owner who can't pay taxes on a quarter of a million dollars, we find out he's not a plumber, his first name isn't Joe, he had no plans to buy a business, he makes $40,000 a year, he didn't pay his taxes, and he's a Republican. Naturally, these revelations are evidence of an Obama smear.

No. 2 -- Remained unacceptably silent when attendees yelled "kill him" and "off with his head" about Obama, then whined that Rep. Lewis hurt his feelings. How do you sleep at night?!

And the No. 1 reason to reject McCain.... (drum roll please)

No. 1 -- We can't take four years of hearing him say "My Friends" without wanting to scream "Kill Him!" or "Off with his head!"

Bailout bull

Now I have to admit that most of the banking bailout conversation goes right over my head. I'm a liberal arts guy, so talk of liquidity and such loses me.

A week ago, I heard that we, the government, were spending $750 billion to bail out banks and Wall Street. Then today another $250 billion.

Next I hear that there is no shortage of cash, just a shortage of confidence.

Now what do you think would happen if we owed one of those same banks $50 and couldn't pay? I'm confident we all know the answer.

Sent from my iPhone.

From Selma to Sarah: Why John Lewis is mad

Rep. John Lewis is mad. But then Rep. Lewis always seems to be mad.

No matter what the news of the day, Lewis seems to be mad about it and then uses his anger to remind us of his place in the civil rights era, which gives him license to be mad.

I was halfway through my reflexive eye rolling before realizing that this time Lewis was right. His anger was justified, and he expressed it in this statement:

As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.

Naturally McCain and his allies cried foul. McCain was no George Wallace. The statement was unfair. I have to agree. McCain is no George Wallace. But that's not what Lewis was saying. His statement was that McCain and Palen were similar in that they "created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans."

They were sowing the seeds of hatred and division.

That much should be evident as those seeds bore fruit this week. At a political rally, members of the audience not only screamed that Barack Obama was a terrorist but also that they should kill him. Kill him.

Just in case you missed the weight of that statement, let me repeat. Kill him.

That angry mob made a lot of people mad, not just Lewis. It scared some of us to see threats of human life treated so cavalierly. That anger could skew someone's judgment to the point that they would openly call for someone's life.

We are far removed from the hatred of Jim Crow days, but we should not lose sight of the lessons. That's the role Rep. Lewis still plays for us today. I share his anger. Maybe it's time to listen to him.

It's the questions, stupid

For weeks, Republicans told us the culprit in Sarah Palin's dismal interview performances were the questions. Tonight, her relative success in the vice presidential debate could also be attributed to the questions.

By now most people have seen the 500 video clips of Katie Couric's interview of Sarah Palin that CBS has been dribbling out over the last week or so. The cringe-inducing performances even had conservatives questioning her openly. Of course, the right wing faithful told us the real problem were the questions. They were gotcha questions.

Q:What newspapers do you read?
Rep: Foul! No one would ask that of a man.
Q: Name a Supreme Court decision you don't agree with?
Rep: Foul! She is an outsider and didn't need to concern herself with supreme court decisions. That's not something a president needs to know, they said with straight faces.

During the debate however, Palin benefited from Gwen Ifill's boringly predictable questions. It was as if she went to the campaign websites and turned their policy papers into questions. They were all so utterly predictable. None made you look at the subject from a different perspective. None seemed to be designed to elicit a thoughtful response, so she rarely got any.

Of course this suited Sarah Palin just fine. Now she could recite her talking points with generous helping of "Golly Gee Beav..." At one point when Joe Biden was responding you could see Sarah Palin giggling to herself with that giddy "she's asking all my questions" smile.

Traditional media training always emphasizes that it's not the questions that sink you, it's the answers. In Palin's case, the questions are the ones that help her sink or swim.