Bring on the Rabbi

Just when you think the Presidential primary season can’t get any sillier, along comes another story about a holy friend of Barack Obama, this time a Catholic priest who mocked Hillary Clinton while speaking at a church Obama frequents. Who’s next, a deranged rabbi or a Hare Krishna?

The Clinton camp took offense, of course, and Obama issued the standard apology (and then went so far as to quit the church altogether) while the mainstream media speculated breathlessly about what this latest flap might do to Obama’s chances to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Sweet Jesus, have all the nitwits at ABC and NBC swallowed stupid pills? Why is Barack Obama constantly being held accountable for statements made by other people? People not connected to his campaign? With all the critical issues in play in this election, why is the media so concerned with what people around Barack Obama say? Those folks are not running for president. If we’re going to lower the bar to ground level, why not interview Obama’s barber, his dentist, and his auto mechanic? Let’s find out if Obama has ever stiffed a waitress or left the toilet seat up. Let’s interview Obama’s trash hauler and find out if the Senator separates his recyclable trash from his kitchen waste.

Barack Obama can’t control what comes from the mouths of friends and associates, and in any case those folks are entitled to their opinion – no matter how inaccurate, indecent, or inappropriate. If the priest had called for Hillary Clinton to be strapped behind a Chevy Suburban and dragged through the streets of Chicago, OK, then all this teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing would be appropriate. But what’s wrong with saying that Hillary feels entitled to the Democratic nomination and her old bedroom in the White House? Entitlement oozes from the woman.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have some questionable acquaintances and a well-documented history of ethical two-stepping. John McCain’s inner circle includes a number of high-powered DC lobbyists with ties to dictators. If we’re going to judge our political candidates by the company they keep, let’s at least judge them all by the same criteria. And then let’s seal them all in a plastic bubble – for their own good, and ours.