In our heart of hearts, we know the media narrative of this election has little to do with the media's infatuation with John McCain.  It goes much deeper than that.  If Rudy Giuliani had won the republican nomination, rather than McCain, the media would be feeding us a constant stream of how Giuliani is a hero and America's mayor.  Or if Mitt Romney had won, we would be hearing repeatedly how unlike Barack Obama, Romney was a governor, thus prepared with executive experience to handle the economic crisis.  Even if Fred Thompson were the republican nominee, the media would be hailing Thompson's steady hand and experience.  The reality is that whoever became the republican nominee, they would now be receiving the adoration and cover from the media.  The narrative would change slightly, but the goal and purpose would remain the same.  All that McCain's nomination does is make it easier for the media, because they've been covering for him for decades.

While clicking through the tv channels these past few nights, I've seen CNN airing their documentary series, Black in America.  I know they've been airing it because no one can miss the box in the right-hand corner with the words Black in America. Black is the key word here, followed by America and then the word in. I know this because of the font size.  The font for the word "in" is so small and faint that my old eyes have to concentrate otherwise it looks like Black America.

Anyway, while browsing through the channels this evening, I stopped for a few moments long enough to hear part of a discussion focused on Black in America and crack cocaine.  The discussion wasn't particularly educational or enlightening, as they rehashed material that has been covered extensively.  This is not to say that I didn't find something interesting.  

Throughout the discussion, the box in the right-hand corner of the screen continually morphed from reading Black in America to Crack Epidemic, Black in America - Crack Epidemic.  I don't understand the purpose or motive of CNN morphing this box throughout the duration of the conversation, but I found my attention being drawn away from the discussion towards the box.

...GOES to MCCAIN

"As Barack Obama began his trip to the Middle East and Europe, the media was already speculating about the possibility of a gaffe. Obama's travel "carries political risk," the New York Times reported, "particularly if Mr. Obama makes a mistake."

But the only foreign policy error made in the last few days came this morning on ABC's Good Morning America, when John McCain made ANOTHER geography gaffe while trying to criticize Obama's visit to Iraq.

Asked by Diane Sawyer whether the "the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent," McCain responded: "I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border."

Watch: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/mccain-owns-first-foreign_n_114013.html

Sometimes I get the impression that McCain really doesn't want to be president. No presidential candidate has shot himself in the foot more than McCain has.