Joanie Vennochi gets all worked up...

cuz' someone called John McCain a traitor.
Oh she is high dudgeon my friends, just seething with resentment towards our Rovian political war of all against all.
And you know what, she is right, politics has become debased, few politicians these days even bother to conceal the craven-ness of their motives or their own dangerous lust for power. Calling McCain a traitor (touched off by the senator's support for the White House's immigration bill) is a big and irrevocable step down for public discourse in this country.
My question is, where was this outrage when humble Elias stood next to a gleeful Bush supporter brandishing a "Kerry and Bin Laden in '04" sign back in November of that fateful year?
Where was Joanie when Kerry was being swift-boated or when the GOP distributed those god-damned band-aids emblazoned with the Purple Heart at their convention?
I'll tell you where she was, sniffing with disdain at the sheer ineptitude of the Kerry campaign's response...thats all we got out of Joanie.
She even has the nerve to insert this stony qualifier into today's column:
Republicans usually attack the patriotism of Democrats to score political points. It happened to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, another Vietnam War veteran, during his 2004 presidential bid.
One might also observe, that certain veteran columnists rarely come to the aid of a democrat whose patriotism is questioned or mocked.
No instead they just question or mock the democrat's response to the smear tactics.
In a nutshell, this is why I write the Chimes at Midnight, because in some sense the truth and my right to free speech is supposed to be protected by the likes of Joanie Vennochi. If however, Joanie won't speak up for someone as prominent as Senator Kerry when they are being smeared...then what chance does Humble Elias have?
Therefore, in some sense, Humble Elias must defend himself...and as Napoleon allegedly observed the best defense is a good offense.