Maggie Gallagher: Credit Where It's Due

I'd missed the Maggie Gallagher column over the past two weeks in the local papers. Had she gone on leave? Had the paper dropped her? Who could I rely on for weekly idiocy? So I went to Google to track her down. She's still writing, and last week wrote this column. Since I have flogged her here previously, I owe it to her to credit her when she's right -- especially when she agrees with me. Writing last week about the bailout struggle, she singled out two legislators for special condemnation: Speaker Pelosi and Senator McCain. Of these, McCain was the worst of the two, Gallagher concludes. Quite on her own, our columnist has figured out Sam's First Rule of Partisanship and judged McCain accordingly. I'll let her explain:

But John McCain's behavior was, in my humble opinion, even worse -- insulting to the intelligence of the American people. For example, in a Sept. 26 press release McCain said: "Both parties in both houses of Congress and the administration needed to come together to find a solution that would deserve the trust of the American people. ... The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama's priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners."
On Sept. 29 McCain repeated: "Our leaders are expected to leave partisanship at the door and come to the table to solve our problems. Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship into the process. Now is not the time to fix the blame. It's time to fix the problem."
This is insane. Worse, it's disgusting. Does John McCain (or his handlers) think we have no ears? That we won't notice his nasty partisan jabbing while posing as a leader above the fray? Here's what our dysfunctional political system now encourages: The last man jabbing and jabbering thinks he's going to win.

Now if Gallagher would only recognize this same tendency in her beloved Gov. Palin she might almost qualify as an intelligent person.