Eight times is no coincidence. It is fair to say that the Obama camp has used up its benefit of the doubt with regard to surrogates attacking McCain’s military service. This time it is Rand Beers, no novice to government service or campaigns, slamming McCain for missing out on key foreign policy training and knowledge because of his time as a POW. First, the comment is plain ignorant. A reading of McCain’s account of his years in captivity would have told Beers just how valuable a lesson it was in understanding the nature of totalitarian evil. Beers might consider what experience his own candidate has that is remotely equivalent.

Second, once again a surrogate shows that the Obama camp attracts the very worst of the Left–sneering, disrespectful, and ignorant of the value of military service. The inference is becoming inescapable that this swarm of anti-McCain venom is countenanced by the Obama camp. They simply can’t be this awful at corralling their troops, can they?

For now it sounds like Obama is the darling of those who have little understanding or appreciation of the military and its sacrifices. And once again Obama’s surrogates get only mild disapproval or encouragement from the liberal punditocracy, which comes up with ludicrous reasons not to condemn the attacks.

So despite a defensive speech Monday on his patriotic bona fides, Obama has proven that he really doesn’t care enough, or doesn’t think it important enough, to do something (e.g. declare Clark and Beers and others who would follow their lead to be unfit for his administration) about those who defame heroic service. That, far more than reciting a prepared speech, may tell the voters where his campaign is coming from.