Do as I say; not as I do. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, in a speech earlier this week, criticized his opponent, Democrat Barack Obama, for waiting until now - after six years in the U.S. Senate and two years into a national campaign - to visit the Middle East where American troops have been fighting for seven years. Read more...

• Whale mistake

Congratulations and welcome to Jim Shoemaker, who's the newest member of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly.

The Assembly on Monday appointed Shoemaker to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of longtime Assembly Member Maggie Sarber.

He was one of seven borough residents who applied to be considered for appointment to the seat.

We appreciate all of the applicants' interest in serving the community in general - and their willingness to devote the time, thought and effort necessary to serve on the Assembly in particular.

Democracy relies on participation, and it's encouraging that a good number of applicants want to be involved.

That said, we're confident the Assembly made a good choice in selecting Shoemaker.

There were preferences voiced for other candidates, but the Assembly was comfortable enough in the end to appoint Shoemaker by a unanimous vote.

Now that he has the seat, we wish Shoemaker a successful term on the Borough Assembly.

By successful, we mean consistently studying the issues, bringing a thoughtful, reasoned perspective to the Assembly table, and, based on that study and perspective, voting to support what's best for the borough as a whole.

It's not always easy. In fact, any seasoned public servant will say it's rarely easy.

But it's the true measure of success, and again, we look forward to a successful term from Shoemaker.

It's not a long term, however. The seat becomes available again during the next round of municipal elections in October.

It's actually one of three Borough Assembly seats, in addition to the Borough mayorship, that will be open to electoral challenge.

We encourage those who had applied for the Borough Assembly to consider "throwing their hats into the ring" as candidates this fall.

The Assembly has made the choice now, but there's ample opportunity for the public at large to have its say in the very near future. The community benefits when it has good choices on the ballot.

Perhaps one of those choices will be Mr. Shoemaker.