In today's pages: McCain, mortgages, gay marriage, graduation

The Times editorial board launches an occassional series on Locke High School's transition to becoming a Green Dot charter, starting with a report on graduation day:

The graduates of Locke, and their friends and families, are deeply aware of how rare they are. So although there were about 300 students in the seats set up on the athletic field Thursday afternoon, they were cheered on by a crowd that filled the bleachers on both sides despite the searing sun overhead. Cousins, uncles, neighborhood pals, holdingflowers and giant balloon bouquets. Close to 10 fans for every grad....

Even the guest speaker, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, alluded to it. In a typical commencement speech in which she urged the graduates, "If you have a dream, follow it," she also took a moment to note that "you are here while so many are not."

The very existence of these teenagers in their white caps and gowns, cheering as an angel-voiced girl sang the national anthem, marked something extraordinary at Locke.

Columnist Joel Stein wonders what the next big financial bubble will be so he can get a piece of it. Urban planner Vaughan Davies asks, where's L.A.'s Central Park? And Eric Alterman and George Zornick say John McCain is no maverick -- he's a die-hard conservative:

But suffice it to say that no candidate since John F. Kennedy, and perhaps none since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has enjoyed such cozy relations with the media....

What's the effect of all these years of loving treatment at the hands of the media? On issue after issue, and from every side of the journalistic political spectrum, a campaign of distortion has helped to ensure that the real John McCain -- and his extreme conservative positions and politically inspired flip-flops -- remain far from the consciousness of the average voter.

On the letters page, readers discuss gay marriage. Paul Derouin writes:

The only thing missing from this headline is the exclamation point. But the real tipoff was the picture of two women kissing on the front page. It was inappropriate for many reasons, but mostly because it demonstrates a case study in advocacy journalism.

The Times should learn to contain its enthusiasm for gay marriage and respect that 60% of Californians voted against it. We have nothing against gay people and their rights to live their lives as they wish, but we consider marriage a sacred institution, not to be trifled with at the whim of those who choose different types of relationships. You do your readers a disservice with this type of reporting.

*Photo: Charles Dharapak / Associated Press