At a book signing in Minneapolis today, Meghan McCain said, “I’m lucky enough to have gotten published.”

Eek.

It has become acceptable to use got in certain cases. But there is no excuse for saying you have gotten published. The proper wording is you have been published.

Meghan’s children’s book, “My Dad, John McCain,” isn’t error-free either. One page reads: “He wanted to fight for his country, just like his father and grandfather. He wanted to do great things, just like them.”

Ack!

There are actually two grammatical errors here. First, these sentences are missing verbs. Second, she should’ve used as, a conjunction, two properly link the two clauses that make up each sentence. Meghan should’ve written: “He wanted to fight for his country, just as his father and grandfather had.”

Like works when it’s linked to a phrase that doesn’t contain a verb. For example, you could say, “He wanted to be brave, like his father and grandfather.” But as soon as you begin describing their actions, you must use a conjunction and add a verb at the end of the sentence.

Let’s string these lessons together now. “Meghan McCain has been published. She wanted to be an author, like Madonna. She made grammatical mistakes, as Madonna did.”