Ow, That Roll Call Hurt My Feelings

In what John McCain is calling a huge slap in the face to ordinary, unsuspecting Americans, most of the senate got together over the weekend to have a vociferous, if ultimately ineffectual debate about the plan for a troop surge in Iraq. According to McCain, it is "insulting to the public and our soldiers" for the senate to assume that gathering in Washington to debate foreign policy initiatives amounts to "discharging our responsibilities in any meaningful way." So, while his colleagues in the senate went to work on a Saturday, John McCain positioned himself to selflessly absorb the barbs being hurled, right and left, at vulnerable American voters: he went to Iowa.

Yes, that's right. On a day when even Hillary-Stepping-Stone-Clinton and Smoky Joe-I-Memorized-the-Gettysburg-Address-Obama went to work in their capacities as senators, McCain called them out on their offensive "political stunt." And then hit the campaign trail.

Disdain for branches of government and a system of checks and balances aside, this is all part of McCain's wider efforts to leave himself open for interpretation. Even as he remains "unwavering" in his support of the war, his policy of not actually voting on anything leaves him blameless.

And yet, while it is irksome to watch U.S. senators abandon their duties and constituencies almost two years before the next presidential election, at least we know that by calling votes on issues critical to his campaign, the senate can actually keep McCain out of Washington.