The Principled Senator from Arizona

John McCain has had a long, distinguished career in government service, and while I disagree with the vast majority of his political views, I believe he has represented the interests of the Republican Party well in the Senate.  But like most politicians, he does tend to make a fool out of himself from time to time.   The frequency hit its peak when he was fighting for the presidency, but is now once again on the upswing, likely a result of his struggle to be crowned the new leader of the GOP.

Yesterday was one of those foolish days for Senator McCain.

In Senate hearings yesterday, McCain threatened his opposition to President Obama's nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Interior, David Hayes.  What reason could the Senator have for his "principled opposition?"  In 2006, David Hayes wrote an article that McCain found "deeply offensive" towards Ronald Reagan.

From the "controversial" article:

The conservative political agenda in the West is grounded in hoary stereotypes about the region and its people...Out of this conservative world view emerges the stereotypical Western man (and it is unquestionably a “he”)—a rugged, gun-toting individualist who fiercely guards every man’s right to drill, mine, log, or do whatever he damn well pleases on the land; he hates government, taxes, regulations, environmentalists, and anyone or anything else that tries to tell him what to do (provided, of course, that federal subsidies for mining, logging, grazing, and the like continue unabated).

Like Ronald Reagan before him, President Bush has embraced the Western stereotype to the point of adopting some of itsaffectations—the boots, brush-clearing, and get-the-government-off-our-backs bravado.

It was this passage that caused McCain to umbrage, and question "You had to throw Reagan in there?"  Strangely, McCain expressed no discomfort about Hayes' comments about Bush.  McCain's final opinion on the matter: 

I will be considering seriously whether I can support your nomination or not.

I find it exceptionally odd that Senator McCain believes a prerequisite for this office is adoration of Reagan, while Bush-mocking is entirely okay.