John McCain, being the maverick he is, thumbed his nose at Iowa officials who pleaded with him not to campaign in the state during flood clean-up. Barack Obama had scheduled a visit in Iowa but canceled it at the request of state officials.
The concern had to do with diverting law enforcement resources from the recovery effort to security for the candidates. But John McCain, a maverick, a loose cannon, perhaps suffering from confusion over even a simple request, ignored basic decency and bulled his way into the state anyway.
Patrick Dillon, Iowa Governor Chet Culver's chief of staff, said, "As a courtesy — and as we did for Senator Obama — we privately made an effort to make sure that Senator McCain knew that state and local resources were still being deployed to support the flood fight and that now may not be the best time for a campaign trip."
Dillon's comments came as President Bush was touring the state, also craning his neck, rubbernecking, gawking both to his right and left like a busybody fascinated at so much suffering. Officials pointed out to the leader that the water stretching out for miles was no longer in the river channel and that this was a problem. For Bush's sightseeing vacation hundreds of law enforcement officers had to be diverted from flood recovery to provide security.
In a related story, John McCain last year opposed legislation that included money for flood control in Des Moines. McCain spokesman, Jeff Sadowsky, responded: "We do not need to play politics with flooding that has brought so much harm and pain throughout the region." There is no mention in the article whether he said this with a straight face. Our own surmise is that he was probably fidgeting nervously, rocking back and forth on his heels, daubing his forehead with a tissue, and hoping no one would call him on such a blatant crock of crap.
In the end, John McCain's intrusive, foolhardy event began, then finally, mercifully, ended. He was last seen paddling his "Straight Talk Canoe" off to somewhere he is wanted, wherever that may be.
