Angry, bitter, old McCain

I'm so old I remember a time when I rather respected John McCain. It was many years ago when he seemed to act on principle and deserved his "maverick" status. All that's gone now. Losing the presidential race changed him and it's beyond mere partisan hackery now. His obvious bitterness at being denied the Oval Office and his sneering disdain for the man who won the contest has morphed into an evil thing. He's become a filthy cockroach skittering far from the fringe edge of civil society and feasting on the offal tossed in the gutters by tea party "patriots."

I didn't see his temper tantrum yesterday, but I have no doubt Steve Benen describes his metamorphosis well:

This isn't another "Whatever happened to the old McCain?" piece, which we've all seen too many times in recent years. Rather, this is to suggest McCain has done more than make the transition from "maverick" to petulant right-winger. Yesterday, the man waving his arms on the Senate floor was a misanthropic hack who's abandoned basic decency, and trashed any hopes he might have had about a respectable legacy.

Sad really that he embraced this dung strewn path. He could have been gracious in defeat and done much good in his waning years not just for his own legacy, but for our country. Instead he's become the kind of monstrously deformed creature that is so painful to view, we prefer to avert our eyes rather than be forced to acknowledge his presence among us.