Is life is imitating The Coup? With the publication of a story in The New York Times about John McCain‘s relationship with a comely female lobbyist, we’re certainly in the neighborhood. A presidential candidate and a female lobbyist have some kind of relationship–is it sex? Is it a flirtation? Is it an older guy just feeling chipper? Who cares? Let’s jump to the assumption (emphatically denied, hardly proven, widely believed) that they’re having an affair. And because he has supported some of her issues–as best we can tell, in the most benign way–it’s assumed that he’s abusing his office. (Indeed, in order to be shocked by the ways the Times says McCain has benefited from the largesse of lobbyists, one would have to be almost hopelessly naïve. What he’s guilty of–if that term can even be used–is business as usual. As the author of a recent political satire put it–okay, it was me–“You don’t bribe these people to do something. You go to jail for that. What you got to do is figure ut how to give them money all year long, then maybe they think of you when your issue comes up. One gift, one time–that’s bribery. Lots of gifts over a long time–that’s politics.’
