We were shocked, shocked to see a photo taken by The Washington Post's Melina Mara of Sen. John McCain playing poker on his phone during Tuesday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing about whether to take military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
The Arizona Republican and 2008 GOP presidential nominee later tweeted:
"Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing — worst of all I lost!"
He also told CNN that "as much as I like to and always listen in rapt attention constantly [to] remarks of my colleagues over a three and a half hour period, occasionally I get a little bored. ... But the worst thing about it is I lost thousands of dollars in this game."
Fake dollars, he quickly added.
McCain, of course, is known for his sense of humor, his sharp tongue and his flashes of temper. Perhaps he's a natural for "Angry Birds?"
Speaking of which, his hometown Arizona Republic recently touted the "10 best free smartphone games, apps."
"Angry Birds" made that list.
Meanwhile, as you might suspect if you've read this far, the "news" that McCain was playing poker on his phone while other senators were probably saying things he'd heard many times doesn't strike us as terribly surprising. It does make us wonder, though, how many Two-Way readers have done the same sort of thing.
We should note that etiquette experts, including some who work for the federal government, suggest that cell phones "should be off or silent during meetings" and that one should avoid "reading under the table."
On much more serious notes, McCain explained to NPR on Tuesday why he supports striking Syria (from the air; not with "boots on the ground"). There's word today that he isn't in favor of the resolution worked out by the Foreign Relations Committee in support of military action because it puts too many limits on what can be done.
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