There are some truly awful things happening in Syria right now. For more information on exactly what is happening, and why, I suggest this excellent Washington Post round-up of what exactly is going on, and why Congress is now considering an intervention. But the takeaway is pretty bleak, and basically comes down to the notion that there’s not a lot America can do to stop what’s happening in Syria.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the hearings going on in the Senate about whether or not America should intervene aren’t important. Far from it. Which is why Senator John McCain is getting a lot of flack for being caught playing an iPhone poker app during the hearings.
Caught in the act by The Washington Post, the game McCain was playing was VIP Poker by developer Tinyco.
To be fair, McCain’s copping to it, albeit a bit flippantly:
Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing – worst of all I lost!
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 3, 2013
Look, I think we can all agree that it’s possible to idly play iPhone poker while listening to some blow-hard pontificate on a podium at the same time. I doubt there’d be this level of controversy if McCain was playing with an app during a less important hearing. But this is a hearing about whether or not America should lob cruise missiles at a Middle East country that is chemically gassing its own citizens. There are better hearings to play VIP Poker during.
Source: Washington Post
