Lobbyists Have Two Beds [Updated]

Whether St. John McCain shared a bed, in the carnal sense, with lobbyist Vicki Iseman is a titillating question. Whether St. John shared a bed with her, in the venal sense, is beyond question.

Lobbying is the business of peddling influence. Iseman marketed her connections to McCain.

Three telecom lobbyists and a former McCain aide, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Iseman spoke up regularly at meetings of telecom lobbyists in Washington, extolling her connections to McCain and his office. She would regularly volunteer at those meetings to be the point person for the telecom industry in dealing with McCain's office. ~ Washington Post, Feb. 21

The list of her clients includes several, most prominently Paxson Communications, who have significantly benefited from McCain's actions on the Communications Committee. McCain, in turn, has benefited from the relationship. Tit for tat.

Their relationship is meaningful whether or not McCain and Iseman got around to interlocking groins. Their relationship goes to the heart of the lobbyist-politician saturnalia that has perverted national commerce, the tax code, and even the very the concept of war and peace. Their relationship is part of the debauchery influencing every aspect of Washington business as usual.

Update: An update in lieu of a new post because my sinuses have decided to simulate waterboarding on me. It looks like St. John's blanket denial is more holey than holy; more hobo's bindle than Shroud of Turin.