John McCain's campaign manager, Tricky Rick Davis got 2 million cookies protecting the mortgage giants that are at the heart of the trillion dollar bailout the taxpayers now have to foot the bill for, from regulation- and then turns out Freddie Mac paid him another 15 Gs a month from the end of '05, even though John McCain claimed otherwise and dared anyone to look into it. Well, they looked. Davis hadn't done any work of course, the scratch was merely for future access to a McCain White House.

That smarts. With the economy tanking and McCain's poll numbers suffering (and the attendant contributions suffering as well), McCain opted for a distraction.

In the guise of a white knight, he suspended his campaign (democracy goes on holiday) and galloped down to Washington to save the day. Trouble is, he has nothing to do with the bailout process; he admittedly hasn't even kept up with the daily drafts of the resolution.

And as we all know, being knee-deep in it (not the bailout by the way) McCain also wants to suspend the debates. His and Sarah Palin's. Continue with the self-imposed news blackout and hope for the best.

McCain's tactics are juvenile and obvious. He claims to only care about the economy, when it's really his craven quest for the presidency that matters to him.

McCain wants a break from his troubles. We ought to give him a scolding and a time-out.