Not reporting for duty

99 Senators were present for this:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts walked triumphantly into the Senate on Wednesday for the first time since learning that he had brain cancer, hoping to provide Democrats with the crucial, single vote that they need to reverse a cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors...

Mr. Kennedy’s dramatic entry gave the Democrats a stunning victory, and was a humbling setback for Republican leaders who had vowed to block the Medicare measure. The shift of nine more Republicans in favor gave the Democrats a veto-proof majority. The House had already approved the bill by the overwhelming margin of 355 to 59, meaning that if support in the Senate holds, a veto, which has been threatened, by the White House could be overridden.

And the reversal was overturned by a 69 to 30 vote.

Ted Kennedy just had brain surgery and wasn't expected back until September. He showed up.

The one missing Senator, John McCain -- the man who constantly proclaims his devotion to "DUTY" as being above all else.

And while one can expect a Senator running for President to miss a significant chunk of time from the Senate (Clinton and Obama) McCain's absence is particularly galling.

McCain had his parties nomination effectively wrapped up by early March. Yet he still hasn't bothered to show up to even vote in the Senate, while Obama and Clinton were slugging it out until just a few weeks ago.

As of June 25th:

In April, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) became the most absent member of the Senate. According to the Washington Post’s votes database, McCain has “missed 367 votes (61.4%) during the current Congress.” In fact, CQ reports today that McCain hasn’t voted in the Senate since April 8.

I'm pretty sure McCain still has not shown up in the Senate since April 8. He has been doing nothing but speechifyin'; lyin' and whinin'.