The above is John McCain going all Howard Beale over the fact that the $410 billion omnibus spending bill needed to keep the federal government running has thousands of earmarks attached to it. Last week, McCain and the rest of the Republican caucus managed to delay its passage, although McCain himself admits that it will probably pass this week anyway. And rightfully so–earmarks or no earmarks, we sort of need a federal government, and a federal government needs cash. I sincerely doubt forcing a temporary government shutdown like what happened in ‘95 is on the table. And besides, earmarking is a bipartisan racket–plenty of Republicans are going to want to see that money flowing to their districts once the required grandstanding is out of the way.

This is getting painted as a huge embarrassment to the Democrats, and there is a little bit to that–it’s funny how the Republicans, while totally lacking in policy ideas, can still enforce near-total party discipline, while Senate majority leader Harry Reid can’t keep Russ Feingold and the Blue Dogs in line (although once the so-called moderates have had their opportunity to posture in front of the cameras for a bit and extract some token concession from the White House, they’ll likely simmer down).

But this is a bigger embarrassment for the Republicans. After all, what did they accomplish here? They got a little bit of positive press on one news cycle. Who cares? The bill will still pass, and rather than try to have a constructive debate over its contents, the GOP opted to throw yet another very public hissy fit.