This past weekend, the Protect America Act of 2007 was passed by the House, passed by the Senate and signed into law by George W. Bush, with the whole process being completed within five days of the bill’s initial introduction. (This incredibly brief time span is part of why Senator Dianne Feinstein complained that she didn’t understand the bill — right before she cast the deciding vote to approve it.)

The title of the bill, the “Protect America Act,” is part of the stagecraft used by Republicans to intimidate the most spineless among Democrats into voting for their legislation. If you don’t vote for the bill, see, you must not want to “Protect America.” It’s inane and dishonest, but that’s the game the Republicans play.

So fine, let’s play the stupid game the Republicans started. The following are the 2008 Republican presidential candidates who are also members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate:

Senator Sam Brownback
Senator John McCain
Representative Duncan Hunter
Representative Ron Paul
Representative Tom Tancredo

The following are members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate who utterly failed to show up to vote on the passage of the Protect America Act of 2007:

Senator John McCain
Representative Duncan Hunter
Representative Ron Paul
Representative Tom Tancredo

The bill passed with just 60 votes, and in the Senate you can’t pass a bill practically speaking unless you’ve got at least 60 votes, because that’s what it takes to end debate. So the Protect America Act of 2007 just squeaked by. Right up until the vote took place, the outcome was uncertain. And yet Senator John McCain failed to show up. By the Republicans’ own logic, Senator John McCain must be uninterested in Protecting America. I guess that makes him a traitor, doesn’t it? Traitor, traitor, traitor.

John McCain isn’t alone. House members Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo failed to show up to vote on the Protect America Act. They failed to do their sworn bit to Protect America. Why does Duncan Hunter hate America? Why does Ron Paul hate America? Why does Tom Tancredo hate America?

For the subtextually-impaired, let me note that these are rhetorical questions, not sincere ones. I’m making a point. If you think that asking this sort of question demeans the political process, then you should also ask yourself why you would think of supporting the political party that flogged this sort of question to electoral victory in the 2002 and 2004 elections.