Basic Math

John McCain was elected to the Senate in 1986. That means he's been in the Senate for just over 21 years.

In today's Washington Post story about McCain's relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, however, a campaign adviser talks about McCain's "24-year record." Four paragraphs later, the article's authors state he's spent "almost 30 years in the Senate."

What's up with that?

Update: Mary points out that if you count his two terms in the House, McCain has been in Congress for 25 years. That's closer to the campaign's oft-repeated figure of 24 years, but it doesn't let the story's authors and editors off the hook, since they were specific about Senate service.

A Night Out

Contrary to the earlier forecasts, it was clear as a bell last night. I went up to the roof periodically, both to look at the eclipse and to see if I could get any half-decent pictures.

And half-decent is an accurate way to describe this picture, taken just as the eclipse began. And, sadly, it's the best of the bunch. My pictures of the moon fully eclipsed didn't come out at all — far too underexposed to be of much use. In the end, I just didn't have a long enough lens to properly focus and judge exposure. Oh well, I'll have another chance in three years.