U.S. Senator John McCain is having a campaign rally in New Orleans tonight just before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Who can forget the picture of a smiling McCain and George W. Bush holding a birthday cake the morning that the disaster hit? Even worse, who could forget that John McCain twice voted against the appointment of a commission to investigate the abysmal administration response to Katrina?

In a statement following Hurricane Katrina John McCain said that Americans should “come to the aid” of Katrina victims and then he voted to oppose extending unemployment benefits to the victims of the disaster. He also voted against granting them access to Medicaid at their most desperate time of need. Apparently his call to come to their aid did not extend to himself nor beyond his extreme ideology. Repeatedly John McCain’s actions have been the exact opposite of his words on Katrina. Will he take the time tonight to explain his record or will he pretend that it doesn’t exist and misuse the solemn occasion purely for politics? That, like his record on Katrina, would be a real tragedy.