In his speech announcing the suspension of his campaign McCain mentioned the lodestar of Republican Hegemony: 9-11.

Following September 11th our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to gauge the difference between the true danger to our nation’s economy, the economic panic on Wall Street and the political panic in the Republican Party. But it has become clear that the real lesson that Americans learned from 9-11 was that Republicans are perfectly willing to ruthlessly exploit chaos of any variety to their own political benefit.