From WNYC in New York, this is on the media.

Brooke Gladstone is off this week.

I'm Bob Garfield.

Friday morning at 129 after seven years of conflict and drama, at long last came the Denouement.

Arizona Senator John McCain, having returned to the Senate from brain surgery for the

decisive votes on the repeal of Obamacare, shambled across the blue Senate carpet

and literally turned his thumb down on so-called skinny repeal.

The drama wasn't incidental. McCain planned it that way,

telling inquiring reporters Thursday to wait for the show.

And the scene was indeed like a season-ending episode of West Wing,

because even in the minutes leading

up to the vote, he was letting his Republican colleagues, including the vice president,

petition him for support, although he'd already informed Democratic leadership of his intentions.

For an hour, McConnell comes in, goes out, various floor leaders doing the same.

We can't tell what's happening, and I'm hoping you can.

They were talking. John McCain walked away and just sort of patted the vice president on his hand and walked away and left him standing there,

and it was just interesting body language.

Yeah, he just kind of walked away and the vice president was like, okay.

That Republicans are concerned.

I mean, they are scurrying around.

They're trying to figure out exactly how to handle this situation.

It was the apparent end not only for the GOP's quixotic repeal ambitions, but very possibly,

...