John McCain was a no show on The Late Show with David Letterman last night, prompting first good-natured needling and then apparently sincere ire from the host. “This stinks, it really is starting to smell,” said Letterman of McCain’s excuse that he was bailing on the show to immediately return to Washington, D.C. to deal with the collapsing economic bail-out Congressional negotiations, only to then turn around and sit for an interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric.

Filling McCain’s guest spot was MSNBC Countdown host Keith Olbermann, no friendly McCain surrogate, that’s for sure, and his swallowed, squirmy glee was on full display in the second segment, during which Letterman cut to live (at the time) footage of McCain getting make-up applied in advance of his chat with Couric. “Look, it’s like we caught him getting a manicure,” said Letterman, then adding, “Hey Senator, do you need a ride to the airport?”