[NYPOST] ... If the sight of senators in their own chamber was enough to drive Chaplain Hale to the Almighty, what would he make of a White House where senators run the show? From the presidency (ex- Sen. Barack Obama) and the vice presidency (ex- Sen. Joe Biden) to the offices of secretary of state (ex-Sen. John Kerry) and secretary of defense (ex-Sen. Chuck Hagel), this administration is dominated by escapees from the upper house of Congress.

You have to go back to the 1850s and the unhappy administration of Franklin Pierce for the last time America saw a like array of senators in these same jobs. It provokes an impertinent question: Might the surfeit of senators help explain why the president's foreign policy is in flames all across the world?

By the nature of the job, a senator shines most when he opposes a president, where his real constitutional powers -- obstruction and delay -- are best deployed. These negative powers are a strength of our system. But the Senate's innate emphasis on the deliberative and the collaborative also shields senators from the real-world consequences of their votes.

In other words, there's a reason the caricature of a senator is an old windbag.