UPDATE: Google rushed Wednesday to fix its popular Maps application after it renamed the Russell Senate Office Building after Sen. John McCain. The company blamed overzealous McCain fans for the move, which saw the building just across the corner from the Capitol as the “McCain Senate Office Building” on the search engine’s maps of the capital city.
Earlier, it Google was not waiting on Congress.
The internet giant has renamed the Russell Senate Office Building after Sen. John McCain in its popular Google Maps application.
The map dubs the building, just across the street from the Capitol, the “McCain Senate Office Building” — and that’s what pops up when someone searches for the term, too.
A proposal to officially rename the building has been floating among Mr. McCain’s former colleagues since moments after the senator’s death was announced Saturday — though GOP leaders are taking a go-slow approach, saying they want to form a commission to study the appropriate tribute.
Though Mr. McCain was a Republican, it’s been Democrats who have driven the renaming idea.
They’re eager not only to honor a colleague who was more beloved by Democrats than GOP voters in recent years, but also to delete the current name of the building, which honors Sen. Richard Russell, a major figure from the middle of the last century, but also a segregationist.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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