Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has made his peace with President Barack Obama since his loss to the candidate nearly four years ago--yet the 75 year-old conservative still has some maverick left in him, and Twitter is taking notice.

According to OhMyGov Analytics, nearly 3,411 references to the senator were recorded on Twitter--many of them on earlier this week, a growth of 15.% percent for the week.

Much of the chatter surrounded McCain's clarion calls for military intervention in Syria, the most recent comments coming during a press conference in Malaysia as McCain--who was joined by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT)--described the clashes between Assad's military forces and the insurgent Free Syrian Army as 'not a fair fight'.

"It is shameful that the United Nations Security Council should again be hindered by Russia and China by their vetoes for any significant action on Syria," McCain said, referencing the two countries' opposition to the use of force to get rid of the Assad regime.

The reaction on social media has been almost instantaneous, several harshly critical of Obama's reluctance to get involved in what is rapidly becoming a regional proxy war as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states arm the rebels while Iran and Russia are stepping up military support for the Syrian government, including at least one aircraft carrier.

"Well said sir," @9Sixty6 congratulated the senator. "Obama is disappointing so much, he's busy with his bumper sticker while children are dying in Syria.  Wake up!"

"We need to pressure Russia," @maxprof offered some advice. "As long as Russia keeps supplying arms it will not end."

As with most international conflicts, the truth is the first casualty.  Because Western journalists are barred from entering the country and some have even been killed once they get there, facts are difficult to verify.  The best anyone can do is speculate--and everyone have their own version of what is going on, including McCain.

According to globaldefence.net, a site analyzing military and security policy, Russia's foray into the Syrian conflict is as much economic as political. The country--one of the few that have a diplomatic relationship with Syria--has an estimated $4 billion in arms contracts with Syria's military forces, and has invested some $20 billion in civilian infrastructure, including roads, investments in energy, and even promoting tourism between Russia and Syria.

McCain's agitation used to be taken for chest-beating, but the media is starting to take notice. 138 stories were written about the senator following his May 28 comments--small in proportion to the Twitter chatter, but hardly a drop in the bucket. The Arizona Star was one of the newspapers to cover McCain, but they were joined by the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, the UK Telegraph, Australia's Perth Now.  In contrast to the others, the Telegraph-Herald's headline was direct and to the point saying bluntly, 'McCain blames Russians!'

The State Department inched further towards support for military intervention May 31 following comments by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that a Libya-like campaign would require the unanimous support of the United Nations Security Council--including Russia and China. In the meantime, the Pentagon continues its support for economic and diplomatic pressure on Syria, with acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs George Little confirming that diplomatic officials are in contact with their counterparts in Europe and elsewhere about what further actions could be taken to counter the Assad regime.