IMHO the fundamental gripe about McCain-Feingold is its ratification of journalism's con that "the press" is a perfect synonym for "journalism."It makes journalism an Establishment for the purposes of political controversy in the days before an election. Whether on the front page or on the editorial page, anything goes for the journalist; "no law" means no law.
The crucial problem is that journalism is a guild whose defining principle is the eleventh commandment: thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow journalist. "Ill, in this case, meaning "not objective." Talk radio is a form of journalism--or would be, if not for its honesty and candor about perspective:
- conservative talk radio hosts are universally candid about the fact that they are not "objective" but conservative.
- conservative talk radio hosts are honest about the fact that members of the guild of "objective journalists" are "liberal" (in fact of course, journalists are superficial and negative because the public can't ignore an article headlined, "Is Your Drinking Water Unsafe?" The preference of journalists for negativity, and the superficiality inherent in journalism's deadlines, produces a propaganda wind down which a Ted Kennedy can sail without even having to sober up--and that propaganda wind is "liberalism").