Patrick Appel writes that “The Iseman scandal coverage has been dizzying. The left jumped at the opportunity to skewer McCain, while the right equally cherished the chance to condemn the Times.” This strikes me as a pretty lazy equivalence. In a nation of 300 million people, I’m sure some people on the left have jumped at the opportunity to skewer McCain, but just about every liberal I read has taken the time to note that the Times’ sexual innuendos were a pretty inappropriate way to frame a news story.
Have I (and others) “skewered” McCain’s interventions in the regulatory process on behalf of Paxson communications and habit of accepting free plane rides from lobbyists? Sure. Meanwhile the right, it seems to me, has basically pointed at the smear and completely ignored these more substantive elements of the case against McCain’s self-righteousness. It’s a particularly odd trend since conservatives have spent a lot of time over the past ten years complaining precisely about McCain’s self-righteousness.