On the one hand, he says that all politicians are corrupted by the existing system. On the other hand, he has no problem taking the money. If he really believed the system was so corrupt, why doesn't he refuse to accept the money? He was the single largest recipient of Global Crossing campaign donations. He took money from and acted on behalf of Frank Keating, becoming the only nominal Republican in the Keating Five scandal. I'd be quite surprised if he was one of the handful of senators who didn't get any Enron money, too.

McCain's bleatings on campaign finance reform remind me of the old time preacher caught diddling the church secretary. "Oh, Lawd, stop me before I sin again! Cast your wrath on that little wench so I can go back to doing your work!"

A telling moment in the current campaign finance legislation happened in the House about a month ago. There was an amendment offered that would prohibit any violation of the First Amendment. It was defeated. In a nutshell, the House voted that it was ok for the legislation to violate the First Amendment. Sorry, but I disagree. Lest you think this is just a conservative opinion, you might want to read the ACLU's opinion as well.

The current legislation has several things in it that further protects incumbents from challengers. The restrictions on raising funds will hit hardest on those who dare to challenge a sitting incumbent. The limitations on issue ads violate the First Amendment rights of individuals and organizations to address political issues near an election. The legislation stinks to high heaven. The fact that McCain is pushing it is enough for me to never consider voting for the man.