The response of the MSM further proves the point. They don't challenge her conflict of interest but instead imply that because of her journalistic integrity (read: proven track record of liberal journalism), she's above charges of bias.

The Ifill affair is a minor example of MSM bias, however, when compared with their potentially election-determining coverage of the current financial crisis. I knew as this drama was unfolding that Democrats, though demonstrably responsible for the government actions that made this meltdown inevitable, would succeed in pinning it on Republicans -- right before the election, no less.

Sure enough, though McCain was edging past Obama as this mess began, Obama has now taken a significant lead, and it's largely because the MSM are promoting the Democratic template that capitalism and corporate, Republican greed caused it, not bleeding-heart, social-planning liberalism. (Isn't it ironic that liberals continue mouthing the absurd argument that the crisis is being caused by federal deficit spending born of Bush tax cuts yet this bailout plan involves enormous increases in the federal deficit?)

And if the MSM were scrutinizing and reporting on Obama's truly scandalous record with one-tenth the intensity they are investigating the Palin non-scandals, the American public would be irreversibly horrified at the prospect of an Obama presidency.

All of this said, this election is far from over. And the alternative media are doing a valiant job busting MSM myths and countering their denied biases.

But it's hard to help those who are disinclined to help themselves. John McCain certainly has plenty of fight left in him. But it's time he finally got a divorce from the adulterous MSM, who just pretended to love him when it suited their ends.

It's time he quits giving Dems a pass (especially for this crisis they caused), unleashes Sarah Palin from her constraints, and re-energizes the base to deliver him a victory. Give us some red meat, senator -- please.