As interpreted by the FEC, these restrictions on the restrictions led to the "crisis" of "sham issue ads" and "soft money" that provoked McCain and his allies to pass another law. They not only banned soft money but prohibited unions and corporations -- including advocacy groups organized as nonprofit corporations -- from sponsoring "electioneering communication," defined as TV or radio ads that refer to federal candidates and appear in their states or districts within 60 days of an election.

 When it upheld the law last December, the Supreme Court said even this blatant attempt by incumbent politicians to muzzle their critics was justified by the need to prevent circumvention of earlier "reforms." So the FEC asked the next logical question: Should we allow interest groups to freely criticize public officials the rest of the year?

 For now, McCain is focusing his ire on 527s. But if the FEC ultimately does what he wants and prevents these groups from soaking up the soft money the parties used to get, the nasty stuff might instead flow to 501(c) advocacy groups such as the Sierra Club and the National Rifle Association.

 Naturally, these organizations are alarmed at the prospect that they too will be regulated as political committees, which helps explain why the FEC received a record 150,000 comments when it raised the issue. McCain's response is not very reassuring: "There is no immediate campaign finance regulatory problem with the 501(c) groups."

 And what about all the other "loopholes"? If a wealthy man like George Soros should be prevented from giving as much as he wants to a group that sponsors ads critical of the Bush administration, why should he be allowed to spend his money on such ads directly? Given the danger that interest groups might buy or establish their own media outlets (as the NRA is considering), is it safe to exempt journalists from the government's speech restrictions?

 Uh, forget what I said about John McCain. He's a helluva guy.