Shit Hits The Fan/ Crushing Free Speech Edition

The Kerry campaign has filed an official FEC complaint to take the SBVF"T" ad off the air. My initial reaction, when Tucker Carlson reported this on CNN, was "stupid, stupid, what are you doing, do you want to let these bastards play victims?" But there was another shoe that Tucker didn't allow to drop. Let's put this in caps:

THE BUSH CAMPAIGN IS ILLEGALLY COORDINATING CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES WITH THE SBVF"T".

McCain-Feingold, as we've learned in recent months, has left open loopholes the size of well, Texas, but it is strict in preventing direct coordination between registered campaigns and 527 groups. That means there's criminal activity afoot, and not just in the common parlance in which anybody who worked for Richard Nixon (like John O'Neill) is a crook. As far as tarnishing Kerry, this ought to put the issue to rest. Now, with any luck, comes the backlash.

Interesting comment on Matthew Yglesias's site:

And, of course, the Florida thing goes along with the FEC challenge. Duh. The intent isn't to prove that BC04 is coordinating but rather to air the whole thing out in the press and fight it out on whether Bush is a cheating lying scumbag or not.

Of course, this will make the Sunday shows.

Very cynical. But there's truth in it, and moreover, I fail to see what's unethical about fighting a campaign as hard as possible according to the rules that the other side set. For the past two weeks, the focus of the campaign has been whether or not Kerry lied to get his medals. If the terrain for the next several weeks is whether or not Bush is a dirty-trickster, then the president will be in a lot of trouble, especially since his convention is shaping up to be a prolonged attack ad (what else could be the point of Zell Miller as keynote speaker?).

UPDATE: In addition to Florida, the Minnesota GOP is in cahoots with the SBVF"T", at least to the extent of linking to them, recommending the O'Neill/Corsi book, and using their own spokesmen to float SBVF"T" attacks on Kerry. The RNC has its tentacles all over this. Follow the money, as Lenin said.