The presidential hopefuls still standing - Republican John McCain and Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - seem to have found a patch of common ground in their support of a federal Shield Law for reporters. We're heartened to see it, and not just because a little like-mindedness is a welcome departure from the rough-and-tumble nature of these campaigns. It's nice to know that all those seeking the White House see the need for this legislation. Not that McCain's support for the Shield Law doesn't come without reservations, as the Arizona senator described last week when he became the last of the remaining presidential candidates to come out in support of the measure. "The Shield Law is frankly a license to do harm, perhaps serious harm, but it is also a license to do good," McCain told an annual meeting of the Associated Press. "I know that the press that discloses security secrets that should have remained so also revealed the disgrace of Abu Ghraib. So I have decided to support (the bill ). If the vote were held today, I would vote yes. "Of course, the vote wasn't held that day, and McCain could, we suppose, change his mind. The Shield Law has already passed the House of Representatives, 398-21, and in October a Senate committee voted 15-2 to send the measure to the full Senate. But the Senate has dragged its feet on the bill, and there have been rumblings that some Republican senators who've publicly supported the measure have privately assured the Bush administration, which vigorously opposes a Shield Law, they will vote against it. Still, McCain's statement of support, though somewhat tepid, is significant, for him and his party. It represents a major break from the president, to whom McCain has clung on many policy issues. It also presents a contrast: The man currently leading the GOP opposes the bill, but the man who wants to lead the party into the future supports it. Whose leadership will Senate Republicans follow ? The free flow of information, which a Shield Law would promote and protect, is essential to the functioning of democracy. That should make it an easy call.
- Benton County Daily Record
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online