For all the public posturing that’s gone on over the past few days over Barack Obama’s wise decision to forego public financing by the McCain campaign and enabled by the press, John McCain has been given a virtual pass on his own cheating of the public financing system.

For starters, he opted into public financing for the primary when his campaign faced an early demise. From MediaMatters.org:

McCain signed a loan agreement that could have forced him to remain in the race — even if he had no chance of winning — in order to be eligible for public matching funds to repay the loan. The New York Times has described the loan as being “secured in part by the promise of federal matching money for the primaries.” Nor did these reports point out that Federal Election Commission (FEC) chairman David Mason has taken the position that McCain cannot legally opt out of public financing for the primary without FEC approval and that in the same letter, Mason asked the McCain campaign to expand upon its assertion that it had not “pledged the certification of Matching Payment funds as security for private financing.” If McCain’s campaign is not allowed to withdraw from the public financing system and if it is found to have raised and spent money beyond public financing limits, its actions “could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison,” according to The Washington Post.

When you see Lindsey Graham and John McCain crying crocodile tears on MTP for the purpose of exaggerating Obama’s choice to opt out of public financing, remember this quote:

“This is serious,” agreed Republican election lawyer Jan Baran. Ignoring the matter on the grounds that the FEC lacks a quorum, Baran said, “is like saying you’re going to break into houses because the sheriff is out of town.”

Yet, what you heard from the media last week was that Barack Obama had gone back on his word. Arianna Huffington has some choice quotes from major media outlets here. I agree with her conclusion, too:

So while Obama’s decision is a subject open to debate, the mainstream media should not be allowed to get away with their continued refusal to accurately report on the fall of John McCain.

This is the very big deal.