Taranto

Randy Cohen, who writes the "Ethicist" column for the New York Times and gave $585 to MoveOn.org:

Cohen said he thought of MoveOn.org as nonpartisan and thought the donation would be allowed even under the strict rule at the Times.

"We admire those colleagues who participate in their communities--help out at the local school, work with Little League, donate to charity," Cohen said in an e-mail. "But no such activity is or can be non-ideological. Few papers would object to a journalist donating to the Boy Scouts or joining the Catholic Church. But the former has an official policy of discriminating against gay children; the latter has views on reproductive rights far more restrictive than those of most Americans. Should reporters be forbidden to support those groups? I'd say not..."

There is no problem with Cohen giving to MoveOn...

Donation to MoveOn.org; $585. Donation to the Boy Scouts; Scorn and snicker. Comparing MoveOn.org with the Boy Scouts as equivalent organizations; priceless.