THEY CALL THIS FAIR PLAY

CBS won't budge. More than 340,000 emails and phone calls since Friday have had no effect. The network is still refusing to run moveon.org's 30-second ad "Child's Pay" during the Super Bowl on Sunday. Yet it's "allowing the Bush White House to run an advocacy ad of its own," moveon.org says. Apparently that's the CBS version of fair play.

"The First Amendment doesn't mean a whole lot" when CBS flouts its "constitutional obligation to air opposing points of view," Moveon.org adds.

Meantime, CBS is charging an average of $2.3 million for 30-second Super Bowl spots. Who's paying for the privilege? The usual suspects: Budweiser, FedEx, General Motors, I.B.M., Procter & Gamble, Pepsico, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Lay's potato chips, Cialis and Levitra erectile-dysfunction drugs.

Full disclosure: We didn't call CBS for comment. We're playing by its rules. And doncha just love this photo? (Enlarge it!)

Postscript: A reader wants to know, Is CBS really flouting its constitutional obligation or merely acting within its right to air what it wants? Good question. I doubt that CBS is violating the letter of the law, or its legal advisers aren't worth a dime. But I'd say it's certainly violating the spirit of the law.