What if Trump were Obama, and Sinclair were CNN?

As in the Trump-Amazon kerfuffle, the question of Sinclair Broadcasting’s internal policies and ideological direction don’t admit of easy, black-and-white answers. But we wince to imagine the response among lots of famous right-wingers in the media and in Congress if the same were revealed on the other side of the media’s ideological divide. If, say, MSNBC were discovered to require its anchors to recite vaguely anti-administration talking points, or if Jeff Zucker, say, were overheard grousing about the “complete lack of integrity” among conservative journalists, all hell would break loose at Fox News. There would be no allowance for ambiguity and context and the distinction between private companies and public entities; it would be a scandal about mandatory agitprop and radical left-wing media bias.

We’re glad Republicans aren’t saying a lot of stupid things about Amazon and Sinclair. We only wish it were for the right reason.