Ed Morrissey writes, "The schadenfreude quotient of this story makes it irresistible. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd got stranded by the McCain campaign in Pittsburgh after the campaign revoked her credential for the press section of the campaign airplane in August."

And Hell hath no fury like a MoDo spurned:

"It was disappointing because I didn't think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney."

Does the First Amendment hinge on Maureen Dowd getting a seat on the McCain campaign jet? Did we enter a time of tyranny because she has to find other travel arrangements? Maybe Dowd should start reporting on Obama's Truth Squad in Missouri, where a campaign actually is attempting to intimidate critics into silence through prosecution. Neither Dowd nor her newspaper seem terribly interested in defending the First Amendment where it counts.

Reporters are not owed a spot on the campaign planes. Newspapers don't have a right to that seat. They can cover the campaigns by purchasing flights on their own if they like. Maureen Dowd stopped being a reporter when she started writing opinion columns, which makes her a strange choice for the Times under any circumstances, and her column on Palin and dinosaurs should have disqualified her from the McCain beat anyway, if the Times had any editorial sense at all.

Enjoy flying coach, Maureen. Try reading the First Amendment between stops.