Sullivan compares the anti-Glover campaign to the anti-Dr. Laura campaign instituted a few years ago by several lesbian/gay groups. But it strikes me there is a significant difference. The two campaigns would be similar if the Glover affair had been restricted to the right wing group Judicial Watch. Although the activist group might have taken a significant role in the campaign, it moved beyond that group and its contacts to what might be called mid-stream media. Nothing on MSNBC can really be called mainstream, especially not their new rant-meister who claims exclusive responsibility for the campaign, but a campaign that can harness even the small audience enjoyed by these folks is able to gain far greater traction than one that depends merely on contacts by an activist group.

The Dr. Laura boycott was spread through niche media -- the gay press and websites. These right wing campaigns against celebrity speech harnesses a more powerful network of radio and TV media to spread their message. It isn't government. So it isn't McCarthyism. But it is a powerful array of forces that is a level of magnitude greater than what prior activist networks have enjoyed.