THE CONSPIRACY OF TRIVIA

It's often said, in trying to sort out the rights and wrongs of some public controversy, that the scandal isn't the illegal behavior--the scandal is what's legal. The press understandably tends to concentrate on whether laws were broken. This is a bright line that relieves journalists of the need to make (or, worse, be seen making) moral judgments. But in this world of sinners, the fact that some people choose to cross the line is less interesting and important than the question of where society chooses to draw the line.

Campaign finance is a perfect example. To be sure, it's bad...