When Larry Craig was caught in a sex sting in an airport bathroom last year, the story of the Republican senator's hypocrisy was front-page news. That isn't so unusual. Many social conservatives have had embarrassing sexual escapades, from extramarital affairs (House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston) to homosexual prostitution (evangelical leader Larry Haggard). And whenever it happens, the media hoot with glee.

Funny thing, though. When Al Franken recently paid tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes to more than a dozen states, the story got much less play -- even though Franken is a household name.

Now running in Minnesota for the Senate seat held by Norm Coleman, the liberal Franken has long lampooned Republican tax policies that ostensibly favor the rich. As he said recently about his opponent, "Norm Coleman and George W. Bush have squandered our precious resources on special tax breaks for millionaires."

Franken also promises to "be a voice for . . . working families." But his private corporation has had to pay fines for failing to carry worker's compensation insurance.

Such hypocrisy concerning liberal sacred cows would seem to present an inviting target for media scrutiny. But that's not how it's being treated. Instead, stories on Franken's foibles have focused on Michael Brodkorb, a blogger -- and onetime Republican operative -- who has exposed them. Is Brodkorb a citizen journalist, or a Republican hatchet man?

Does it matter? More, probably, than it would if Brodkorb were a Democrat and Franken a Republican. To span the gap between media scrutiny of the two parties, one has to take a very wide stance indeed.