But war on the First Amendment and the role of journalism in a democracy is increasingly the go-to move for a Republican Party aware that whipping up the masses with hated of the media can cover up its many sins. Arizona’s appointed Sen. Martha McSally gave up the game last week with a pathetic attack on CNN’s Manu Raja, responding to a fairly tame question by lashing out at him as a “liberal hack,” then using the clip to raise campaign donations and go on Fox News to boost her flagging election campaign. It was a jarring reminder of the ugly and thuggish politics just beneath the veneer of 18th-century ceremony and pseudo-civility.