Just yesterday, I was complaining about the way Media Matters has contributed to the distortion of John McCain’s comments about staying 100 years in Iraq. And then today (Via Matthew Yglesias) I learn that David Brock, the head of Media Matters, is leading an independent group planning a $40 million attack campaign against McCain. It’s all starting to make sense.

PS Doesn’t Brock realize that his leadership of this effort will hurt the credibility of Media Matters? The group has succeeded in large part because its articles are written in a neutral style and provide documented support for their claims. By contrast, paid advertising is almost inevitably unfair and poorly documented — often by design since the ad’s creators often want to generate controversy to ensure attention from the press. In other words, Brock is likely to be leading a smear campaign against McCain at the same time he’s decrying a smear campaign against Obama. Good times!