McCarthy calls media elitist, unresponsive. (Eugene McCarthy)

The former Pied Piper of the sixties anti-war movement is now 78. But the years don't seem to have taken much of a toll on Eugene McCarthy. His tall frame is still sturdy. His handsome Irish features are still youthful. And he still relishes his role as the poetic gadfly of American politics.

McCarthy was in St. Louis recently to speak on ethics at the First Unitarian Church. The next day, sitting in a friend's backyard in the Central West End, his unending enthusiasm for political ideas was evident. This is a man who ran seriously for president in 1992 -- even though the…