The Left is in charge, it's Censorship Time!
The Democrats have spent years seething over their minority status. For good reason, as they had a nearly forty year reign in Congress ended by Newt Gingrich. Power is a legendary intoxicant. Well now they have a leg up, and they want to make sure it stays that way. So what does a good populist do? Analyze the reasons why you weren't so popular during those dark days of the 80s and 90s. What changed? What was the One Big Thing influencing public opinion that did not exist prior to the dark days? Evil Talk Radio.
When Ronald Reagan (PBUH) got rid of the "Fairness Doctrine" he opened the door for Rush and a host of competitors to take a previously dead medium, namely A.M. radio, and use the power of the Marketplace to convert it into an 800 pound gorilla in the Arena of Ideas. This really sucked for the Left, because all of those 60s radicals had finally secured near monopoly of all commercial and public broadcasting. I know, there was no "vast Left-wing conspiracy", it was just a natural outcome of the parochial nature of the University System.
So now we have a Democrat Congress, and they want to revive the "Fairness Doctrine" because the Left controlling PBS, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, NPR and nearly every major newspaper in America isn't good enough. They want to control the debate, and the only way is to silence Talk Radio. Or so they think.
John F Kerry:
“I think the Fairness Doctrine ought to be there and I also think equal time doctrine ought to come back. I mean these are the people who wiped out one of the most profound changes in the balance of the media is when the conservatives got rid of the equal time requirements. And the result is that, you know, they’ve been able to squeeze down and squeeze out opinion of opposing views and I think it’s been an important transition in the imbalance of our public…”
Excuse me, but who exactly wants to "squeeze down and squeeze out" opposing opinions? The Democrats believe that enforcing this B.S. anti First Amendment measure will hobble individual media outlets by imposing unnatural speech codes that God Himself (am I still allowed to say that?) only knows how the application thereof will be applied.
“It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they’re in a better position to make a decision.”
Our favorite Saddam-lovin' Senator puts the lie to the issue. These bastards know full well that Americans get both sides of the issues. That's what they hate. That's what they want to stop. They get mighty peeved when a Limbaugh or an Ingraham or a Prager or a Medved take their positions and shred them like confetti. It's NOT FAIR! It's also a threat to the tenuous hold they have on power. If it wasn't for Talk Radio the Illegal Alien Amnesty bill would be out of the Senate by now.
Of course these bastards misunderestimate the American people. We are not going back to the days of Uncle Walter telling us "That's the way it is". We've gotten used to this free speech, free thought, freedom of association paradigm, and if these bastards manage to shut down talk radio they will have to come after the Blogosphere next. I'm sure they're already studying the Chinese.
