Recall the Fairness Doctrine. One commentator over at NewsBusters said it well:
Fairness?
Submitted by ruby2ssday on Tue, 08/23/2011 - 5:01pm.
The "Fairness Doctrine" has nothing to do with fairness. It is to protect the speech of radical minorities and overpower those who promote rational debate.
It has been pushed upon the American people since way back in 1949 by the progressive loonies who thought that Americans wouldn't notice their deceitful practices. To be brief, the Fairness Doctrine was a misnomer that claimed talk radio needed to be balanced by providing the same amount of lefty progressive commentators as there are right conservative commentators. It was imposed to ensure the broadcasters gave equal time to differing political opinions.
The trouble is, when implemented, the lefty talk shows had far fewer listeners than the conservative ones anyway! Many of the failed progressive radio shows were cancelled. Therefore, demanding that "equal time to differing political opinions" be imposed made the loony lefties think that they would get the upper hand in talk radio.
The Obama gangster government tried to instill this stupid doctrine, once again, earlier in the beginning of this regime. Didn't work. Too many people were on to them and prevented the FCC from implementing it again.
Fast forward to August, 2011. It was announced by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) that the "the Fairness Doctrine is now officially dead." Sounds good, right? Not so fast! Take a look at this email letter I recently received that tells the truth of the matter:
From the Desk of:
David Martin, Executive Vice President
Media Research Center
August 25, 2011
Christine,
More “free-speech” sleight-of-hand is coming from the Obama Administration. Early this week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced they were doing away with what we have called the Censorship Doctrine - the so-called “Fairness” Doctrine. This federal doctrine, a relic from 1949, was imposed to ensure the broadcasters gave equal time to differing political opinions.
Great news, right? Not so fast . . .
According to Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell, the FCC “deserves one-handed applause” for the move. Before striking the politically volatile “Fairness Doctrine,” the FCC implemented rules of “localism,” “media diversity,” and a nebulous requirement to “serve the public interest.” All designed to empower the FCC to limit speech they don’t like.
As Brent points out, “the path to censor radio airwaves has been long paved through the back door.”
Click here to read Brent’s statement and then here to take action with the MRC.
+ + Speech isn’t free if it’s under government control
The FCC is making a big deal about the repeal of the “Fairness Doctrine, because they have put other tools in place to accomplish the same goals. Among others, these tools are “localism” and “diversity.”
Christine, under the nefarious concept of localism, unelected and unaccountable statists at the FCC could in regulate how much time broadcasters must dedicate to so-called local issues (as defined by the FCC) – in effect limiting the amount of time they can give to programming their listeners want to hear.
Under government mandated “diversity” in station ownership, a station owner could have his application to renew his license denied for no reason other than there being a lack of minority owned stations in their listening area. Across the rest of the federal government the people working as affirmative action bean counters have consistently shown that their ultra left-wing belief system takes priority over the rule of law.
Generations of American soldiers, sailors and marines didn’t die so that the First Amendment could be repealed by overpaid government employees at the FCC. These regulations do not exist for their stated purpose. They exist only a sneaky means for leftists in the permanent federal bureaucracy to control what the American people can hear.
The threats of government control and censorship are alive and well in the U.S. The free speech rights of EVERY American are threatened -- not to mention the fate of political free speech on radio airwaves!
Liberals know that silencing us will help them to advance their socialist agenda -- unchallenged and under the radar.
That’s why the MRC proactively launched our national grassroots petition to protect and preserve the free speech rights of Americans. Through this petition, Americans from all walks of life have the opportunity to answer back to the Obama Administration’s backdoor efforts to silence and suppress dissent!
Click here now and stand for free speech. [Note from Christine - SIGN THIS PETITION!]
By signing this petition, you will join with almost half a million American citizens who want their individual free speech rights defended and protected from government intrusion! Our great nation was built upon free and open discourse, and to remain a great nation this ideal must be protected and preserved at all costs.
After signing, please alert your friends -- urging them to follow your lead.
Thank you in advance for your efforts!
David
P.S: Alert your friends today. Forward this message to 25-30 friends urging them to read Brent Bozell’s statement and take action to protect and preserve our free speech right.
Well, I've done my job by signing the petition (at above link) and alerting the up to 100 visitors that come to this blog on any given day. I hope that you will pass this information along to others, too.
Let these liars know that WE WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!
Thanks,
~ Christine
Hat tips to all links.
