Read this from George Will http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will120708.php3
Travis wrote: > From: *Travis* > Date: Thu, Nov 20, 2008 > Subject: Obama's secret plan to muzzle talk radio. Very, very secret. > > > > > > > � > *Bum Rush* > > Obama's secret plan to muzzle talk radio. Very, very secret. > > *Marin Cogan,� The New Republic� *Published:�Wednesday, December 03, 2008 > > Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and other friends have spent the past year > screaming about the horrors of Barack Obama. And, while it's true that they > talked ad nauseam about socialism and the Weathermen and Jeremiah Wright, > careful listeners would have noticed a recurring theme of anxiety: that > Obama was going to use the newly acquired levers of government to destroy > them. Specifically, conservative paranoia over the possible reinstatement of > the "fairness doctrine," a defunct policy requiring that broadcasters allow > opposing points of view to be heard over the airwaves, has reached a fevered > pitch. In September, George Will was warning his readers that, "[u]nless > McCain is president, the government will reinstate the ... 'fairness > doctrine.'" In October, *The Wall Street Journal*'s editorial page chimed > in, predicting that under the spooky-sounding "liberal supermajority," the > fairness doctrine was "likely to be reimposed," with the goal being "to shut > down talk radio and other voices of political opposition." And, two weeks > before the election, the *New York Post* blasted: "Dems Get Set to Muzzle > the Right." > > On Election Day, conservatives found a new bogeyman in Senator Chuck > Schumer, after Fox News host Bill Hemmer cornered him about the issue on the > air. Schumer just smirked: "I think we should all try to be fair and > balanced, don't you?" Rush Limbaugh seized on Schumer's comments as evidence > that the Democrats would "do everything they can" to bring the doctrine > back. Two days after the election, *National Review*'s Peter Kirsanow tried > to rally the troops to preempt the return of the policy. "Waiting until > Inauguration Day to get geared up is too late. By that time the Fairness > Doctrine Express will be at full steam--wavering Democrats will be pressed > to support the new Democratic president, weak-kneed Republicans will want to > display comity, the mainstream media will not be saddened to see talk radio > annihilated and much of the public will be too enraptured by Obama's Camelot > inauguration to notice or care." > > To figure out who was causing such agitation, I went searching for the > proponents of the fairness doctrine. I looked at Obama's position--and it > turns out that he doesn't want the policy reinstated. Then I called the > array of Democratic congressmen who had been tagged by conservatives as > doctrine proponents. But they all denied any intention to push for its > reinstatement. As some of the world's great egotists, it's not surprising > that Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly believe they would be the first political > prisoners interned in an Obama administration. But, the more I searched for > actual evidence of the doctrine's return, the more I had to conclude that > Schumer was just messing with their heads. > > *The fairness doctrine* was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission > in 1949, under the argument that the airwaves were a finite public resource. > License holders were considered public trustees, with a responsibility to > present opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. From the beginning, the > doctrine was imprecise and difficult to enforce, and, by 1987, the policy > was repealed. > > It has become obvious by now that the biggest beneficiaries of the > doctrine's demise were the conservative media. Last year, a study by the > Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 91 percent of weekday talk > radio is conservative, compared with just 9 percent that is progressive. Far > from establishing an unencumbered marketplace of ideas, the free-market > approach, critics complain, edged most voices out of the debate. > > It's no wonder, then, that conservatives fear the fairness doctrine's return > and busily document any favorable mention of the policy by Democrats. One of > the most recent remarks that fueled the paranoia occurred in June, when John > Gizzi, a reporter from the conservative magazine *Human Events*, asked House > Speaker Nancy Pelosi if she would allow a vote on a bill called the > Broadcaster Freedom Act, which was introduced last year by former talk-show > host turned House member Mike Pence in an attempt to permanently outlaw the > reinstatement of the policy. Pelosi said she wouldn't, mentioning New York > Representative Louise Slaughter as an active proponent of reinstating the > fairness doctrine. But Slaughter, like many other media-reform advocates, > has shifted focus away from the doctrine in recent years, instead working to > rein in the consolidation of media ownership. Shortly after the *Human > Events *piece surfaced, a Democratic leadership staffer called Pelosi's > office to ask if the mention indicated that the speaker had plans to move on > new legislation promoting the doctrine. Pelosi's staff, according to that > aide, confirmed that she did not. And, even if Pelosi were to allow the > legislation to move forward, another staffer says, she would not have the > Democratic support to get it passed. > > Conservatives also focus on the 2005 effort by Democratic Representative > Maurice Hinchey of New York to introduce a bill that would have reinstated > the doctrine. But that effort went nowhere. At the time, Andrew Schwartzman, > president of the Media Access Project, explained to the congressman that the > measure did not have the support of the media-reform community. Schwartzman > doubts Hinchey will try again. In fact, the last time a revival of the > doctrine seemed possible was in 1993. Limbaugh's declaration that he was > being "gang-muzzled" unleashed a public outcry against the bill, and > Congress backed down. > > Today, the doctrine has almost no support from media-reform advocates. > According to Mark Lloyd, co-author of the CAP report, "I don't think there's > any movement [to restore the fairness doctrine] at all. ... We don't support > it. " Craig Aaron of the media-reform group FreePress says, "[I]n reality, > the fairness doctrine as it existed is never ever coming back." > > Responses from the offices of most of the Democrats who have been pegged as > fairness-doctrine proponents--Schumer, Dick Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, and > others--have ranged from a firm denial that the issue is a priority at all > to disbelief at finding themselves at the center of a manufactured > controversy. "Somebody plucked this out of the clear blue sky," says the > press secretary for New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat who was > questioned about the issue by a conservative radio-show host a few weeks > ago. "This is a completely made- up issue." Senator Durbin's press secretary > says that Durbin has "no plans, no language, no nothing. He was asked in a > hallway last year, he gave his personal view"--that the American people were > served well under the doctrine--"and it's all been blown out of proportion." > In fact, as recently as last year, the House voted by an overwhelming > three-to-one margin to temporarily prohibit the FCC from imposing the dead > policy; 113 Democrats voted to support the move. > > Meanwhile, the president-elect himself has said in no uncertain terms that > he does "not support reimposing the fairness doctrine on broadcasters." > Republican paranoia is nothing more than that. > > Democrats may scratch their heads over why this has lately become a > right-wing obsession, but the paranoia is not without precedent. The > prospect of being in the opposition often brings out the worst in > conservatives--paranoia and self-pity. Plus, when the conservative coalition > seems threatened, there's no better way to unify the party than scaring up > liberal bogeymen. > > Take last year, when Congress failed to pass immigration reform. Some House > members blamed Rush Limbaugh for whipping his listeners into such an > anti-amnesty frenzy that would-be Republican supporters of the bill jumped > ship. Conservatives were staring down a deep chasm. Their coalition looked > vulnerable and ineffective. Then, Senator James Inhofe remembered that he > had overheard Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton conspiring in a Capitol Hill > elevator--not quite the place where those ladies usually do their strategic > planning--to deliver a "legislative fix" to the Limbaugh problem. First > Inhofe said that he had overheard them "the other day"; later, he said that > it was three years prior. No matter. Shortly thereafter, Pence introduced > his bill to permanently defeat the doctrine. Invoking fear of the doctrine > turned out to be a quick fix after all: The bill never got out of committee, > but it quickly gained the support of more than 200 congressional > Republicans--and countless dittoheads. > > *Marin Cogan is a reporter-researcher at *The New Republic. > � > > __._,_.___ > Messages<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJmYTNyM3EwBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNtc2dzBHN0aW1lAzEyMjcyMjY5NjA-> > MARKETPLACE > ------------------------------ > From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods > <http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=13rt19i8l/M=493064.12016295.13271503.10835568/D=groups/S=1705323667:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1227234161/L=/B=HiXrAULaX.0-/J=1227226961098702/A=5530388/R=0/SIG=11nuutlas/*http://explore.yahoo.com/groups/kraftmealsmadesimple/> > [image: Yahoo! > Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZDY2ZHYwBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTIyNzIyNjk2MQ--> > Change settings via the > Web<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJnZmNtcmhwBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNzdG5ncwRzdGltZQMxMjI3MjI2OTYx>(Yahoo! > ID required) > Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily > Digest<[EMAIL PROTECTED]:+Digest>| > Switch > format to Traditional<[EMAIL PROTECTED]:+Traditional> > Visit Your Group > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZHNocnRjBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNocGYEc3RpbWUDMTIyNzIyNjk2MQ-->| > Yahoo! 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