Now that Democrats are back in control of Congress, for however brief a time, they’re ready to use government intrusion to ride the coattails of conservative talk radio.
Whenever things aren’t going well for liberals, they fall back on the only thing at their disposal: Big Government. When outgunned and outmanned, they create more government regulations to inhibit the success and progress of their conservative betters. One way they intend to do this is by resurrecting the so-called Fairness Doctrine.
The Fairness Doctrine was a Federal Communications Commission regulation enforced from 1949 to 1987 that required broadcast licensees to present both sides of a controversial issue.
During the era of deregulation under President Ronald Reagan, the practice was dropped in 1987. In the absence of the archaic regulation, conservative talk radio flourished. But liberals are eager to exercise their new power and leech off the success of conservative markets. Led by busybodies with too little important work to do like Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Senator Bernie Sanders, Democrats want to chill conservative speech and what they consider to be attacks against liberals.
In practice, the Fairness Doctrine is impractical. A conservative broadcaster seeking to establish his solo show probably wouldn’t include a liberal in the format to argue for the “other side,†and a conservative host wouldn’t be conservative if he constantly discussed “contrasting points of view.†Under a Fairness Doctrine law, he’d be fined for his one-sided show.
I know conservative shows are biased, but the bias is transparent. That’s why I occasionally listen to Rush Limbaugh. I want to hear him cut down liberals, mock their Big Government reliance, fear of competition, and race pandering. On days when I’m sick to death of our not-conservative-enough-for-me president, I turn on Rush, who always makes me feel better.
And that’s exactly what liberals want to dilute. Conservatives win every time in the war of ideas; liberals, bereft of ideas of their own, will try to suppress and regulate the marketplace of ideas at every opportunity. For examples, see college speech codes and hate crime laws.
Liberals dominate major newspapers and most television networks. They rule Hollywood, and in most major cities, you are presumed to be liberal unless otherwise noted, especially if you’re black. They’ve got taxpayer-supported radio and TV already. National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System both lean left. But it’s not enough for them. They are more interested in stifling conservative speech than creating something of value of their own in an open and competitive radio market.
Air America failed because people just don’t want to listen to a bunch of whiny, white, America-hating leftists all day. Go figure!
Related posts:
- The PBS Incident – Personal story
- PBS Gets The Message About Liberal Bias
- Failure of Liberal Talk Radio
- Air America Fails to Re-Pay Money Stolen From Poor Black Kids in New York – To File for Bankruptcy?
Sources:
- Why The Fairness Doctrine Is Anything But Fair
- The Fairness Doctrine
- Democrats’ New ‘Fairness’ Push May Silence Conservative Radio Hosts, Critics Say
- The case for killing the FCC and selling off spectrum
