The Unfairness of the Fairness Doctrine by Dennis Powers

With the election of Barack Obama, the misnomer of the “Fairness Doctrine” has raised its ugly head again. There should be a law against naming bills that go through Congress because the name rarely reflects the contents of the bill. All bills are assigned a number and, just like in Federal Prison, they don’t need a name.

Soon, Liberals in Congress will once again try to reintroduce the Fairness Doctrine, which should be named the Suppression of Free Speech Doctrine. No bill has less equality or impartiality in it than the so-called Fairness Doctrine because there is nothing fair about it.

Liberals already control most of the mass media including major newspapers and television networks. Now, they want to silence the principal voice of Conservatives - talk radio, especially Rush Limbaugh.

The FCC promulgated the Fairness Doctrine in 1949 to ensure that “contrasting viewpoints” would be presented on radio and television. In 1985, the FCC repealed the doctrine after determining it failed to serve the public interest because it actually resulted in broadcasters limiting coverage of controversial issues of public importance.

Liberals tried their own talk radio and failed with Air America, which was originally funded by money out of a federal grant for the elderly in New York City and later filed bankruptcy. Someone should tell AARP.

Since they could not counter the only voice of Conservatives, the liberal’s goal now is to stifle the free speech of the First Amendment by requiring conservative and religious broadcasts to allow equal time for the opposing point of view!

If Congress is so concerned about equal time, why aren’t conservative views being presented on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, PBS, NPR, etc.? Will the Fairness Doctrine apply to the taxpayer-funded NPR and PBS? That sounds “fair.”

One of the first things that Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro did when they got into power was eliminate media opposition. If the so-called Fairness Doctrine is reinstated, someone in Europe will have to pipe in a Radio Free America signal so we can find out what is really going on in Washington.

In the past, President Bush vetoed hate crimes legislation that could be abused to include penalties for Christian and conservative radio hosts and pastors in the pulpit if they ever mention their opposition to liberal and promiscuous lifestyles. Will they be able to push their agenda through with Obama as president?

It could mean jail time, loss of licenses and loss of tax exemptions for churches if their message is perceived to convey bigotry or hatred. The hate crimes legislation, the liberals have proposed, will lay the foundation for religious persecution in our country. There is no equal protection under hate crimes legislation and free speech will only be granted to those who support the liberal agenda.

Senate Leader Harry Reid, Democrat-Nevada, once called Rush Limbaugh unpatriotic and said he “stepped over the line” regarding Rush’s comments about phony soldiers and denounced him on the Senate floor.

One such soldier, Jesse Macbeth was a rallying point for the anti-war Left. Macbeth described how he and his fellow soldiers killed innocent civilians, sometimes going into mosques in Iraq, slaughtering and hanging them during prayer time.

One small glitch in his story – Macbeth was discharged from the military after six weeks and was never in the Middle East – he never finished basic training. But, why let the truth stand in the way of a good story?

The attacks are not just on Rush Limbaugh – the smearing of Conservative talk radio hosts is all part of a larger plan – to silence conservative and religious broadcasts. The Left hates talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine will bring about censorship and control of the airways that will favor the liberal view.

According to Benjamin Franklin, "Without Freedom of Thought there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as Public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech."

Conservatives listen to talk radio because we get tired of the leftist slant on every news report we hear. However, liberals will not be content until conservative talk radio is taken off the air.

Sen. Diane Feinstein, Democrat-California once said, “In my view, talk radio tends to be one-sided. It also tends to be dwelling in hyperbole. It’s explosive. It pushes people to, I think, extreme views without a lot of information.”

Sorry, Diane – it’s the only place we can find the truth and, obviously - you can’t handle the truth.

Send comments to DennisHPowers@Comcast.net.