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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Yet Another Lib Joins the Attack on Broadcast Freedom

Further to my previous post on this unsettling issue, this:

In pursuit of the Obama White House's stated objective (see their website) to "encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media" and to "clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the national spectrum," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has joined Sen. Stebanow (D-MI) in publicly advocating for reimposition of the "Fairness Doctrine".

During a interview with Bill Press, Sen. Harkin said "we gotta get the Fairness Doctrine back in law again." And in a earlier interview with Press, Sen. Stebanow, whose husband had been VP for Air America, a failed left-leaning network, stated that "it is absolutely time to pass a standard," and that "whether it's called the Fairness Doctrine or something else, I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves."

In reaction to these developments, Rep. King (R-IA), a co-sponsor of the Broadcaters Freedom Act, which I described in my July 2008 post, asked if "Rush Limbaugh [so] intimidates Sen. Harkin that he wants to ration free speech?" Rep. King went on to voice his concern that allowing a liberal-dominated government to dictate what is "fair" in broadcast journalism "will stifle free speech and hurt our free flow of information." And that, of course, is precisely the liberals' goal.

Thus, the growing list of liberals who have publicly voiced their determination to resurrect the Fairness Doctrine clearly suggests that conservative fears of censorship in the broadcast media are not in the least unfounded or far-fetched.

What is acutely concerning here is that Democrats, either stealthily or openly, are intent upon imposing their "fairness" standards on the conservative-dominated broadcast media but NOT on the newspaper media which is already dominated by them.

Next, of course, will be suppression of free speech on the internet. In their arrogant and self-serving pursuit of socialist conformity, the liberals' will spare no effort to harness all media outlets in the months and years to come.

Keep your powder dry and your eyes & ears on the upcoming Telecommunications & Internet Broadcasting Subcommittee hearings. You may be sure that the progressive assault on our liberties will continue unabated and increasingly brazen.