In the face of an historic recession, seemingly intractable national energy and health care problems, two wars, and a widening conflict in the Middle East, it’s good to see that the Republicans are keeping their eye on the really important stuff.
Republicans introduced a bill Wednesday that would bar Congress, President-elect Barack Obama and federal media regulators from bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, which they said would all but eliminate the talk-radio industry.
Take that, libruls! Ya’ll are gonna haveta pry our guns and our Rush from our cold, dead hands!!1!
Only…
The doctrine, a 1949 requirement that broadcasters present opposing points of view on political issues, was scrapped in 1987 after the Federal Communications Commission said it restricted journalistic freedom.
So, the Republicans are attempting to repeal a law that was killed 22 years ago. Surely this move then, is in response to some new Democratic bill reintroducing the doctrine, right?
"Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine today would amount to government control over political views expressed on the airwaves," said Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana Republican and a former broadcaster.
Joining Mr. Pence and Mr. DeMint were Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma and Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon.
The group did not cite any immediate effort to revive the doctrine, but argued for the legislation as a preventive measure.
These wingnuts are even crazier when they’re in the minority.
(h/t Benen)
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That’s why they’re stocking up on all the guns.
Call it the “Anti-Fairness Bill.” And do they have a rock to sell us that keeps the tigers away?
This is the best the Rethugs can come up with in the first days of the 111th Congress.
Bwahahahahahhah!
Ack! That photograph!
Was supposed to be a rhetorical question, not a statement.
It they were paying attention to all of the dreadful things Obama is already doing, they wouldn’t be worried, ’cause he’s on their side and would never do such a thing.
{yeah, that would be snark.}
Way to keep up with current events,idiots.
What’s next?
A bill to make buggy whips a mandatory accessory on all new electric vehicles?
Limpballs is cooing to his cabana boy. Coo! Coo!
If we want to shut down talk radio we can just stop calling Rush entertainment and call him news highly inaccurate news and shut him down that way.
It is not our fault that Fox News viewers are less informed on the issues than Daily Show viewers.
The FCC should easily find it in the public interest to promote accurate news.
Does the GOP have the Blue Dog votes to pass this? Its sad that I have to ask this question.
Are you kidding? Steny and Nancy will never let this see the light of…
Nevermind.
No, man, Tiger Balm keeps tigers away. Used it since like 1971 and never had no problem with tigers.
Back to the topic…and Obama thinks these people want to work in a bipartisan manner? He thinks they’re receptive to that? He’s just going to have to learn the hard way.
Less “Come, let us reason together.”
More “Make my day.”
No but a hired oil lantern carrier will be required to walk ahead at all times to warn off horse drawn carriages. /s
My Tiger Balm only keeps balms away. Balms away! Heh.
I say reinstate the fairness doctrine! The rethugs have gotten away with hogging the airways long enough. Last I checked “The People” own the airwaves and deserve to get a balanced view! Not this Wingnut lying bullshit they have been pushing for years!
Yeah, it’s really paying off for them lately.
I happen to think the elimination of the fairness doctrine is what got us into this mess in the first place and one of the very first things the democrats SHOULD be doing is reintroducing it
and they are right, it WILL put talk radio out of business, (for the most part, it will NOT put liberal talk radio out of business that is for certain)
and the REASON it will put “right wing talk radio” out of business is because corporations will not possibly see a return on buying talk segments from sociopaths like rush Limbaugh
Great picture though, Where did you find the picture of the northern end of a south-bound ASS?
How ’bouts a “Fatness Doctrine” then? To keep big fat liars off the airwaves.
As I recall last year Mitt’s Bain Capital was trying to buy ClearChannel the Home of Rush.
There was a problem ClearChannel’s stock price kept dropping during the takeover bid. Normally stock Goes up during a takeover the banks which were loaning Bain Capital money to buy ClearChannel tried to pull out of the deal.
Mitt threatened to sue them to provide financing for the takeover.
Why bring this up now? I just want to show that talk radio was in trouble long before the bank bailout.
Stock prices in media companies are down more than the average economy. I fear that this move by the GOP is in preparation for the talk radio industry to ask for a government bailout.
See? They’re worried about wiping out all those poor talk jocks and increasing unemployment by .00000000000001 percent.
blue Texan, they are only losing lately because their programs are so clearly irresponsible and that irresponsibility is catching up with them
the will rise again once we set things right, without the fairness doctrine they will be allowed to redistribute our produce once again as soon as we fix the things they broke
we keep fixing their mess and they keep stealing from us every time we fix it
heh heh! :]
It’s not practical. Better off beating them at their game, rather than trying to legally change it.
Imagine if we had to listen to O’Reilly between Tweets and Maddow. No thanks!
You can call it – The Limbaugh Retention Act of 2009.
LOL!
Is this bill called the Republic Propoganda Bill? Lies and the freedom to make them.
281 hrs & 59 min
Crush the life out of these dirty bastards. When are Democrats going to start playing hardball with this trash?
I’m for bring back the Fairness Doctrine too the GOP uses talk radio as a political campaign ad. One that they do not have to pay for.
How many murders, acts of violence, hate crimes, attacks on minorities etc were inspired by something said by someone on talk radio?
Dems should counter with legislation that makes it a felony to participate in the sex slave trade of the Dominican Republic.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a…..rush1.html
hannity lied and caused me to bang fist on dasboard. radio broke but cassette still works. think i have a small claims case?
Sure but don’t forget to mention the pain and emotional anguish you suffered you might get more especially if you make the judge listen to Sean.
Caveat emptor.
That is a story I wish we could get the MSM to cover.
You might use the attorney representing the CA judge suing for 54 million over missing trousers. /s
281 hrs & 45 min
Actually that’s a DC area case and the former judge is representing himself.
Speaking of rightwing gasbag’s on the radio. I just used The Google on Laura Ingraham and discovered that she not only dated disgraced former Democratic Senator Robert Toricelli, she also dated Keith Olbermann too.
Talk about a sociopath.
-G
Fairness Doctrine or not, we’re not going to get a balanced view of anything through TV or radio.
The conventional formats of TV and radio today preclude the ability to express unconventional ideas. Regardless of the Fairness Doctrine the airwaves will still be littered with nothing more than additional conventional pieties.
At his confirmation hearings to head HHS,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01…..=1&hp
I think with this bipartisanship crap we can kiss meaningful healthcare reform goodbye.
That’s like trying to prove smoking tobacco causes cancer or something…oh wait…
Desperate people do some strange things !!
Then more people will stop listening and their stock prices will go down more.
Let’s just leave things the way they are.
As long as one company can own all the media in a single market, we will never see unbiased news coverage !
It’s an informal quid pro quo arrangement. Talk radio gives the GOP a billion dollars worth of free promotion every year, Republicans give them a bill protecting their near monopoly of the airwaves.
Just so long as we don’t talk about statute of limitations clocks running while yammering on about crap. I think we will see lots and lots of “really, really important” things being discussed until the last alarm bell tolls. Seems to have occupied this thread for awhile now.
o/t but have pups here already commented on the awkward jostling by Clinton to try and stand as far away as possible from Carter to the point of snuggling with the Worst President in History?
That’s a good point. Reminds of me Pelosi’s “gee we have so many better things to do than impeach a war criminal” argument. The GOP is going to load the hopper with BS to keep other better bills from seeing daylight.
Actually, to be more accurate, breathing tobacco smoke causes cancer. You could hang tobacco in a smokehouse with your hams and it would be fairly benign.
To date Republicans have proven more effective as a minority party than the Dems as a majority party.
Are they really calling talk radio an industry? What was the Republican position on the American Automobile Industry? Where were they on the American Electronics Industry or any geniune job supporting industry? All good and ripe for outsourcing to foreign countries.
Outsource Limbaugh, Kudlow and Hannity.
Oh, how I long for a MSM TV program specifically designed to fact check news and political commentary. Yes, we have Keith, Rachel, and The Daily Show(and they are a breath of fresh air) but what I’m wishing for here is a nonpartisan TV news program along the lines of factcheck.Org. and Snopes.com. It really annoys the hell out of me that there is no way to determine the truth of what I’m being told unless I do all the research myself. Aaargh! No wonder half the population of this country cannot make sense of what the other half is saying–we’re basing our “knowledge” (and I use the termly loosely) on often erroneous and wildly differing “facts”.
That sounds like a great post.
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/
You can write a diary about it there.
Doesn’t the majority party control what bills will be considered? If it does, then this stupid bill needs to be back burnered.
This is one where I disagree with my liberal fellow travelers.
I think what the Republicans are doing is smart. They hear us saying we don’t care about the Fairness Doctrine. They figure they can slip this one past us because Democrats are somehow asleep on the issue. If they succeed we will deserve what we get.
I can’t figure out why other liberals don’t see why this matters. Are all of you so young you can’t remember what it was like before shock jocks? Are you so well-off and secure in liberal enclaves that you don’t see how propaganda radio pits regular working folks against their own self-interest? Do you actually think the majority of Americans read?
Not only do I think the Republicans are right to fight for the right to destroy the communications commons in this country, permanent fascism being their goal and all, I cannot for the life of me figure why liberals can’t see why this matters.
Earlier today, I was over at the Washington Monthly website since I like Steven Benen’s writing style. To wit, I responded to his similar thread on the Fairness Doctrine, and in favor of re-implementing the Fairness Doctrine. Additionally, I posted another of Professor Jaango’s “tests”. So, if time permits, take gander and see if you can successfully pass the test. My comment is number 50 on the applicable thread. And good luck!
Promoting tyranny is not free speech. Just look at this mess.
They should do more the just reinstate the fairness doctrine.
While I come to this thread late and most likely no one will read this comment, The Fairness Doctrine issue/revival has been at the top of conservatives (primarily those who listen to talk radio) agenda for quite some time. A year or so ago they were wanting Pelosi to release the Mike Pence legislation. They write LTE’s to the local paper all the time and I have responded a couple of times. In fact, one of my best comebacks of all times is the last one I sent in to a lady who refuted my take on the Fairness Doctrine. Conservatives are just like little minions. They get told to go talk up an issue and they just get it between their teeth and, all of sudden, one finds oneself totally surrounded by it.
In this CONSERVATIVE Republican stronghold in which I reside, the attempt to permanently legislate NO FAIRNESS DOCTRINE has recently been superceded by OUR OVERWHELMING NEED to adopt the FAIR TAX, right now, this very minute! No waiting around for this tax change which WILL BENEFIT EVERY LIVING AMERICAN!!! They are such simpletons.
Sitting at lunch with some friends yesterday, one got text messaged about McCain’s new PAC. Interestingly, she said that she hoped they would emulate the use of the internetand fund raising that Democrats were so good at and also find new young forward thinking candidates. Trust me, we Democrats have never previously gotten any respect AT ALL from these folks: upper middle class, private school attending, church going Southern Republicans. I said nothing. Just kept my mouth shut.
The Fairness Doctrine would not be beneficial and should be a none issue. The media as a whole is biased toward liberalism and Fox networks that are tilted toward conservatism are pretty good are showing both sides, at least mentioning them. O’Reilly was recently voted the least biased in a broad poll, not just on Fox, in that his show shows both sides the most and tries to then let the viewer decide. Hollywood along with the media has made Liberalism a fad, the in thing, popular. Some conservatives say that the American people will have to see that it isn’t whats best for America fiscally if the liberal fiscal policies to come to fruition. I don’t believe that is true. It is so ingrained in so many peoples minds that Democrats are the champions of the working class, but when you ask them why or how usually I have found their answer to be that’s just what Democrats are all about. Many people seem to support the Democrats or say they are Democrats cause it is popular. How do you discuss politics with Paris Hilton? Freedom of speech, innovation, and hard work is what built this country and is the only way to restore its greatness. Handouts from the government will not encourage people to better themselves. Government policy should encourage people to invest in themselves and in turn others, and their community, this is what creates jobs and fixes many economic problems.