![Twitter](<a href="http://www.twitter.com/maggiesnotebook"><img src="http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_me-b.png" alt="Follow maggiesnotebook on Twitter"/></a>){kind=small}
U.S. Senator Trent Lott, Republican from Mississippi, has crossed the line. He's threatening my free speech and yours. If ever we needed term limits, it was eight years ago, at least. This from The New York Times:
Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.” At some point, Mr. Lott said, Senate Republican leaders may try to rein in “younger guys who are huffing and puffing against the bill.”About six (6) months ago there were rumblings that Democrats were gearing up to bring The Fairness Doctrine back into being. Liberals hate the fact that Conservatives listen to the outstanding talk radio hosted by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Michael Reagan, Neal Boortz (sometimes), and a new find for me, Monica Crowley to name just a few. Conservatives tune-in and listen to hosts who research endlessly and actually get their interests out in a civilized manner. Listeners appreciate it! We don't march to any drum but our own - it's the gold standard for a Conservative. When we like what we hear, we support the position. When we don't like it, we call the host and hold their feet to the fire. We do not genuflect to the host. We participate in the discussion, we call, we blog, we write, we fax. We're coherent. Liberals hate it! Now we have Trent Lott warning that he "may" reign-in any voice that refuses to accept his betrayal of Republicans, Conservatives and America. Can't you just see him saying this? I can. Here's the Republican Minority Whip supporting the Democrat desire to re-institute the Fairness Doctrine and shut-up conservative talk radio. Below is a reprint of an article I posted in January. There are additional links at the bottom of this post to more in-depth information on the Fairness Doctrine. Take a look at the statements made by the FCC:
What the FCC and the Media has in Mind for You
Reading between the lines, there's some reason to believe that the term "Fairness Doctrine" is on the way out, with FCC Commissioner, Michael Copps' term, "American Media Contract," the new nuance. To see the FreePress article and the headline, click on American Media Contract, and for more in-depth background on the original doctrine, how it came to be and why it isn't around anymore see, The Fairness Doctrine: A Chilly Effect.
If the Fairness Doctrine (or some version of it) becomes law, here's some tid-bits from the Jan. 12-14-07 National Conference for Media Reform in Memphis, and what the FCC wants for you and me:
This from FCC Commissioner Michael Copps' speech:
"We expect these:
1. A right to media that strengthens our democracy
2. A right to local stations that are actually local
3. A right to media that looks and sounds like America
4. A right to news that isn’t canned and radio playlists that aren’t for sale
5. A right to programming that isn’t so damned bad so damned often"
My questions about Copps' expectations are this:
1. Who decides what America looks and sounds like?
2. Who decides the news is "canned" or not?...and most importantly,
3. Who decides what strengthens our democracy, or doesn't?
This is how Mr. Copps describes the television you and I have access to now:
"And what do the American people — who own the public airwaves, by the way — get in return? Too little news, too much baloney passed off as news. Too little quality entertainment, too many people eating bugs on reality TV. Too little local and regional music, too much brain-numbing national play-lists. Too little of America, too much of Wall Street and Madison Avenue...."
Guest speakers for the conference were Jane Fonda, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Helen Thomas, Geena Davis, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Bill Moyers as keynote. There were others but I do not have background on them.
Go to The National Conference for Media Reform to read it on their website, which is also a FreePress URL.
Additional links for information on the Fairness Doctrine:
Fairness Doctrine: "A Chilling Effect"
The Fairness Doctrine, The 1st Amendment and all that...
The Fairness doctrine: Hush Rush
Pinged by A-rabs Drawin CartoonS again..Yeehaw! from WomanHonorThyself. Excerpt:Inter-Pale-stinian fighting in Gaza has unleashed barrage of virulently anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic cartoons in Ar-ab and Mus-lim media, Anti-Defamation League says..
Pinged by The Knucklehead of the Day award from The Florida Masochist. Excerpt: Today's winner is Jonathan Lafever.
Pinged by Israel Creates in 1 Month what Islam in 100 years from planck's constant. Excerpt: Does there exist today anywhere on Earth a more embarrassing, ignorant, backward, barbaric, primitive, lying, violent religion? And these are Islam's good qualities.
Pinged by Terrorism on the Border from Adam's Blog. Excerpt: Illegal immigrants are setting fires to force our border patrol away from observation points, while at the same time destroying our national forests. Somehow, I don't think liberal environmentalists will be all that excited. Also, the rabid nature of...
Pinged by The Fairness Doctrine Isn't Fair Enough from DeMediacratic Nation. Excerpt: The Fairness Doctrine is receiving new life these days even from the likes of a Trent Lott who recently said that Talk Radio needs to be looked into. & ..
Linked by ILLEGAL Aliens Commit Additional Felonies from America's Victory 08. Excerpt:It isn’t bad enough that the ILLEGALS aliens entering this country break the law in getting here and continue to be law breakers throughout their stay, they are now committing arson in order to get in. According to the Washington Times, ...
Linked by Poor residents will be rewarded for good behavior - like $300 for ... Excerpt: I am really not quite sure what to think of this expirmental program in New York City. I am all for breaking they cycle of poverty, but a couple of things are bothering me. Wouldn’t this type of program be better tried in a less ...
Linked by Latest Update - CANNED HEAT 6/18/2007 10:00:05 PM from Canned Heat. Excerpt: Pasta And Eggs Make A Quick, Nutritious Meal Jamestown Post Journal - Jamestown,NY,USA 2 c. cooked corkscrew or elbow pasta, preferably whole-wheat 1/2 c. diced canned tomatoes (drained), or 2 lg. plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped 3 ..
Linked by World at War: In Depth Part Six from A Few Shiny Pebbles. Excerpt: In an earlier post, “America: The Dream of Ages”, I wrote: . . . America was something new and strange. It carried in its soul a set of new beliefs. It looked to a Creator and a Cause; it looked to Natural Laws that could not be
Linked by Detroit Demolition Clinches Division Title, Bruce Depressed from Conservative Cat. Excerpt: Saturday the Detriot Demolition defeated the Kansas City Storm, which means the Demolition has clinched the division championship. If the Chicago Force wins their next two games, they will finish with the same record as the Demolition, ...
Linked by Bloggers: check out BlogBackupOnline from Nuke's News & Views. Excerpt: From PCWorld via Yahoo... If you have a blog and you aren’t sure that your blog provider will always have a backup in case of a crash, head over to BlogBackupOnline pronto. The site is straightforward: Log in, enter information about .
Linked by Here’s The New Meme… Excerpt: First we had the patron saint of Tucson saying it. Now Sweaty Teddy is trying his hand… Kennedy: Failure to pass bill will “push illegal immigrants into isolation”. BOSTON (AP) — US Senator Edward Kennedy said today that failing to pass ...
|