Let the tyranny begin - Here comes The Fairness Doctrine

Well - it did not take long. Our Dear Leader, even though he has not taken office yet (though he did 'create' the 'Office of the President Elect' - speaking of hubris) he has announced an appointment. It is Henry Rivera...yikes. A little background and history - Rivera is an ardent supporter of the Fairness Doctrine. He served on the FCC Commissioner board from 81-85. It was his leaving, and being replaced by a Republican, that finally allowed the Fairness Doctrine to die a much needed death.

But, in politics, as in theology, dead does not really mean dead. Once he regains his seat in the spring of 2009, you can expect quick re-animation of the Fairness Doctrine.

What will this mean? It will force broadcast radio outlets to provide 'balanced' coverage of issues. Simply, if you have 3 hours of Rush - you will need 3 hours of a Liberal counterpoint. Several problems immediately confront the thoughtful reader concerning this:

1) What business does the Government have in regulating the political content of commercial speech (apart from say, obscenity)? There are plenty of opportunity for people to get diverse views in the media already. Radio is dominated by conservatives, Cable TV by Liberals.

2) Who will decide what is 'balance'? The FCC, of course. Now, Liberals think NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, the NYT, etc are 'middle of the road'. So much for 'Fairness'.

3) Who wants to deal with the fact that Liberal talk radio (Air America) has failed every time it has been tried. Liberals just do not get talk radio. They do not get the entertainment aspect of it. They certainly don't get the humour aspect of (they are just too mad all the time). Air America had audiences numbering in the dozens.

4) Could mean a boom for satellite radio. A lot harder to control something that is beamed in from space. Might want to get some stock in satellite radio related companies now. Let's stick it to The One and make some money.

So, what will the net result be? It will be just the opposite of the 'stated' intention. It will be exactly the 'actual' intent. Stations, under threat of license forfeiture, will be required to provide 'balance'. Since there are few, if any, financially viable models that include Liberal talk - they will do the only thing that they can --- LIMIT Conservative talk. Because, you see, there are two ways to achieve balance. Either have more of one thing - or less of the other.

It is clear the Liberals HATE talk radio. It is because it is an effective voice of opposition. So, rather than try to expand the audience for THEIR ideas - they will simply silence OUR ideas.

This is what you can expect from the Dear Leader. Forget the bullshit you hear from him about 'coming together', 'healing division', and 'listening to you'. He will move aggressively to silence the opposition.

This is but the first shot of the war to do so.