Dems & The Fairness Doctrine - Why They Can't Play Fair

The current Democrat effort to reinvent a concept that was useful 30 years ago is akin to the poor sport who owns the ball and bat, and decides to pick them up and take them home when they're losing. The only difference here - they're not losing and they very likely will make gains in 2008 - much to the detriment of this country.

In 1949 the Federal Communications Commissions determined that radio station "...licensees were 'public trustees,' and as such had an obligation to afford reasonable opportunity for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance."* This concept was further extended as the popularity of television grew in the 1950's and 1960's. For those of you too young to remember, network prime time used to start at 7:00 pm. With only the three major networks to chose from, the Fairness Doctrine and the FCC's demand that stations address local concerns seemed reasonable, but as with many things that our beloved Congress attempts, the unintended consequences prevailed. With local stations now responsible for the 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm hour, our communities, to this day, continue to benefit from Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. Where would we be if we didn't have folks barely smarter than a 5th grader buying vowels from Vana?

The "scarcity" of opposing views has gone by the way with the advent of cable TV-satellite TV-the internet, etc. This scarcity was the driving force behind the Fairness Doctrine, but the reasons for it's implementation have now been relegated to the junk pile of history.

So why do the Dems want to revisit this anachronism? Quite simply, talk radio speaks to the vast majority of Americans and it delivers a message contrary to their socialistic vision. It is the law of supply and demand operating at peak efficiency. Why do Air America and other liberal radio talk shows have difficulty attracting a market and making money?

They don't speak to the majority of Americans.

I love to hear pretentious representatives of the three major networks drag the Fox News Channel through the mud, because in all their bitching they just can't figure out why Fox is kicking their asses.

I think I mentioned this before, but in case a liberal has stumbled onto this blog and doesn't get it yet, here it is again:

THEY SPEAK TO THE VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS!

If the poor winners get their way, their skewed vision of the Fairness Doctrine will have consequences that achieve their hidden agenda, while quashing their stated objective. There will not be greater discussion of issues. What station can afford to run 3 hours of Rush and make money, while offering 3 hours of Al Franken; losing money and listeners. Their efforts will stifle the free expression of opinion, which is their real goal.

When the talk show hosts like Rush, Glen Beck, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, etc. start expressing opinions that don't resonate with the majority of us, they'll be off the air. That's how a free market economy operates.

When the likes of John Kerry, Barbara Boxer and the Arkansas Sow start whining about conservative talk show hosts, you can bet your last dollar it has absolutely nothing to do with fairness.

The solution is obvious and simple: If you don't like what you're listening to, change the station or turn the radio/TV off. Trust me, when I found Air America on an Albany radio station, I listened briefly, got ill and tuned into Bill O'Reilly. I'd like to know who it is that's holding a gun to the heads of liberals and making them listen. And for the more intellectually challenged of our feckless brethren, it's usually the knob on the right that changes the station. Unfortunately, when a liberal operates a radio, they immediately go for the volume. We all know their playbook demands that they yell louder to drown out their opponents - that's what you have to do when history and logic dictate that your vision of the future has already failed.

* http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm