Repealing the Freeness Doctrine

Well, the communists are back in power, and as we all know if there’s one thing they can’t tolerate it’s dissenting and differing points of view, especially on the public airwaves. Not surprisingly, they support reinstating the Fairness Doctrine- that relic of the 1940’s and agent of media control and suppression for nearly 40 years- as a means to that end. This should alarm not only listeners to Rush Limbaugh (who, by the way, number in the tens of millions per week) but anyone who truly values freedom of speech and a free (note: not “fair”) press guaranteed by the First Amendment, which judging by their speech codes on college campuses is another thing liberals have never been particularly fond of. They’ve already got your votes, now the left wants your hearts and minds as well.

Based on everything they’ve has ever said on the subject, the left longs for the bad old days when the American people had no choice as to where they got their news and information and no access to differing points of view. Media expert George Clooney, for example, expressed his nostalgia for domination by the three broadcast networks and the time where Walter Cronkite was “the most trusted man in America.” Traitor and liberal heroine Jane Fonda asserted that “a truly powerful media is one that can stop a war, not start a war.” Whether they want to accept it or not, the country has changed since 1973 and the media has changed with it. Today Americans can get their information from a wealth of sources ranging from traditional newspapers to radio stations to 24 hour television networks to the internet. In each and every medium, the left has lost their monopoly to more conservative voices and perspectives, and the ratings and circulations and hits reflect this.

So in order to regain their complete control over American thought, liberals in Congress are digging up the grave of this dead Doctrine. The cause is being championed in Congress by none other than the Keebler Elf himself, Dennis “the Menace” Kucinich. His desire is based on the belief of a far-left agenda that is being ignored in the mainstream media, which he seeks to thrust in to the spotlight, whether Americans want it there or not. Their charge is a corporately-owned media which serves only their own narrow agenda of shifting wealth from the poor to the rich. Yes, in an age of global threats from militant fundamentalist Islamic terrorists, Democrats remain focused on what really matters to Americans: redistribution of wealth.

Liberals see the successes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly and Matt Drudge as threats to their agenda that cannot be checked by market forces. Every attempt to counteract differing points of view have been colossal failures, the most recent of which being Err America Radio, now filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They can’t compete with conservatives on the airwaves, so their remedy is to shut them down. This is a blatant assault on our Constitution beyond even the wackiest charges by the left of the PATRIOT Act. Free speech and freedom of the press were recognized by the founders as a central tenet to democracy itself. The moment the Democrats take this away is the moment our constitutional democracy begins to unravel.

WTPwnaGe

If there is any solace in the wake of the greatest catastrophe to affect the State of Ohio since, well, the November elections, it’s that Err America Radio is out of Columbus. After two years of getting their butts kicked in the ratings by the likes of WLW (who, by the way, don’t even broadcast from Columbus), WTPG 1230 decided to adopt a format more successful than the left-wing lunacy of Randi Rhodes. This is no different from station managers in larger markets around the country that have dumped Err America for formats people would be more likely to listen to- like music from the 1940’s. One of the many truths in this world liberals will never be able to accept (like how declassified Soviet intelligence documents proved Senator McCarthy was right) is that their brand of far-left hysteria never caught on with the American people and the numbers are there to prove it.

Unfortunately for the left, Err America was doomed almost from the start, failing even to meet their fundraising goals for startup money. Contract disputes, bounced checks, and lawsuits followed in the network’s first year. Some twenty-five markets have dropped Err America (including New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia) citing ratings that placed them just above dead air. Columbus is the fifth market in Ohio alone to drop the network for programming people actually listen to. Perhaps with fewer people listening nationwide to far-left garbage than they could be getting elsewhere from Radio Havana Cuba, it isn’t surprising that the company declared Chapter Eleven bankruptcy in October.

Here in Columbus, we’re told by the Columbus Disgrace that WTPG’s loyal listeners in the area (all five of them) weren’t taking their much-ignored format switch lying down. They formed the ironically-named Ohio Majority Radio to circulate an online petition signed by residents of Columbus and suburbs like Niagara Falls and Rochester, New York. They staged a gathering at the Capitol attended by tens of thousands (ok, maybe just tens) to save “Progressive Radio” from the forces of the market and the millions of people throughout the Columbus area who would rather listen to something entertaining or informative. They even staged a mock funeral procession for their beloved radio station. This was a typical liberal funeral in that it quickly became a political rally and forum for Bush-bashing.

What somehow didn’t come up at the protest few outside their own Yahoo group knew existed was that they were almost upstaged by conservatives! Sister station WTVN dropped the far more popular Glenn Beck at the same time and listeners- more numerous by about a power of four- were outraged. Fans of the show planned a similar demonstration of support for Beck- and in far greater numbers- for last Saturday. Thankfully for sick, twisted freaks who don’t have XM Satellite Radio, Beck was picked up by WTDA 103.9 FM. This is perhaps what is most infuriating among Ohio’s dyed-in-the-wool communists. They can win our votes, but they can never win our hearts, our minds, or our ears.