The Democrats have argued that the public airwaves are limited and therefore part of the public domain. They have used this argument to regulate radio and TV. Before Ronald Reagen, they used it to control political discourse. It was called the Fairness Doctrine.

The effect of the Fairness Doctrine were dramatic. A station could be sued if it didn’t represent both sides of a story. Defining what the “sides” are can be difficult and with a sue happy public that is easily offended. The end result was radio and TV had no political discourse of any substance. If someone felt their side was not represented, the station could be sued. Just fighting these law suits could bankrupt a struggling business.

A whole new world was created when the Fairness Doctrine was removed from the landscape. It enabled the success of Rush Limbaugh who single handily revived AM radio. Since that time, many Conservatives have followed up on the success of Rush. Rush is currently be attacked by Democrats for hoping that Barrack Obama fails. Apparently, hoping a Democrat fails is analogous to hoping the country fails. This criticism is coming from the same crowd that told us they support our troops, but not the mission.

The reason talk radio is a good place for Conservatives is debatable. It could be that a center-right American public is hungry for a different point of view offered by the main stream media, or it could be that Conservatives like to debate issues where liberals just hold on to liberal dogma.

Since the electoral success in the last two election, Democrats have been making hints that they would like to see the Fairness Doctrine reborn. The Democrats have won political power at the voting booth, but that is not enough for them. They are upset that Rush Limbaugh has a platform from which he can voice his displeasure with the current administration. This is an indicator that what is really in play is a liberals fight against critics of their dogma. Thus, Democrats don’t listen to even liberal talk radio because they don’t want to debate the issues. You need to just get in line.

Further evidence that Democrats want to kill dissent to liberal ideology come from Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California. She wants to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and expand its reach to cable TV and satellite TV (LINK). Here their argument about limited bandwidth falls apart. Rep. Eshoo can not claim that the government has the duty to regulate these media because they are limited. This is simply a way to regulate what is broadcast, even through private sources, to the public.

The Democrats are in power. Unlike the Republican majority of the recent past, their majorities are quite substantial. They can essentially pass any bill they want to. What they can’t do is stop the criticism that is sure to follow any of their big government, big spending plans…at least for now.

What the Democrats hope to achieve is a reassertion of control of the media, to get people dependent on the government for health care, to increase the percentage of the population that works for the government and to redistribute money from a small wealthy percentage to a middle class America. None of these powers are authorized by our Constitution. This quiet liberal revolt will erode our freedoms and push America to an unhealthy place. I treasure the freedoms offered by this country. I hope the Democrats fail in their quest for power as well.

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