Muzzling the Right

Rush Limbaugh just reportedly signed an 8-year, $400 million contract. His twenty plus million daily listeners have essentially "voted" and they have made his new contract so. The only problem is that 51+ Democrats in the Senate, along with a new Democratic President, may try and take it all away. That's because the left of the Left in our Congress is all for imposing (once again) the "Fairness Doctrine" (See History and Definition) to try and get conservatives off of the "talk radio" airways.

Acting more like the Politburo in Communist Russia, our Democrats (sans any essence of Democracy) aren't just satisfied with having control of the national television broadcasters, the national print media, public radio and television, and our education system. They want complete "thought control". It is almost like Cuba trying to block "Radio Free America" from being beamed into their country. If you are a Democrat, silence (at least when it comes to Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives on talk radio) is golden.

Of course, this is right out of the Left's play book. Every time John McCain tries to speak in public, he gets heckled by the anti-war left (usually Code Pink). Ann Coulter has be "pie-d" while she tried to speak. Recently, George Bush was attempted to be screamed and shouted down at a 4th of July speech at Jefferson's home. Numerous guest conservatives, speaking at colleges and universities throughout the United States, have been shouted over and disrupted while speaking. Condolezza Rica was nearly physically confronted. Apparently, the liberals believe that "Left speech" is the "only" protected speech in our Constitution and in this country. It reminds me of a little kid who is kicking and screaming and "holding his hands over his ears" so he can't hear what his parents are saying. It is as if there is this extreme "fear" that what the Right might be saying will be accepted as both "logic" and "truth" by those that hear those words. To me, only a person who wasn't"confident in their own beliefs" would act that way.

For now, the Fairness Doctrine is the Left's only way to make headway into the Talk Radio market. Their attempts in the past have failed miserably with glaring "flops" like the original "Air America." That was a failure because thought that having "angry" commentators and so-so comedians like Jeanine Garofalo and Al Franken were the way to go. They thought by verbally painting "swastikas" on Bush and Chaney, everyday, was the way to hold the attention of listeners. What they didn't seem to understand is that the conservatives like Rush Limbaugh present thought provocation and logical arguments against what the "Left" is doing or proposing. That type of "thinking" is totally vacant on the left. Even today, if look at Alan Colmes, his typical way of defending any missteps by Democrats like Obama or our Congress is to play the kid's game of "Bobby did it, first!" For example, if Obama "flips" on an issue, Colmes will immediately use the defense that McCain, "too", flipped when he was against the Bush tax cuts; and, now he's for them. Totally missing in this dishonest argument is the fact that McCain was against the tax cuts "because" there were no corresponding reductions in spending. This "diversion" technique gets tiring because it doesn't really justify the actions of the Democrats. It only tries to make that case that one mistake justifies (even certifies) another. It is a typical tactic of a "small-time" lawyer.

If Obama is elected, I think the Democrats will probably implement their Fairness Doctrine. While he said he is against it, the majority in both House of Congress and the support by left-wing groups like MoveOn.org will force him to abide by the Left's wishes. However, if it can be contested in the Supreme Court before Obama has a chance to flip that judicial body to the left, I think it will be ultimately thrown out as being a violation of "Free Speech." We'll have to see!

image by Cranky George