Friday, February 20, 2009

DeMint to bring Fairness Doctrine to a vote

Posted by Chris Haire on Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 7:20 AM

That crafty Jim DeMint continues to play by the old GOP rule book, you know the one written by reactionary right wing radio and not by the actually politically experienced party pragmatists.

He's the champion of every cause that Rush and Hannity and all the rest rant about day in an day out — and honestly that's the problem with these guys.

It's not the rabid ranting, it's not the mixture of fact and fabrication, it's not the anti-everything-ism. It's that these guys are so damn repetitious.

Seriously, how can you talk for 3 hours a day about William Ayers and do it for weeks on end? There's news happening in the world, other important stuff to talk about. 

And that's the thing with journalists. We get bored easily. We jump from one topic to the next. Doesn't matter what it is. Just give us something new.

But Hannity or Rush, they don't. They get fixated on a topic like a fetish freak gets fixated on a pair of panties once worn by J. Edgar Hoover. It's almost like they're not really journalists at all.

Well, Jim DeMint apparently thinks these guys are journalists and they need protecting, so he wants to force a vote on the Fairness Doctrine — which last I read, the Dems weren't going to bring up. If anything, the Fairness Doctrine is just the latest right wing radio bugaboo.

Here's a bit from NewsMax report on DeMint's latest move:

Sen. Jim DeMint announced that he will force a vote next week on a bill that prevents the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

The South Carolina Republican’s bill, the Broadcaster Freedom Act, is cosponsored by John Thune, R-S.D., and 27 others and will be offered as an amendment to the D.C. Voting Rights bill.

President Barack Obama is opposed to any move to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, spokesman Ben LaBolt said Wednesday.

But as Sen. DeMint notes in a statement, some Democrats in Congress have indicated that they would support a reinstatement...

Sen. DeMint stated: "I'm glad President Obama finally confirmed his opposition to the Fairness Doctrine, which attacks the right of free speech on talk radio, but many Democrats in Congress are still pushing it.

“With the support of the new administration, now is the time for Congress to take a stand against this kind of censorship. I intend to seek a vote on this amendment next week so every senator is on record: Do you support free speech or do you want to silence voices you disagree with?"

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Comments (7)

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With all the complaints about "right wing" radio and ranting, one would think the left never rants. If there is any reason some Republicans raise concerns about the Fairness Doctrine coming back, it is because of the lefts rants about the raidio shows they disagree with.

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Posted by winz on February 23, 2009 at 9:04 AM

Maybe it is because your so damn wrong.

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Posted by Drew on February 23, 2009 at 9:08 AM

DeMint is like most of us. We don't quiet believe Obama so it is best to take precautions. Moral of this story: Don't trust trusty Democrats.

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Posted by Bill Moran on February 23, 2009 at 9:29 AM

It is obvious you drank the Obamalade.Thank God we have Rush and Shawn.

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Posted by Louis Adams on February 23, 2009 at 9:45 AM

I'm not a Republican nor am I a Democrat - but the Fairness Doctrine seems pretty archaic in the world of internet and cable. Look at this paper, plenty of liberal slant available. If I want conservative slant, I can read The National Review. Something for everyone! If you're not smart enough to seek out other viewpoints, then you're probably only paying attention to American Idol anyway.

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Posted by citizendeb on February 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM

PLease don't silence Rush and Sean! They talk and they talk and they talk and they say "mark my words" and they say "you wait and see" and they have Operation Chaos 1 and now Operation Chaos 2 and they call McCain a filthy "lib" and they helped elect Obama. Let them keep talking.

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Posted by fourfiveseven on February 23, 2009 at 5:45 PM

There are plenty of people that like them. If you don't like their shows, don't listen. Just like I choose not to read anymore of your articles. There is nothing fair about the fairness doctrine.

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Posted by Melissa on February 26, 2009 at 8:17 AM
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