“What’s next? If you want to debate something they just send in the SS and shoot you?”
This bill hasn’t gone they way it was supposed to.
The secret back room drafting of this bill by a select few, and the tactics used to circumvent the normal legislative procedure were to ensure its passage before the public knew about it.
Thanks to the internet and some patriots at the Heritage Foundation, drafts of the bill were on computers across the land in a matter of hours!
We could see for ourselves what treachery they were up to, so their misinformation campaigns didn’t work anymore.
These elitist bastards have come face to face with the information age, and their (secret) business as usual tactics won’t work anymore.
They are scared.
Already we are seeing fear in their responses as they lash out against talk radio and the “misinformation” that they accuse it of spreading.
They have realized the genie is out of the bottle and they don’t know what to do about it.
You’re exactly correct.
This is what I don’t understand about Lott’s comments on talk radio: talk radio is a great tool for disseminating information to a rather committed audience, mostly conservative, mostly well educated, with an abundance of small business owners, professionals, and (gasp!) white males in the mix.
But where does talk radio get their facts on the immigration bills? Well, it used to depend on the mainstream media, which has been white-washing the immigration bills completely. So if Lott were possessed of a clue, he’d be wondering “why is talk radio able to get people so engaged and angry on this issue now?”
Having listened to talk radio since just before Rush re-made AM radio, talk radio used to be a way of the public adding their critical examination of mainstream press stories. This was a big leap forward from the former “We’re the press.... and you’re peons... uh, readers!” model. But talk radio didn’t have too many instances where they had their own sources of information.
Increasingly, talk radio is getting their information from the ‘net directly, and from well respected bloggers. Who are some of the best bloggers? Independent journalists (eg, Malkin) and lawyers (Instapundit, Power Line, etc). These people are turning out to be better, faster, and more lucid in their analysis of legislation than the press ever was. Of course, the breadth of expertise and analysis here at FR isn’t to be sneezed at either. This has been like giving talk radio their own think tank; no longer is talk radio just ranting at windmills, talk radio now has substance, real intellectual heft, behind the ranting. In short, it is not what it used to be, a reaction to the mainstream media. Talk radio is now truly it’s own news bureau.
Couple the three together — the better educated/connected/financed audience of talk radio, with the wide reach of talk radio, with the facts and analysis from the blogosphere, and we have a synergy that clowns like Lott haven’t realized yet, to his detriment.
As for putting the genie back into the bottle: I don’t think it can be done now. And as broadband continues to penetrate the US ‘net market, and as satellite radio continued to pick up more customers, increasingly the FCC has less authority over the medium and goofy ideas like “The Fairness Doctrine” will mean less and less.