I have no use for Al Gore, nor for his absurd theories.
However, the fairness doctrine, as I understand it, applies to candidates opposing each other in a formal race for office.
That doesn’t apply to Gore’s concerts, any more than it applies to Fred Thompson’s appearances in television drama.
John Gibson is one of my favorite newscasters, and I wouldn’t vote for Gore for dogcatcher, but this is not a valid argument.
I'm afraid you're confusing the fairness doctrine with McCain-Feingold. The fairness doctrine, when it was implemented, had to do with ANY issue the current members of the FCC felt had at least 2 sides to it.
It is not limited to candidates running for office and deals with how issues are presented over public airwaves.
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine
“the fairness doctrine.....applies to candidates opposing each other in a formal race for office...”
then why are they crying about rush limbaugh and other conservative talkers who are not running as candidates in a formal race for office? why are they demanding equal time?
what does a talk show on a private radio station have to do with the success of the democrat message getting out? aren’t the democrats/socialists “brilliant”, as they always characterize themselves? if so, why can’t they succeed the way conservative talkers have? might there be a problem with their message in that it must be rammed down the throats of citizens and voters? might it be that their message is not viable in the real world, as the communists have proven?
You misunderstand the fairness doctrine then. The Democrats are again trying to castrate conservative talk radio (and Republicans like Trent Lott may come to their support).
The so called fairness doctrine demands that there be equal time for all political discussion, you don’t have to be a candidate or in campaign season. If Rush is on 3 hours a day, they demand that Socialist America also be given 3 hours of comparable air time. Or a point-counterpoint discussion show.
When the looney left cannot even concede that Bush won twice and by a larger margin than Clinton ever did, it is pointless to “debate” them every day on the radio.
You would hear an endless stream of “Bush lied, people died”, “3500 soldiers dead and 650,000 civilians and it is all Bush’s fault”, etc etc. Global warming. Scooter Libby belongs in jail. et al.
No discussion of competing scientific views (there is “consensus”). No talk of how he was Nifonged or how even Nifong was wrong. You’d instead get sidetracked into endless blather about “white priviledge” and “a history of racism in this country”.
THAT is the so called fairness doctrine. Nearly a full day’s programming on NBC without a competing viewpoint.