Posted on 01/27/2009 4:16:14 AM PST by Man50D
The White House is promising new reviews of the "obligations" to the government by broadcasters who "occupy the nation's spectrum" just as the president has targeted conservative talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh for a public attack, raising concerns over the possible restoration of the "Fairness Doctrine," a policy that failed as unneeded and unconstitutional two decades ago.
Paul Ibrahim of NorthStarWriters.com cited Obama's warning to congressional Republicans that "you can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done" in suggesting the president has become the "driving force" because a new "systematic" plan to "intimidate and demonize Obama's opponents."
That such a campaign was launched only days after Obama's inauguration is "tremendously perturbing," he wrote.
"Welcome to the politics of hope 'n' change. Obama's startling attempt to hang Limbaugh's scalp on the wall is a warning that the new ruler does not want unity he demands it," Ibrahim wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
A week had not gone by but lord McCain's campaign guy told some media outlet that it was because of Rush he lost. So this government setting its sights upon Rush seems quite organized. This singling out one private citizen for ‘ridicule’ was not to the Republicans in Congress, but to Rush and by extension his fans.
Hussein has just fired the opening salvo on the constitution.
And that’s what I hit them with first. When they hear the word “socialist” used to define “Nazi,” they usually pause knowing they’re about to take one on the chin, because so much of social policy falls out of a centrally managed economy.
Take a lead from PropagandaMSNBC and call it a “news” program.
you forgot one....turn the heat down.....and quit using your air conditioning.
I wonder if Babs Streisand got that directive yet?....oh wait, that doesn’t apply to rich liberals.
Forget the fair and unifying 0bammy. I will refrain from posting the curse words I have for this African style dictator. This big shot wanna be rap artist
The American people fell for his rap and look where we are
Is the WH attempting to goad us into civil disobedience.
Th US will be quickly looking like East Germany with the only source of uncensored news coming from the other side of the Obama curtain. I hope Rush, Hannity and other conservative talk radio hosts are lining up short wave stations from beyond our borders.
How is it that a KENYAN MUSLIM is telling US CITIZENS who we should or should not listen to.
I predict we will have “Radio Free America” being broadcast from offshore within 2 years.
> Next: Rush will move to Bermuda and begin pirate radio broadcasts into the US from there. The Obaministration will try to jam him.
Back in the Bad Ol’ Days when the New Zealand Gummint controlled everything in our fair isles, radio was very tightly restricted. Circa 1965 or so.
So a couple of entrepreneurs got a boat and a radio transmitter and started transmitting in the Hauraki Gulf, just outside the 3 mile limit in International waters.
There wasn’t a dam’n thing the Gummint could do about it. Evenually a court case forced a law change.
Radio Hauraki is still broadcasting —but now safely and legally from land.
You can read more about them here: http://www.cwgsy.net/private%2Foffshorepirateradio/hauraki.html
Rush could do something like that, I reckon.
Obama can piss off the 50 million who won't vote for him anyway. So long as he has 60 million sheep to counter those disgruntled patriots, 20 million pissed off voters can expect audits from the IRS.
Fairness
There is currently under way an effort to return the Fairness Doctrine that will in effect limit free speech on the public airways. The Federal Communications Commission can reinstate the rule with no action by the US Congress or the President. The thought is that utterances on the radio must be fair and that a second view must be given equal time.
The public airways are actually a spectrum that has been divided into numerous specific frequency ranges that are corridors along which a radio wave carrying information is transmitted. These discrete licensed spectra are in actuality corridors along which information is carried. This proposed action regulating the information carried is a Federal matter since the airways are considered to be part of interstate commerce and require a Federal license. The states have no say in the matter.
The purpose of this essay is to develop a logical thought pattern that will permit the various States to gain some control of intra state transmission of information. That would be particularly true of my State, Tennessee.
Within the State of Tennessee information is transmitted and transferred by several methods but in this piece consideration will be restricted to two, printed publications and cable TV.
All printed material be it newspapers manufactured within the state borders or magazines, CDs, DVDs, recorded tapes or other similar publications from numerous sources are transported on the Tennessee public streets, roads and highways. These transportation corridors are in every respect similar to the spectral corridors regulated by the FCC except the roadways are regulated by the state of Tennessee. It is there fore a very logical step to conclude that based on the logic of information flow regulation by the FCC over federally regulated corridors, a similar regulatory body can be established by the State to assure that fairness is achieved in information carried or transported on the state regulated corridors and roadways. Printed publications must be fair to be transported over public ways.
In a similar vein, the state of Tennessee should be able to regulate the use of rights of way that are actually part of the same streets, roads and highways noted above. These rights of way are heavily used for various purposes including the physical presence of fiber optic and coaxial cable that are in fact information corridors similar to the FCC regulated corridors that are the public airways. The cable companies transporting on the public rights of way should be subject to the same fairness regulations governing the printed media transported on the adjacent roadways. Cable information must be fair to be transported over public rights of way.
There is no difference. Printed media and cable TV information are both transported along public ways .There is no difference between printed medis transported over public roads and voice utterances transmitted over radio waves. Thoughts are transmitted over public ways.
Then there is the question of the first amendment and free speech. It can be argued that such regulation is a violation of the First Ammendment to the Constitution. That is obviously not the case or the FCC would not be able to impose the Fairness Doctrine. There is no action in the regulation preventing the free exercise of the right to say what ever the writer or publisher or news commentator desires. They can say what ever they want with no fear of any retribution by the State of Tennessee. If they desire to propagate the speech using the public ways, then they are subject to fairness regulation. The precedent for the State regulatory authority is the FCC regulated Federal authority.
If the public ways are restricted, then how can the speech material be propagated? The answer is quite simple. If the speaker wants to sell his material, he can set up a place of business where the public can come and buy what ever is for sale. The speaker can also go into an out of door site and speak whatever comes to mind to all within earshot. His rights of free speech are not restricted by regulations of the transport of the medium packets. It is the transport of those information packets on public ways that is regulated.
Talk about a fast fascist.
This isnt about Rush Limbaugh, It’s about Free Speech.
The liberals own and operate the TV broadcasts and no one could be any more partisan tham Bill Moyers, Keith Olberman and Chris Mathews, but you dont hear Obama complaining about them. They are attached to his butt like little sucker fish attach themselves to sharks.
The fairness doctrine is about as unfair as anything can get.
Burn your radio’s for the Brotherland
All we have to do is change the format of the show to either music or comedy. Rush could go back to playing "Frogman Henry" and the parodies of the clintoons. I'm sure there will be parodies of obammer too in a bit.
Then, he calls himself a "music" program!!
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