While I still believe McCain is gonna win this thing, if the Democrats should prove victorious, one of the first things I expect to see them do, come January, will be to attempt to mute the voice of conservatives on talk radio and television by way of a return to the “Fairness Doctrine.” I suspect they will try to expand it’s reach to include the online world – blogs in particular, likely by allowing lawsuits against bloggers for saying anything that cannot be legally verified in court.
Now before you get your knickers in a twist, consider this. While I believe the Fairness Doctrine to have been ironically named, completely UNfair, and a stupid waste of the government’s time, the truth is, the Return of the Fairness Doctrine (coming soon to a House of Representatives near YOU!) could completely blow up in their faces. Here’s why: Liberals OWN the mainstream media. Even the mainstream press has acknowledged that MSNBC is in the tank for Obama. We have enough judges on the Supreme Court to make some very interesting rulings. What would happen if the Fairness Doctrine came before the highest court in the land? I could see a ruling whereby they say, “Fine. You want the fairness doctrine? You have to make it REALLY fair this time around. That means, we include all the media – Hollywood, TV, the nightly news, et cetera. No hiding behind the ridiculous claim of news versus opinion…everything gets counted.”
What a bombshell THAT would be.
Guys that slam conservatives on their dramas (are you listening David Kelly and Dick Wolf?) would be forced to give the other side equal time – or stop pushing a liberal agenda. News shows would become Point/Counterpoint, pairing a conservative anchor (and writers) with the current liberal ones. Movies would have to be checked for symbolism and subtext, to prevent indoctrination without full disclaimers, and studios would be forced into a Title IX-like situation, where they’d have to greenlight conservative values pics as often as they do liberal flicks. For every Brokeback Mountain and Juno, they’d have to produce and promote a western where the good guys love good girls, and where teens wait to have sex until after they fall in love and marry Mr. Right.
I predict it would take about 30 seconds before the liberals would be demanding a repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. They would set a land-speed record for expunging the law from the books.
You see, the free market is a scary thing, if you’re selling something that people just aren’t buying. To try and force it on the public doesn’t work (just ask any communist country). Conservative talk radio and blogs succeed in the marketplace for one reason, and one reason only – the public is listening. Perhaps those on the left side of the aisle might want to stop protesting and start listening. They might actually learn what a great many people actually think. And wouldn’t that be…um…fair?
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