Apparently the only thing liberal Democrats learned from the shellacking they took during the recent election is that they must control the news media and all public speech, and that's the direction they are now moving.
According to the Media Research Center http://www.mrcaction.org, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is moving rapidly to censor conservative speech while expanding their reach and control over the news media in America.
In a speech in New York last Thursday, FCC commissioner Michael Copps, lamented that American journalism is in "grave peril", and the federal government needs to become more involved to bolster "traditional media." (!!!) Remember, the members of the FCC are both unelected and unaccountable to the American public.
FCC Commissioner Copps then laid out a set of proposed changes to the station relicensing process that would take broadcast content OUT of the hands of the American People and put it IN the hands of government bureaucrats! Nothing like trashing the First Amendment.
This plan would require that all stations pass a "Public Value Test" if they want to continue to broadcast. Rather than ratings and the free market determining that "Public Value," it will be left to the central planners at the FCC in Washington, DC!
The full story is available through the Free Speech Alliance at http://www.mrcaction.org/517/petition.asp?Ref_ID=4661&CID=564&RID=24879570
In another sign that momentum is building on the Left to silence conservatives, during a recent interview, Howard Dean called for a return of the so-called "Fairness" Doctrine. He feels that this is necessary to silence the Fox News Channel, which he believes, "just makes stuff up and is a propaganda outlet."
Much like their plans for the FCC, a return to the Fairness Doctrine would result in Washington liberals deciding what is appropriate political speech. Though Howard Dean's goal is clearly to silence conservatives, he claims this is a necessary move to protect all of us clueless Americans, saying, "Americans don't know what's going on and therefore the media can have their way with them intellectually." This from the former DNC Chair, propagandist extraordinaire.
Regardless of what We the People said to them in the last election, the Left is determined to implement their agenda by controlling who says what to whom through the unelected, unaccountable FCC. Too bad the ACLU is a leftist hobby horse; this would be right up their alley. We the People need to make certain the Democrats are merely rearranging the deck chairs on the USS Titanic.
