Prison Planet | June 28, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson
The Fairness Doctrine is about as fair as the Patriot Act is patriotic. Its supporters are fooled by this veneer of rosy lexicon while overlooking the basic fact that this is about government regulation and suffocation of independent media.
John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein (pictured), Dick Durbin and Nancy Pelosi have all called for the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine over the past week.
Liberals clamor for a reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine because they believe it will reign in Fox News and talk radio kingpins like Rush Limbaugh, but the fact is that Rupert Murdoch holds fundraisers for Hillary Clinton - the establishment media are intimately intertwined with the apex of both political parties. Fox News will not be targeted, this will only be used as a tool to shut down bloggers and other independent media that don't drink either the Republican or Democrat kool-aid.
Enforcement by law that broadcasters afford "equal time" to the opposing view spells the end for advocacy journalism and calls time on two of the most popular newsmen in recent years from different sides of the political spectrum, Lou Dobbs and Keith Olbermann.
The very article you are now reading will be a criminal violation of the Fairness Doctrine should it return.
Why are the political elite attempting to revive this Frankenstein despite the fact that it was thrown out after being judged unconstitutional 20 years ago? The establishment is furious that the influence of the dominant media is beginning to wane and is being diluted by grassroots independent media and the Internet.
They are seething at the fact that every new assault on our freedom that they try to wrap in glossy propaganda is being exposed and opposed with viral activism organized as a result of independent media.
This isn't about censoring the right-wing, it's about putting the structure in place to make any criticism of government illegal save jumping through 200 flaming hoops. This is about regulation of the Internet in alliance with new proposals to impose Chinese-style controls on free speech.
They are losing the debate on every issue from the amnesty bill to the centralization of power and the North American Union.
At this late stage in the game, they don't like the score so they are attempting to change the rules by re-defining freedom of speech altogether.
