Dark Clouds
Aug 30th, 2009 by David Anderson
There are dark clouds on the horizon if you are concerned about freedom of expression. We all know about the now defunct flag.whitehouse.gov. We have also heard about desires by some to reinstate the so called fairness doctrine in order to force out some of the loyal opposition and put them in limited air times. These efforts have not gained a great deal of traction. There are others which stand a much better chance of passage because they look more innocuous.
Senator Jay Rockefeller -(D)ictator WV is pushing legislation which would give the President broad emergency powers over key parts of the internet. While it would make sense to allow the government to keep it up during an emergency (what company would not voluntarily agree to that) this bill would allow the take over of it. All of the major companies have raised objections to it and so have civil libertarians. The bill stalled and now it has returned with only window dressing changes.
Diversity is the new fairness doctrine. They even have PSA announcements promoting it. Localism and minority ownership mandates seem to be code words to attack Clear Channel. The fact that AM was so close to dead before Rush that many new radios just came with FM seems beyond their grasp. Now such radios are dollar store toys. Some of the new Democrat commissioners have a record of publicly calling for correcting the “imbalance” on talk radio.
The new commissar for diversity (chief diversity officer) at the FCC is Mark Loyd. He took part in the liberal blueprint for taking on the “Structural Imbalance in Talk Radio”. In another article, he wrote forget the Fairness doctrine. He proposed using localism rules to harass stations. He claimed that one sided control of radio was the cause of genocide in Rwanda. He praised the incredible revolution in Venezuela and said it was almost lost because of corporate control of the media. Chavez has taken over at least an hundred TV and radio stations under diversity rules.
According to news busters he said,
“It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of speech or the press. This freedom is all too often an exaggeration. At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the press serve as a distraction from the critical examination of other communications policies.
“[T]he purpose of free speech is warped to protect global corporations and block rules that would promote democratic governance.”
There is a move for Net Neutrality which could allow FCC regulation of the internet.
There is an idea to help bail out the media by taking a non-profit status which would prevent political endorsements.
Those opposing the health care legislation because of clear language are deemed to be spreading fishy information and those who question it are called a mob. Goon squads are called out to meetings and in one a Democrat senate staffer is arrested for orchestrating an assault on a peaceful man standing outside of an event. One television news network is often attacked by the party in power.
Talk of revising the Patriot act and Surveillance Acts are gone. They were just campaign ploys. Instead there is an effort to expand government power. If we lose the first amendment freedoms, we lose America as we cherish it. All other fights pail in comparison. Taken as a whole, I see there are some dark clouds on horizon, but we can blow them back.
Mark Lloyd may be the Commissar for Truth and Enlightenment.
Somewhere in Hell, Josef Goebbels must be smiling at the prospect.
Corporate-state collusion, nationalization of a large segment of the economy, a compliant press and endless calls for national ‘service’ has another name; Fascism.
Perhaps ObamaSoc may combine the worst aspects of fascism and communism.
Remember that Obama got his political baptism in the cesspool of Cook County Politics. As a state senator, he could kiss up to a Rod Blagojevich.
What we see now is an unholy alliance between the sinister forces that did battle in Chicago in 1968.
It does not bode well for our Nation and beyond.
I am greatly disturbed by the regime in Washington. This is intolerable.
The first step of the liberal fascists will be talk radio. The next step will be the internet. These efforts will proceed in tandem. They will be cloaked in the language of fairness which is the Democrat moniker for control by some federal agency that the liberals control. The usual Liberal shills will support this as they know they can’t win wihen ideas are promoted on an equal basis.
fair and balanced NPR
Senior Groups Reject Health Care ‘Scare Tactics’ (union astroturfing:NPR)
NPR ^ | August 30, 2009 | Laura Leslie
At high noon on one of the hottest days of the summer, a small group of senior citizens sweated it out in front of state GOP headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., asking the Republican Party to stop using what they called “scare tactics” to turn senior citizens against overhauling the health care system. It could be the start of a silver backlash against what some say is a misinformation campaign about health care reform.
The members of the Alliance for Retired Americans were angry about a recent column by national GOP Chairman Michael Steele, who said health care reform would lead to rationing for the elderly and deep cuts to Medicare. Protester Michael Gravinese says that’s not true — and he thinks Steele is trying to frighten seniors like him
“It’s pretty blatant and obvious what they’re doing,” Gravinese says. “And that’s not for the good of the country. Let’s have a reasoned, honest debate about health care.”
Gravinese isn’t the only one who thinks his gray hair makes him a target for misinformation. The AARP does, too. The group is spending millions on an information campaign to counter what spokesman Jordan McNerney also calls scare tactics. He says from a political point of view, targeting seniors makes sense.
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but wait, a a little research with google turns up:
Alliance for Retired Americans is an AFL-CIO union advocacy group. Gravinese and Betty Zimmerman are union goons but this is unreported by NPR. Classical astroturfing but NPR is silent on the subject
Michael Gravinese
http://www.aflcionc.org/about/eboard/congressional.php
Betty Zimmerman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAeKe7JeNo
well, it’s not called National Pink Radio for nothing.
How quickly you folks forget that the Repubs strove mightily to underfund PBS and NPR. How is it that we did not hear any protests from the Right on that?
This internet proposal is far less, concerning itself only with granting the President with powers only in an emergency.
Would you rather Obama act above the law like Bush and the complicit Repubs did on the FISA Court?
You folks have conveniently short memories and little regard for the rule of law, still!!!
How quickly you folks forget that the Repubs strove mightily to underfund PBS and NPR…
Perry, please point out to me where in the Constitution the Congress has the authority to fund state-run media?
Would you rather Obama act above the law like Bush and the complicit Repubs did on the FISA Court?
Earth to Perry: He already has, dolt.