The wingnuts are in a helpful mood these days. Witness the most recent suggestions from culture warrior and former Bush speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson in Saturday's WaPo. MC Gerson advises President-elect Obama to steer clear of three tripwire issues that could ignite the mouth-breathers who occupy a certain spectrum of the electorate: abortion and bioethics, the "card check" union voting issue, and reimposing the Fairness Doctrine. Let's just look at the last issue at this time.
The Fairness Doctrine, requiring broadcasters to give equal time to opposing political viewpoints, was a federal regulation until it was overturned by the Raygun assministration. Why? Well, because the plutocrat right wanted to buy up all the radio networks in order to establish a right-wing propaganda empire and didn't want to be deterred by any "fairness" issues. And it's worked wonderfully well for the reactionaries, if not for American political civility. You have Clear Channel, Sterling, Bonneville, Fox, ABC and other wholly owned subsidiaries of the Republican National Committee freely broadcasting their hate radio programming into every rural hamlet from Ashtabula to Fargo, where there's no competing viewpoint ever expressed. Coincidence you say? No. These broadcasters all get their talking points from the same RNC/ Grover Norquist/ Matt Drudge sources and all belong to the same professional conservative networks. Most often these broadcasters (Limpballs, Manatee Hannity, "Wiener" Savage, Hugh "Manboobs" Hewitt, Dennis Prager, etc.) aren't discussing political philosophy as much as they're inciting their easily-led listeners to hatred and violence.
Among MC Gerson's concerns? Regulating via the Fairness Doctrine "would destroy the profitability of conservative talk radio..." To which we would respond, "Regulate, baby, regulate!"
(Photo: talking points being prepared for hate radio broadcast)
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