And the Dems say that they are for free speech? Naw!
First they want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine (an old policy from the early years of radio that forced stations to equalize air time for opposing viewpoints. If a conservative bought air time to espouse their views, the station had to give equal time. Consequence? Free speech became no speech as stations didn't want to hack the headaches).
We all have seen the times when conservative speakers go to colleges to speak (think Ann Coulter) and then Liberal rantbags cause all kinds of trouble (screaming at the top of their lungs, rushing the stage, throwing pies; pretty much just acting juvenile). These nutcases feel that because they disagree with what people like Ann have to say, they have the right to shut them down.
We have now seen that the Left, lead by Tom Matzzie (formerly of MoveOn.org) will attempt to shut down conservative political speech (or the funding that helps to get the message out) that they don't like by targeting and intimidating Republican donors (how thuggish of them!):
A new Democratic-leaning group that is looking to intimidate potential donors to conservative 527 groups and other independent efforts is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the legal takedown of one of the groups.
The newly formed group, Accountable America, is planning to send “warning” letters to nearly 10,000 major Republican donors next week listing the potential legal and publicity headaches they might face if they decide to finance one of these groups.
Now, the pretense of respecting the free speech of others, of promoting the entire spectrum of discourse, is completely out the window:
Los Angeles: “David Birke and his attorney Johnny Birke filed a complaint Aug. 27 against seven talk show hosts of KRLA-AM (870), Salem Communications Corporation and its owner Edward Atsinger III, alleging that they use the public airwaves to push Republican beliefs.
This is what torques me over modern life - in this realm, the real remedy is to go and buy your own air time and get your own message out. Compete! Seems, however, that is just too darn hard for them - compete effectively. Yup, some do try and keep on trying (re: Air America) and failing (re: Air America):
David and Johnny Birke would not say whether they were related, citing attorney-client privilege. … Radio hosts Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Miller, Mike Gallagher and Kevin James are named as defendants in the suit.” The various defendants have defrauded the public and violated FCC obligations “by using their radio license to discuss only Republican issues, Johnny Birke said Monday.” (Veronica Rocha, “KRLA sued over content”, Glendale News-Press, Sept. 8). Radio Equalizer (Sept. 9) notes one presumed irony: “KRLA has in the past featured a show on the subject of lawsuit abuse.”
What is it about Free Speech that the Left does not get? What is it that they don't want the rest of us to get?
(H/T: Overlawyered)
