Is Amerika Heading Down the Same Path of Canuckistan?
With this being the Post #2,001 of my blog, I wanted it to be on a topic of supreme importance.
During the recent Maclean's / Mark Steyn Kangaroo Court fiasco, I saw comments from countless Americans exclaiming how anything like that could happen south of the 49th Parallel. I urged them to not rest on their laurels, for if there's one thing Canadians have learned this year it's that free speech is not a guaranteed right.
Fast forward less than a month and this editorial caught my attention. It focuses on Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat leadership supporting the "Fairness Doctrine". Of course, this is simply a euphemism meaning something very different in practice. In truth, it's the "American Censorship Doctrine", giving the American Federal Communications Commission the ability to completely control all content broadcast over the public airwaves.
If this repressive act becomes law then it will effectively silence many right-of-center radio talk show hosts, which is the ultimate aim of Pelosi and her ilk.
Censorship, Censorship, Censorship - The founders of America must be spinning in their graves.
Labels:
America,
free speech,
political correctness,
talk radio
2 comments:
Different issue. In the U.S., airwaves are considered to be public property, so the government has the power to regulate them and ensure that political commentary broadcast over the airwaves is evenhanded. No such restrictions apply to print material or the internet, which do not use public airwaves for broadcast. In other words, you can say whatever you want on your own dime, but when you're using airwaves under a public license, there are some restrictions.
John,
I understand the difference. And I also understand that swear words and such are forbidden.
But just to be clear, are you saying that government officials - be they elected or unelected - should be allowed to determine the content of the private broadcasters who have paid for the license to use the airwaves?
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