The Fight for Free Speech is On!
by Brian JenningsThere have been several new developments regarding the battle to regulate free speech on your radio. First, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas provided a definitive statement about how the court might view restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. Accordng to WorldNetDaily, Justice Thomas called the policy “problematic” and a “deep intrusion into the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.” He is right. That’s why Democrats are going through the FCC backdoor to regulate broadcasters in a stealth manner with measures that would accomplish their goals of snuffing out conservative talk and thus conservative values in America. They are smart enough to know the “old” Fairness Doctrine wouldn’t stand up in court. So, the first step in the process begins May 7th when the FCC will start conducting hearings to “redistribute media ownership” in America. The theme of redistributing wealth continues.
The other major development is news about new FCC appointments coming soon. According to Radio & Records, the new appointments are imminent. It appears Obama will nominate Mignon Clyburn from South Carolina as one of his Democrat appointments along with Julius Genachowski as Chairman. Ms. Clyburn has a newspaper background, so hopefully she will have some sympathies for conservative talk radio, but I doubt it. She also has a strong public service background and has been vetted by Obama. Newspapers have always held a low opinion of conservative talk radio. Watch for the hammer to come down.
Part of the Democratic plan is to establish “programming advisory boards” for stations. These nazi-like boards would serve one purpose – promote fear among broadcast license holders and threaten them if they don’t adhere to their programming wishes. Tyranny. Here’s what my friend and colleague Roger Hedgecock had to say when he talked to WND: “Talk about a chilling effect on free speech, this will be an Arctic blast of restraint on opinion based on the threat to take the license away.”
Hedgecock also told WND: “I think the FCC is on the cusp of enacting regulations that would fundamentally alter the traditional American assumption that we have the right to share and debate political opinions,” he said. “I believe the strategy is to make the current state of compliant journalism that prevails in the mainstream media the norm as well on the Internet and in talk radio,” he said.
There is no journalism in America. Wednesday night’s compliant news gathering at the White House was a joke. Obama controls the media and it’s a massive dupe of the American public. As Rush Limbaugh said this morning, “I never thought I would say I long for the days of Sam Donaldson.”
Hedgecock who holds forth at KOGO in San Diego and in national syndication, also says, “I think in the next 90 days we will see the imposition of the local advisory boards. They will immediately become complaint departments staffed by the left on all local and nationally syndicated talk programs,” Hedgecock warned.
If you value conservative talk in America, it’s time to speak up. A number of my conservative talk colleagues have come together to form UnFairAir.org. This site is a rallying cry for the protection of free speech on the radio. Please check it out. If you value conservative talk, now is the time to pay attention.
Brian Jenning’s book Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio will be in bookstores next Tuesday, May 5th. This book is the collective voice of talk radio hosts and managers speaking out against speech regulation on the nation’s airwaves as well as the many attempts to muzzle conservative talk in America.
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134 Comments
You grab the car keys, I’ll get the kids.
Great post Brian!
All I could think of while reading it, was Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". The more I read, the scarier what is happening today is.
Turnabout is fair play. The Republicans should simply beat the metaphorical hell out of the nominees, then vote against them. If it makes it out of committee, they should filibuster and force a cloture vote on every single one of the nominees. If we can tie Congress up long enough, maybe it will kill his nominees and his legislative agenda as well. The American people are never as safe as they are when Congress is unable to act.
I almost forgot. Now that Specter is a Republican, he can be replaced on the Judiciary Committee by a real Republican who won't be intimidated by the snarling living constitutionalist Democrats.
Free speech in this country will never be taken away. It will just be Obama style speech. Such as last night when in the speech when he said the Recovery Act saved 150,000 jobs already. Do not question der Leader. Or when he said protect yourself from Swine Flu you cover your mouth and wash your hands. Do not question der Leader (did not Bush say duct tape and plastic and got lambasted).
He told a joint session of Congress Feb. 24 that "we import more oil today than ever before." That's untrue. Imports peaked in 2005 and are lower today.
Fact-Checking Obama's Speech
Feb. 25
He claimed in the same speech that his mortgage aid plan would help "responsible" buyers but not those who borrowed beyond their means. But even prominent defenders of the program in his administration concede that foolish borrowers will be aided, too.
Fact-Checking Obama's Speech
Feb. 25
He claimed in a March 10 address on education that the high school dropout rate has "tripled in the past 30 years.” But according to the Department of Education, it has actually declined by a third.
DO NOT QUESTION DER LEADER
These "programming advisory boards" will probably be a lot like the advice my mom gives me now. Either I take the "advice" now or I get an a**whooping later. These boards will be no different. Either you take their "advice" or you get the horns.
And Obama, Nancy and Harry still smile while they shut up all opposition. This is the chill wind that is starting to blow across America. Tim Robbins was whining about the wrong people.
Hmmm, someone here said Do not question der leader with tongue and cheek, but it wasn't tongue in cheek when the President Savant Bush was in the White House. In fact, most people who wanted to challenge Der Bush were either shouted down, called Un-American (shades of Joe McCarthy) or were relegated to some distant place to make their protests. It sounds like the previous Administration was already affecting Free Speech. When hosts like Bill O'Reilly get their facts wrong about Malmady and then rather than admitting error Fox altered the text on their website to make it look as though he didn't say Malmady, but Normandy instead. So Fox attempted to hide O'Reilly's on-air mistake What they don’t think people actually watch or load stuff to You Tube? This sounds like the Pigs in Animal Farm who attempted to trick the other animals by writing "but some are more equal than others," to what was already scrawled on the barn's wall. Moreover, it sounds like something that would be right up any board’s alley to attempt to stop.
Ah, a Radio Unification Board. Just what we need. We should also have an Automotive Industry Unification Board, a Banking Unification Board, a Health Care Unification Board, an Airline Unification Bard. Hmm, with all these unification boards, we might as well just group them together into one Unification Board. It cuts down on the bureaucracy after all. Then this Unification Board will be better able to tell us what's good for us, what the "people need".
Oooooh! Insulting Bush's intelligence. How original. Tell me did your six-year-old brother come up with that one too!
Please your not even fit enough to fasten the bootstraps of our low ranking trolls.
can you say: "manufactured controversy"?
I am afraid it will become a "radio justification" board
Ravforu, you simply do not have the facts to support your opinion. "Shouted down?" The percent of Americans who watch Fox News compared to the viewership of slanted left ABC, CBS, NBC coverage (each around 8-13 million viewers a night) is minuscule. Add to that an alphabet soup of center-left to hard-left opinion coming out of PBS, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, BBC America, etc. And don't even get me started on print media. A story hits the NY Times and mainstream media parrots it for the next 30 days. So your insinuation that during the Bush era the Left had a difficult time getting its opinion out is a joke. We'll gladly give you Fox's viewership for all of that.
look, you want an example of corporate america in cahoots with the federal government, the best thing to look at is what ClearChannel and the FCC were doing for last 10 years. get real!
the real "unification board" THREAT is ClearChannel. The airwaves belong to the people, and they should be controlled BY THE PEOPLE.
Thanks for the heads up Brian. Hedgecock's a good man. I'm not so worried about the Hammer falling, it's the Hammer and Sickle that's got my attention. Who would have ever dreamt that the spirit of Beria and Joe Goebbels would be trying to poison our First Amendment at this time in our History .That's why the Founding Fathers wrote and put in the Second Amendment. May GOD the GOD that these American Hating Swine Don't Believe in Help us ALL.
ravforu's post has a lot more in it than an insult to Bush's intelligence. Thanks… I didn't know Fox would stoop so low to engage in covering up O'Reilly's on air foot-in-mouth syndrome. but I'm not surprised.
Unification – “If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.” Obama
Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote.
My hope and action will be to make sure that there aren't trains loaded with people going to the wrong direction to the wrong place again. Which can and will happen unless we start speaking up for one another now. Because the day which is a day that may not be far away when what Martin Niemoeller said and is on his grave stone: First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.
You mean, Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks weren't shouted down for Ms. Maines comment? Reviled by O'Reilly, Limbaugh and others? As usual no one's reading, I didn't say the Liberal media as you called it couldn't get its message out I said the previous Administration was affecting Free Speech – period. Given it went so far as discussions of a Constitutional Amendment to stop Flag burning which is something "those" conservatives always want to bring up, shows that both sides are guilty. As far as Der Bush, the comment was reflective of Sanmon's comment ; however, the fact remains Bush had handlers and people "pulling the strings". I doubt seriously if he could have acted in the position without the help.
Even if this did happen they could not shut our side up. They've been trying to shut us up forever. There's freerepublic, this website, and tons of others. People could take to broadcasting from their basements.
We will prevail, and Obama is not as popular as he thinks he is. We need to talk to our liberal friends. Just talk. Last night a liberal good friend of mine and I got into a discussion. She is a fan of Obama & the Dems. I mentioned that it bothered me that he is getting rid of the Chrysler CEO, the GM CEO, etc, and she thought it was great because they had "ripped off so many people". I said, well, fine, but do we really want the governent to run businesses? Is that the point of government, to tell CEO's they are fired, and replace them with "friendly to the admin" types? It did make her think.
Also, I pointed out that Obama is friendly with Castro, the Iranian pres, and Chavez from Venezuela. This makes us look WEAK to our enemies. He's using Neville Chamberlain's approach, and look where that got us. No matter what you think of President Bush, he was a HAWK, and he kept us SAFE after 9/11. I don't feel so safe now. Obama is a dove, and we have real serious enemies out there.
don't you think they'll 'regulate" the net also? fascists are dangerously selfish, & they must be exposed.
=== and she thought it was great because they had "ripped off so many people".===
I’m sure many liberals feel this way, after all they feel not think. These car companies did not rip off people; did the customers not receive the cars they purchased/leased? Liberals just make up accusations; they’re children that find it perfectly acceptable to lie and cheat to further themselves or their views.
The car companies “crime” was allowing themselves to be extorted by unions, which is the primary cause of their financial hemorrhaging. I will never buy a car from a company that has been quasi nationalized.
I wish it were manufactured. A 97-page report from the FCC mentions "programming or community advisory boards" eight times. Language in the 2000, 20004, and 2008 Democratic platform point to regulating media. Elected officials including former President Bill Clinton, Debbie Stabenow, John Kerry, Tom Harkin, Charles Schumer, Jeff Bingaman, Louise Slaughter, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Richard Durbin, Maurice Hinchey, Anna Eshoo, Dianne Feinstein, and others have advocated the Fairness Doctrine. The President advocates "diversity" in media ownership and "localism" which includes these advisory boards. Manufactured? I wish it were. If this is paranoia, why won't Nancy Pelosi allow a vote on the Broadcaster Freedom Act which would ban a Fairness Doctrine forever? Because she wants to regulate radio. Respectfully submitted.
What in the hell are you talking about? Your post makes no sense whatsoever. People who wanted to challenge Bush were shouted down? You mean like what happens at universities when a conservative tries to speak? Then to segue to Fox and Bill O'Reilly….please give me a &&%$#^*ing BREAK !
How many Bush critics got bum rushed off the stage like Ann Coulter? Shouted down? You've got to be kidding.
Another example of Obama using agencies to do his dirty work, that he's too chicken to run through congress. The EPA is already regulating CO2, and now the FCC will be used to "redistribute" radio.
Funny post. Trying to make the "media is really run by conservatives" case. That's a hoot! Most conservatives, and few liberals, KNOW the difference between Malmady and Normandy, and what happened there and could make the mental adjustment. YOUR POTUS can't speak in public without having his hand held and stroked by an electronic device. Try again troll, you just put up one weak assed post.
Ask David Horowitz how breezy and easy it is making a appearence or speech in a public place. You try speaking with the thugs of the college version of the Muslim Brotherhood breathing down your neck. Look it up. U. of Wisconsin, aka, Beijing East.
OK LawhawkSF sounds good to me.
In the meantime exactly how do these people place content controls on the internet or Satellite radio which ostensibly is not controlled by the government. I know they are are going to puch this crap on the AM stations and in the process simply kill AM radio as people go back to what happened before Rush which was no listen to AM radio.
What options do we have and what court cases can we file. Is there a radio station willing to see these "content" boards for loss of revenue for their Fascist tactics.
Excuse me Deer Leader:
I have a question
They weren't shouted down Oh misinformed One, they were allowed to say whatever the HELLo came out of their ugly mouths. HOWEVER it is the RIGHT of all of those people that you mentioned to "revile" them if they so wish. It works both ways you know.
My new acronym is WWOTS = "What would obamas teleprompter say".
ravforu,
Ignore O'Reilly's mistake I am your real worry.
In a post on Big H that I made not three days ago I used the word form instead of from. Right after posting and reading what I wrote I noticed my error. Instead of leaving the error as evidence of my gaffe I horribly and evilly hit the edit button and changed the word fom from form to from.
Oooooh! I am Evil! BWaahahahahahaha!
See there I did it again I spelled Bwa HA HA wrong and used the edit button to fix it! Be afraid ravforu there are more of us out here who use that EVIL edit button. Why do they even put it there!
The Dixie Chicks were not shouted down for their viewpoint, they were booed for their rudeness. People went to their concert to here them sing and they spent 10 minutes spewing irrelavant hateful hogwash.
Tell you what why don't you try this test. Next time you go to the movies just as the main feature starts stand up in front of the theater and yell loadly about how much you hate Bush.
See what happens…………….
"which ostensibly is not controlled by the government" — there's your flaw.
Governments all over the world are controlling content and they are doing it by forcing providers and search engines to do their bidding.
I supect they will be more like the "political officer" that the totalitarians place into military units. They don't really have any power at all, but all power will flow through them.
I guess we're building our own NKVD/Gestapo units for the radio!
How can they do that.
They'd have to have a massive databae program to catologue IP addresses and even if they got it up and going it be easy to crash. Plus all those psuedolibertarian IT illegal download Free the NEt types would turn on them.
Great Satan,
What is the status of Ford……
Do we have a real America car company left or have they managed to put the screws to them too.
Man this is scary.
Brian, do you know if anyone has a team of lawyers looking into this yet (on our side), i.e. is there a "Free Speech Foundation" or something?
Someone should be figuring out (1) what the limits are on the FCC's regulatory power, (2) what specific procedures the FCC may need to follow, (3) where the Supremes have come down on similar issues, and (4) which District Court judges might be most friendly.
Yes I can
Here goes……….
GLOBAL WARMING
See how easy that was boys and girls.
The Dixie Chicks didn't have the government threatening to shut them up, they had their own consumers doing it. Not so subtle difference.
Nicely done. **applause**
The filthy maggot pigs enable this swill.
From my dear mother, MUG, as me and my brothers tagged her when we were wee, and MUGGIE as her grandkids and other loved ones call her:
"I own my words and my thoughts. I mean what I say not what you say I mean. I will consider your statement of my intent equal to an assault on my person. You do not know my intent. You may not deconstruct my language."
My Mug is awesome! Please share her words, and make sure you credit MUG!
Actually, all you have to do is require that internet providers comply with your requirements. Then you criminalize a failure to comply. If you really want to make sure this gets exposed, you let private citizens bring civil suits for damages (call qui tam suits), which require that the government be notified before the suit can be begun.
People like Google and Yahoo already give in to China, Iran, and Germany, each of which require filtering of information. Also, England recently announced that they are now tracking all web usage and e-mail within the country to "search for terrorists."
And not a single IT guy stood up to stop them.
You keep posting this same comment. At least switch up the routine.
Remember people, we have INALIENABLE rights. That means that they can not be granted or taken away by ANYONE. They can only be given away with our permission. We the people have a Consitutional mandate to protect the constitution that protects us. Peaceful resistance to outright refusal to succumb to the socialist dictates are the answers. No matter how much authority they abusively try to assert, they can not force our silence or cooperation. The time for silence is over. Get out to the marches. They are scheduled all over. Find one and get there. SILENCE IS APPROVAL.
The Thomas More Law Center in Detroit is watching this closely. The Media Research Center in Washington DC is another. I think the Supreme Court would rule anything "unconstitutional", but tonight one member of the court is now ready to retire – meaning Obama can now sway the court, too. We are in trouble.
ravforu's logic is typical of the Left and college students and generally ignorant pop culture consumers who don't really understand the Constitution. The 1st Amendment enumerates a right we already have. You're free to criticize Bush. I'm free to criticize Specter or The One. You're free to criticize me and I, you. My response to your blather is not violating your rights. It wouldn't be "censorship." Nor would my decision not to shop in your store (or buy your records). Even my "shouting you down" would not be violating your speech rights. Rude and immature, yes. Generally speaking, when federal or state or local or any form of political power is used to squelch speech, THAT is a violation of your 1st Amendment right.
What did Pres. Bush say about the Ditzi Chuks remarks?
Right on, brother!
Now I am pining for a healing roadtrip and visit with my MUG and Dad, (my daughter would likely sacrifice her job to ride shotgun) I want to share one more of her emails to me. It was in response to my correspondence with Yankee's editor.
"You were born in Massachusetts to parents whose roots are pure Yankee,from your dad's ancestors who settled in New England in the 1600's–some of your relatives living in a home studied by many architecture students as an example of one of the earliest structures in New England– to family members on both sides who fought bravely to preserve the union.
Your grandmother, who was forbidden by family to drive on the mainland, kept a car at the summer place in the island, and often drove visiting friends to Chappaquiddick for picnics. No one ever died in the back seat of her car. The values (or trendy ideas) of New Englanders at this time (reflected in many articles in Yankee) make your family weep for what has been lost. Most have moved to other areas, many finding in the South the tolerance that has all but disappeared in their home towns. Many also no longer subscribe to Yankee."
ravforu,
Take a course in logical thinking. The Dixie Chicks were shouted down by editorialist, and the general public. The government made no attempts to silence or condemn them. There is no correlation between the digust of the common people at the misbehavior of those women, and the attempt by the government and government supported agencies to interfere in free enterprise. Rush Limbaugh does not claim to be a journalist, CNN, and NBC, and New York Times reporters do. Limbaugh states an opinion that is obviously wildly popular with a large group of the American public. The left-leaning media does not care what the public thinks, states their opinion as fact, and is now requesting that the US government prevent the public from even listening to those who would disagree with them. If you will read about the progression of Nazi control of the airwaves, you will find some startling resemblances. You may not agree with what I say, but your contract as a citizen says that you must defend to the death my RIGHT TO SAY IT!
ravforu – I detect a liberal Troll.
Did Fox clean up O'Reilly?
Does Chris Matthews get a tingling sensation up his left leg?
Why can't it be in his left arm, and as Obama causes the quickened breathing, we can see the rest of the symptom: blue lips, pale skin… and so on
CLEAR! (Ka chunk!)
EFFU ravforu – turbodouche yourself back to Huffpoland.
none of this stuff will happen None of this stuff ever happens. You people just make it up as you go. of course it DID happen under bush (remember NPR?) and there are NO left wing radio stations, but if it makes you feelbetter keep up raving. After all, each week less and less people think you are relevant so you really should scream louder.
Natalie Maines wasn't even shouted down. How can anyone shout a bigmouth like that down? Plus, she has no neck.
Why oh why canst thou not get said story straight and go back to HuffpoKos land troll?
Previous administration was affecting free speech? When did Bush's folks shut down liberal papers and blogs – christ, you'dve never hung out with your douchy friends in Kos land had that been the case, oh wait – it never happened.
And as far as Bush not being able to act in the position – he had help..I got news buddy YOUR boy Obama sure could use some handling.
Nothing like making the presidency the "Ameteur hour."
Of course what you guys fail to admit is that if Obama shuts down your radio stations or does not, takes away your m-16's or does not, raises your taxes or does not, you will STILL find a way to somehow indicate that he did, even if all evidence indicates you are a bunch of paranoids with far to much firepower.
One can never have too much firepower.
You have officially won the thread.
Well played.
We'll see what develops. I'm not ready to concede that they will actually succeed in their "fairness" putsch. If they do, a whole new area of constitutional law may open up. Right now, we're still waiting to see what the Supreme Court will do with the obscenity issue. The Court did not, contrary to common belief, rule that it was constitutional for the FCC to regulate content. They merely ruled on a technical issue, and will wait for that to be settled at the trial level before addressing the rest of the issues. Scalia gave a hint of where he stood by including in his opinion that they will address the issue of the constitutionality of the FCC regulating any content whatsoever later. An issue as narrow as obscenity can end up creating a whole new rule saying that the FCC can control licenses and bandwidth and perhaps nothing else. Conceivably, we could at the end of it all end up with a simple rule stating what the rules are for granting licenses. I'll put up with a little obscenity to protect the far broader issue of free speech, if that's what it comes to. It ain't over 'til it's over.
Orf wipe that spittle off your chin and speak for yourself, man.
"After all, each week less and less people think you are relevant so you really should scream louder. "
Okay, so what do YOU think?
Do any of these libs ever write anything using a "Me" or an "I"? Seems to always be a "we" or "us" and Obama. Dang, no accountability. Sucks being them.
Love it..validating my point to Orf. ONE can't, indeed.
""None of this stuff ever happens. You people just make it up as you go. of course it DID happen under bush""
Soooo, which is it? none of this stuff EVER happens, or did it "of course" happen? Wrap your head around it, man. Geeesh.
>> . . . if Obama shuts down your radio stations . . . takes away your m-16's . . . [etc, more blather] . . . <<
That's the point. Under the Constitution Obama cannot. But Obama, Pelosi and Reid apparently are unfamiliar with the Constitution, or they prefer to ignore it.
"turbodouche" lol..That almost made me hurl iced tea onto my screen! lol
Less and less people think you are relevant? Rasmussen 4/30–Presidential Approval Index.
34% strongly approve.
32% strongly disapprove.
"None of this stuff ever happens", followed by "of course it DID happen under bush".
Obviously, your own words show what a moron you are.
You lefties can make fun of us bible toting gun clingers all you want but when it comes down to it we're the ones who will be fighting to save your azzes as well as our own. If something big ever did happen all you tofu eating lefties would be crying in your green tea and hiding under your hemp bed covers.
*snerk* It sounds like he's already wrapped his head around one too many light poles.
ravforu,
You are right to say that we should allow free speech no matter Right, Left, or somewhere in the middle. So you are not in favor of the Fairness Doctrine of any form, good.
Yes this is called tune in or tune out. Capitalism By The People. Air America people tuned out. Rush people still tune in. Liberty! Freedom of choice by the people.
thank you thank you all
The truth always plays well
Don't you guys ever get tired of robotically intoning "Der Leader," "socialism," "censorship," "threat to freedom of speech," "tofu eating lefties," etc.? I mean seriously.
A New Concept of Free Speech, by Arianna HuffingPuff.
Hate speech from right-wing talk radio and other sources (Republicans, Christian evangelicals, Big Hollywood bloggers, etc.) is an intolerable obstacle to progress in America. Such speech illustrates how badly we need to get over our foolish American notion that we can let everyone go around having their own opinions about things.
America should start following Canada's practice of having a Human Rights Commission that establishes the acceptable opinions on major public issues. In Canada, anyone having an improper opinion can be charged with a hate crime.
The Supreme Court should reinterpret the right of "free speech" to mean "speech that makes us more free," meaning free from racism, social injustice, and right-wing tyranny. Only speech that promotes these goals should be constitutionally protected.
Hopefully, Obama's forthcoming appointments to the Supreme Court will move us toward this goal and allow us to begin aggressively cleansing our nation of hate criminals (defined as anyone whose opinions inspire hatred toward them by decent, progressive people).
Oh gag me. "decent, progressive people"? Oh it is to laugh. Watch, as I roll my eyes.
In a word? NO.
I mean all of that defines lefties so why not robotically intone. 
Besides, what's it to you.
You still need a false claim in a qui tam action, don't you? And the person suing to get the false claim litigated notifies the government, which then takes over the litigation and awards a percentage of the recovery to the original litigant (aka "whistleblower"). So in this case, the qui tam claimant would sue, say Google or Yahoo! for interference with their internet rights or misuse of somebody's funds, and we would then expect Eric Holder's office to pursue the suit vigorously in a matter where it is the government which is behind the whole plan in the first place. I've never been involved in one of these suits, so maybe I'm getting the concept wrong, or missing how it would work in this instance. This is a question, not a criticism or argument.
The Pacific Legal Foundation (legal arm of the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy) has already sent out feelers. There must be many others. I sense a groundswell beginning to form. Believe it or not, there are still people on the left coast who actually think the Constitution means something.
No. And don't you lefties ever get tired of ignoring (or promoting) what the Great Socializer is up to? We learned repetitive jargon from your friends at the Daily Kos and the Huff Po, but we generally don't toss the f-bomb to go along with it the way they do.
Should have had the beef stew. Specter was a Republican, now is a Democrat, and since I voted straight Republican ticket I'm entitled to get my vote returned.
What about NPR? Did it go away when nobody was looking (or listening)? There are plenty of left wing stations around. Just no successful ones, or any that don't depend almost entirely on taxpayer funding. Bill Moyers would starve to death or have to sell his Rhode Island size farm if he didn't have NPR to keep him afloat.
We can always set up our own net, like with the old dial-in bulletin boards but much more advanced with modern technology. Widely distributed, based on a clandestine cell network pattern that routes around damage, it would be a nightmare of phone records to wade through, based on members using two phone lines, one dialing out for info while one is for info requesters dialing in. There are also many hard-to-trace technologies that can be linked in, like cellular and satellite, even CB and shortwave radio, whatever can transmit data at an acceptable rate and quality. Our "security" agencies are getting lazy because terrorists are lazy, and stick to things easy to use like cell phones and internet. We can beat that with American ingenuity.
Heck, we could probably do it out in the open with the internet we have, for example you can encrypt a lot of data in a picture, there are programs for it, and that'll get by the expected quick eyeball scan. It takes a lot of computer power to search even one pic for possible suspected readable patterns, let alone un-encrypting what's found without a key, without having the proper deciphering program and keys there's just too many pics on the 'net to search. And you can get a lot more data in audio and video files. If the administration persists, some day they'll have to justify scanning all the continuous streaming porn on the internet in a search for right-wing extremists. Now that'll make for an interesting news conference.
Ford never accepted bailout money, and now sees how smart it is to never do so. Note how quickly they got concessions from the union to get closer to profitable, the UAW was worried about the bankruptcy threat and rightfully so, as shown by Chrysler's filing meaning their union contracts and obligations will soon go flying out a window. Barry has also been talking about a "structured bankruptcy" for GM.
Ford is now our strongest American car maker. As Chrysler tanks and may go out completely, and GM is taken over and forced to make AlGore friendly unsellable econo-boxes, Ford is now the predominant (and possibly soon the only) American maker of vehicles that Americans actually want and will buy. Also, before the bailout talks they were expected to hit profitability again within a few years. It's looking like they now might do that a lot sooner.
Sirius XM has a monopoly on satellite radio. Complain about that.
You should also be surprised that you are so gullible. That was readily debunked as an error of the transcription service which was quickly corrected.
I'm surprised that I'm surprised something nearly two years old that started as an Olbermann attack that I'd never heard of before is still circulating among liberals and given credence. You'd think I would have learned better by now.
Do you have any idea of the paperwork and money it takes to get an M-16? There are hardly a handful among private citizens. They'd have to take them away from the police and military, that's where virtually all of them are!
It's some sort of code phrase, you can search for it. A poster with the same name made that comment (similar wording that we've seen here) a year ago to a news story about a same-sex commitment ceremony. Possibly Matthew, Luke, and John post other phrases elsewhere.
That makes sense, he's followed by a herd of MSM that stare like a deer in the headlights when truth approaches.
Dear Can't get no tv Digital sattelite service down near truck, you have this mentioned in another thread where replies await your perusal.
Our fine friends in Law Enforcement can take away those "rights" any time they dam well please, and they do so on a regular basis. The stench is overwhelming.
To paraphrase Ricky Ricardo, "Let me 'splain it to you so you can understand:"
When they put this in place, is Nancy going to come out and pull the plug on Rush? How about Harry? Osama? The head of the FCC? I don't think so! Our fine friends in Law Enforcement will bow and scrape before their Masters, and then do whatever they're dam well told. Inalienable rights? Not if Ruth says they aren't. And she can consult Rwandan law all she wants, and our Law Enforcement friends won't do anything to cross her. Just like their predecessors in 30s and 40s Germany. Nancy, Harry, Osama, the FCC, and Ruth can say whatever they want. That's the way the 1st Amendment is supposed to work! But our Law Enforcement "friends" are allegedly sworn to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Do you want to bet they'll do that if their Masters tell them otherwise? So when I say "The filthy maggot pigs enable this swill," it's a shorter version of this. Capiche?
LOL. You got that right, Golani. You can never have too much firepower. And in ronald Orf's case, you can never have too little brainpower. This troll is too damn funny. Bring us some pie.
[...] Article from “Big Hollywood”. [...]
I don't read Daily Kos or Huff Po. They're boring and badly written. So is BH a lot of the time, but at least it entertains me and reminds me not everyone thinks the way I do. I'm just thinking now might be a good time to, you know, come up with some new policies instead. We could use some actual discourse in this country rather than talking points and sniping.
I've been involved in several qui tam suits. You are correct that they apply (right now) only to fraud suits. But there is nothing to keep the government from expanding that.
The concept is simple. A private citizen recognizes the problem. They file a suit. They notify the government. The government has a fixed amount of time to evaluate the claim. If the government so chooses, it will take over the suit. If it wins, the individual get a small share of the damages. If the government chooses not to take over the suit, the individual can continue with it personally to get their own damages award.
Interstingly, the individual need not prove a personal injury because they are suing "on behalf of the government.
And while this is a civil proceeding, these cases often result in parallel criminal investigations. In the health care world in particular (Medicare fraud), this has been an "overly effective" tool for discovering fraud, i.e. lots of meritless suits.
Think of it like allowing people to sue each other for speeding.
P.S. I'm not saying this a good thing. All I'm saying is that this is an easy way to millions of people monitoring everything every radio station does. Sick huh?
Yea but the turncoat actually started out as a dem before he switched to rep before he switched to dem. THAT right there should have been a warning sign.
I hope Ford comes out stronger then ever, for a few reasons but the main one being so that it will show this lousy administration that they don't need them.
Joe McCarthy was proven to be 100% right. Why do ignorant people use his name like its a bad thing?
I wasn't going to do this.. but there are just some posts that are too stupid to pass up:
In fact, most people who wanted to challenge Der Bush were either shouted down
By which govt agency???
called Un-American (shades of Joe McCarthy)
Again. by which govt agency? By the way.. if I think someone is being traitorous.. you can damn well be sure I'll be shouting it… but you I've never been a govt employee, so I'm allowed to do that.
or were relegated to some distant place to make their protests
Say what? Relegated by which govt.agency?
Ooh.. you mean those groups that decided to go on stage in London and gripe? You mean those organizers who CHOSE to have their protests outside the US? I didn't know that Crawford Texas was "Distant"?
When hosts like Bill O'Reilly get their facts wrong about Malmady and then rather than admitting error Fox altered the text on their website to make it look as though he didn't say Malmady, but Normandy instead. So Fox attempted to hide O'Reilly's on-air mistake
A… this has already been pointed out as a false rumour by another link in this thread.
B… WHAT the hell does this have to do with free speech? Zip, zilch, nada… Rav..
This sounds like the Pigs in Animal Farm who attempted to trick the other animals by writing "but some are more equal than others,
LOL.. you do realize that you're using a conservative argument to try to dispute a liberal/socialist viewpoint?
"This word 'free speech', i do not think it means what you think it means'.
Well you know, the intelligence of anyone who would cite WorldNetDaily as a source of record is certainly in question.
Bottom line, big picture Freedom of Speech is going to be here at least as long as the Right to Bear Arms. Those things are something that the right feels they should own and regulate and dole out to those they feel should have them, but much to your chagrin the Constitution applies to ALL Americans.
So don't worry about your freedom to speak your mind. Your right to sound like an idiot guarantees my right to call you one.
Dipstick.
I've been called a lot worse. Since Roger Hedgecock was quoted by WND, I asked Roger about the comments and he verified them as accurate. Thanks for your opinion, though and I support your right to expression and speech. Respectfully submitted.
brian, i linked this article and your site on my site today. well done, brother.
Cybersecurity Act already introduced — and plans to monitor all postings on internet, i.e. hold them 24 hours before releasing the ones that are approved.
I cannot believe that this is America.
ravforu says …
"Hmmm, someone here said Do not question der leader with tongue and cheek, but it wasn't tongue in cheek when the President Savant Bush was in the White House. In fact, most people who wanted to challenge Der Bush were either shouted down, called Un-American (shades of Joe McCarthy) or were relegated to some distant place to make their protests."
So, the leftist claim, in regards to leftists wanting to pass laws and prevent free speech by supposed legal methods is thinking this is the same thing as when leftists bashed Bush that some people shouted at those leftists. This is the type of stupidity that we find in Obama supporters. Passing laws against free speech is Ok in their warped sick twisted minds because some conservative shouted at them in the past. Man, how do you fight such disturbing sick mental processes that the the liberals constantly display.
V, seriously, Republicans have offered great alternatives and the koolaid drinking MSM simply dont report it or dismiss out of hand. There are some serious issues here with Obama and all we hear from the MSM is slobbering gratitude to kneel at his holy alter.
Ronnie seems to be a mental DwOrf or something. He is too funny. This is why I have to laugh at how stupid the typical Obama supporter is. It is also why I have to cry at how bad the educational system must be to let Orf's kind of stupidity make it through the system.
Is this by the same people who proposed increasing car mileage until it reached 100 mpg? The logistics would be immense, that's a lot of data, they could try filtering with programs and it'll be gotten around as can be done with auto-moderation, and as mentioned above messages can be encrypted in other things. Humans would end up doing the real work, and that's a lot of people with an expected high burnout and/or brain damage rate.
The outrage would be immense, there'd automatically have to be exceptions for media outlets besides governmental entities and anyone who's studied their junk mail knows you can spoof a sent-from address. The perceived internet traffic from trusted-source "MSNBC" would quadruple overnight. Then there are the companies. They depend on their email and internet connections, while you may expect they'd roll over to stay in business in reality they'd realize a serious threat, in short order we'd wake up to discover our new ruling capitalistic oligarchy, a real one and not the currently imagined conspiracy-ist one.
It would lead to posting from outside America to sites on servers outside the US, which is already done to get around a country's filtering and restrictions. It'd create more services like magicJack. While a nice device for dirt cheap phone service from your high-speed connection, one cute thing is you can get one listed as a phone exchange near you, take just the magicJack device to Dubai, and as long as you have good internet your calls will be seen as coming from that exchange back home. Soon we'll see lots of those coming in whose phone numbers are listed for "civilized" places like Kenya, UAE, Iraq…
There are many technical reasons it wouldn't work, many people and organizations that'd oppose it, if they tried it in any serious fashion at worst there would arise a new and much-more untraceable network as the geeks revolt. And we'd be endlessly lectured by the more "advanced" countries like Cuba, North Korea, Iran…
Thank you, kindly. Very nice of you…my sister! BJ
Good one kadaka! +1 for you!
That has the hallmarks of a classic "distraction by explanation," as when the magician "explains" a trick while you're not noticing what the assistants are really doing. It bears little to no relation to what was discussed during the numerous other times you've used that line just here on BH.
Jig's up. Sorry.
That has the hallmarks of a classic "distraction by explanation," as when the magician "explains" a trick while you're not noticing what the assistants are really doing. It bears little to no relation to what was discussed during the numerous other times you've used that line just here on BH.
Jig's up. Sorry.
But when people listen to conservative talk radio there is a noted increase in intelligence as What Really Makes Sense is revealed. While there would be some die-hard deniers, I fail to see how that would not lead to some level of conservative conversion. There'd also be a bit of Prohibition effect, soon as something is labeled as dangerous enough to warrant monitoring the interest in it goes up. There'd also be an increase in ad revenue as the ratings increase, the stations will take notice. If they liberals tried what you say they'd just be doing some of our work for us.
Barack Peron!
HA!
Radio is part of the commons. Therefore, it should be regulated. What- "free market winner take all" should block the people from access to broadcast what they please? I think not.
I agree with you on your initial statement. The government cannot successfully monopolize the radio or other media. To ingest the weird paranoid pill for a moment to picture Pelosi & etc making such an effort… it would flop.
What is much different, and what SHOULD happen, is the government should act to prevent the monopolization of the radio by singular private interests. This is called regulation, and thank God for it.
the problem is that "when it comes down"… if "it" ever happens I'm sure we'll have people like you to thank for it.
Now that's special. The article is about Conservative Talk Radio being forced off the air by the government. I say that Nancy, Harry, Osama, and the head of the FCC aren't the ones who are going to pull the plug. I say, instead, that Our Finest Law Enforcement Officers will be the ones who pull the plug, and you say:
"That has the hallmarks of a classic "distraction by explanation,"
-and-
"It bears little to no relation to what was discussed"
Well color me surprised! Y'all wouldn't be one of Our Finest now, would you?
Sure Rav, the Chicks were shouted down, and yeah, O'Reilly et. all gave 'em heck. But EVERYBODY knows where O'reilly and that lot stand politically. The MSM, on the other hand, are generally assumed and hoped to be impartial entities, not the obvious cheerleaders and defenders of the left that they've become. Maines said her piece, and the general public said theirs back-are you saying that the Bush admin orchestrated that public response? Please. And where do you get that dissent of Bush had to be done from some "distant place"? President Bush, to the best of my knowledge (please correct me if I'm wrong), never barred any reporters from his press conferences, even those who were openly disparaging of him and his policies. I don't believe that same "come one, come all" approach is allowed nowadays.
As an independent, I really do try to give both sides equal time and then make up my own mind. Sure, the political right don't have all the answers, and have, in fact, made some pretty boneheaded decisions. But the arguments you and those of your ideological ilk cling to have been wearing thin, and I fear for my own impartiality.
Yes because no one ever wanted to attack the US when Democrats were in office before, it's just that darn Republican party that gets everyone riled up overseas.
Wouldn't it be simple of the Supreme Court stated that any content regulation is unconstitutional. Then, they FCC's mission would be simply defined and where it should be. Great explanation and analysis on your part. Thank you.
Individualist, Ford seems to be doing relatively well all things considered. I heard their Fusion car has been selling well. I was a bit surprised with Ford’s resilience considering their stock was half the price of GM's.
But yes, it is scary times.
Riiiight..Me a little ol' 5 foot nothing woman. Gee you're just so wise and all knowing. Blech.
whatever. the whole-"those wimpy dems will come crawling to us toughies when the US is really in trouble" thing is a great big LOAD.
when 9/11 happened, THIS liberal was saying: "Oh great. Now we'll have to put up with years and years of hawkish war mongering (and worse) from the right." And boy was I validated on that count.
SO NO, miss SgtTank, I am sure we NEVER will need YOU gun clingers to save our asses "when it all comes down".
It all depend on how well they taylor the underlying reason for regulation. If they can find an explanation that the average American doesn't view as supicious, then only people already on the right will get upset. For example, if the law says that radio stations must provide local content, most Americans will not see the danger in that until it is too late.
Go up two posts! Smile
They'll have to define "local content" first. Does the news count? And going by what broadcast TV stations call children's programming, well, they'll find a way around as much of it as possible.
PS: Alright, you had enough time to edit out that wrong word, which you won't be able to when I hit Send…
Radio is part of an area on a college campus?
It deserves no more regulation than a billboard, which is also freely available for observation. And given what liberals have insisted is their right to put up on billboards, there are very few content regulations that should apply. Oh, if you're all for "equal access" then you apparently support billboard equality. Why we should have "public access" ones where anybody can post their own message! For free! Please excuse the quality of the "Obama Lies!" one, I did it at 2 AM while the liberals were sleeping.
Nah, still doesn't make sense. That comment gets made for a same-sex commitment ceremony to the wide-ranging discussions on BH. If that were shorthand for what you said, it wouldn't work for practically all of the rest. The line is used far too generally to have as specific a meaning as you are claiming. This new attempt to cast suspicion resembles a magician responding to a heckler who says he knows what was done, denouncing the heckler as working for a competitor. It's not working either, you've been found out. Fail.
Ha! I like it.
[...] Brian Jennings at Big Hollywood: There is no journalism in America. Wednesday night’s compliant news gathering [...]
Dude’s such a troll.
"Remember NPR?" Uh, yeah, It is still on the local university radio station daily. Did something happen to them?
There are NO left wing radio stations because no one wants to listen to their crap. See Air America.
I detect a troll calling the kettle black, my man.
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[...] Doctrine Conga Line: NY Dem Rep Maurice Hinchey Brian Jennings, Big Hollywood: The Fight for Free Speech is On! Richard Dawkins.net: Holland: SWAT team arrests cartoonist The American Dissident, A Literary [...]
[...] A Literary Journal of Critical Thinking: Myths and Hypocrisies Brian Jennings, Big Hollywood: The Fight for Free Speech is On! Burt Prelutsky, Big Hollywood: ObamaCare is Really ObamaDoesn’tCare — So Vote For Gracie Vets [...]
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