{"id":1211,"date":"2009-02-26T19:16:20","date_gmt":"2009-02-27T03:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1211"},"modified":"2009-02-26T19:16:20","modified_gmt":"2009-02-27T03:16:20","slug":"the-fairness-doctrine-of-the-undead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1211","title":{"rendered":"The Fairness Doctrine Of The Undead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never mind that President Obama has repeatedly stated his opposition to the Fairness Doctrine.<\/p>\n

Never mind that no one in congress has drafted, introduced, or advocated a bill reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.<\/p>\n

Never mind that almost every liberal organization, including the most prominent media reform group, Free Press, has come out against reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.<\/p>\n

Never mind that it’s been 20 years since anyone has taken an official action in support of the Fairness Doctrine.<\/p>\n

The Fairness Doctrine is presently the most serious threat to the United States short of Al Qaeda.<\/p>\n

And now we can add an actual vote<\/a> to prohibit the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine – an overwhelming vote by a Democratic Senate of 87-11 – to the list of things that we can ignore because hysterical right-wingers STILL believe that the Fairness Doctrine is lurking just around the next bend in the road, waiting to pounce on their loudmouthed radio ranters and deflower the virtue of America.<\/p>\n

In a bill aimed at giving the District of Columbia a vote in the House of Representatives (along with a new seat for Utah), the Broadcasters Freedom Act was added as an amendment. The text of this legislation prohibits the FCC from reimposing the terms of the Fairness Doctrine. The margin of approval for the amendment should put to rest any discussion that Democrats are endeavoring to bring back the Doctrine. It should be put to rest, but it won’t be. Republicans are so wedded to the fear they seek to generate with this issue that they will embrace it with all their might rather than recognize that they are battling a phantom.<\/p>\n

This is not so much a case of a zombie doctrine rising from the dead, as it is the GOP reanimating a corpse for their own exploitation. Rush Limbaugh began raving<\/a> about the return of the Doctrine almost as soon as the Senate had voted to prohibit it. And he did it in typical racist Limbaugh fashion. He attempted to explain that completely unrelated media reform measures like local programming, and ownership diversity, were really just new disguises for the Doctrine. On diversity, he described why that wouldn’t work saying that it would be faked by corporate schemers who…<\/p>\n

“…would go down to the barrios of Los Angeles, and they would pick somebody out, ‘Hey, you, Hector, over here,’ and they’d put Hector in charge of the company…”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In that brief citation, Limbaugh managed to double down his dumbness. First, he insulted Latinos by implying that they are all residents of barrios and none are qualified to run a business. Second, he admitted that companies are too corrupt to entrust with minor social contrivances like obeying the law – companies like the one that employs Limbaugh.<\/p>\n

So now there has been a vote, and everyone is on the record. But the Fairness Fairies are clapping as hard as they can and they refuse to let this go. Obviously, this will never end. No matter how many spikes pierce the heart of the Fairness Doctrine, delusional conservatives will exhume the body and pretend that it still lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Never mind that President Obama has repeatedly stated his opposition to the Fairness Doctrine. Never mind that no one in congress has drafted, introduced, or advocated a bill reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. Never mind that almost every liberal organization, including the most prominent media reform group, Free Press, has come out against reinstating the Fairness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,16],"tags":[461,71],"class_list":["post-1211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-wankery","tag-fairness-doctrine","tag-rush-limbaugh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-jx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1140,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1140","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":0},"title":"More Fairness Doctrine Stupidity From The Media","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/26\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul Bond, writing for Reuters, has produced an outstanding object lesson in how NOT to write responsible journalism. His article, that has appeared in the Washington Post, the Hollywood Reporter, and many other Reuters affiliates, is filled with novice mistakes - at least I hope they're mistakes. Bond's very first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCC"","block_context":{"text":"FCC","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=90"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3975,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=3975","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":1},"title":"GOP Leader Seeks To Reverse Ban On Snipe Hunting","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/2\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In a speech at the Akron Sportsman's Lodge, Republican House Speaker John Boehner promised local game stalkers that he would soon be taking up legislation to remove snipes from the endangered species list. This action is a prerequisite for granting permits for snipe hunts. Boehner told the appreciative audience that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCC"","block_context":{"text":"FCC","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=90"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1203,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1203","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":2},"title":"Rush Limbaugh’s Ego Is Fatter Than He Is","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/19\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"President Barack Obama reiterated today that he is does not support the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. He said so previously, during the campaign, and has been consistent in this regard. That hasn't stopped the hysterical ranting of rightist fear mongers who seek to use the issue to stir panic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FCC"","block_context":{"text":"FCC","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=90"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1289,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1289","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":3},"title":"Rush Limbaugh: Obama Will Own The Media","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/5\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Sean Hannity recently interviewed Rush Limbaugh and much was made of Limbaugh's warning to Osama Bin Laden that, if he wanted to \"demolish the America we know and love,\" he had better hurry because \"Obama's beating them to it.\" That was certainly worthy of attracting attention as a classic articulation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1178,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1178","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":4},"title":"Even More Right-Wing Stupidity On The Fairness Doctrine","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/18\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm getting a little tired of writing these responses to the paranoid rightist Chicken Littles who persistently pretend to be aghast at the prospect of the return of the Fairness Doctrine. I mean, how many ways can you say that it isn't going to happen? There is no legislation being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1309,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1309","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":5},"title":"Republicans Yearning For Fairness Doctrine At Healthcare Forum","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/23\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"For at least the past six months, conservative pundits and politicians have fashioned their fear of the Fairness Doctrine into an obsession. Despite the fact that liberals and Democrats, including the President, have expressly stated that they do not favor the Doctrine's reinstatement, Republicans continue to scamper like frightened ducklings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}