Thompson Hits Hard
Fred Thompson absolutely nails the Democrat's attempts to recycle the "fairness doctrine" and calls it exactly what it is: an overt attempt to silence opposition. (T)Hugo Chavez comes to Washington.
I had planned on talking a bit today about Venezuela. The president there doesn’t like the way his media is covering him, so he’s doing away with the free press. He’s established rules on what he thinks is fair, and he’s denying licenses to television and radio stations that don’t play by government rules.
I can’t criticize him now, though. After all, how would it seem for me to complain about another country, when our own congressional leadership is trying to put the same sort of rules in place here? To do so, they’re pulling the Fairness Doctrine out of the dustbin of history.
The Fairness Doctrine is an artifact from the days when there were only a handful of television channels and radio stations on our dials. Then, there might have been something to the fear that somebody might get control of all the media outlets in an area — so equal time rules were put in place.
As television and radio stations increased, it became clear that the rule was a bust. Instead of protecting free speech, it imposed costs on broadcasters that killed political discussion entirely. Why run the risk of dealing with anything controversial and having the regulators and the lawyers come down on you? Instead of talking about issues, news directors used stopwatches to measure candidates’ airtime.
Finally, in 1987, the Federal Communications Commission ended the antiquated policy. Today, with more cable and local access channels than anybody can keep track of — the equal time rule makes even less sense. Throw in the Internet, and it’s absurd.
The Democrats, especially the left wing of the party, know they cannot compete in the marketplace of ideas that is talk radio. Thompson points to the demise of Air America as the trigger of all this renewed interest in government-sanctioned censorship. And that is exactly what the fairness doctrine is. (I fully expect this idea to get killed in the Senate even if it passes the House. If it somehow gets passed at some point, I'd expect a constitutional challenge to be made immediately.) Isn't it interesting how the left whines endlessly about being silenced - on network television and in national-circulation print media - but they are the only ones to ever really move to stifle dissent.
Hat tip Captain Ed for the link. He also points out what should be obvious to everyone by now in his post:
However, this column and the sudden flood of missives from Fred Thompson securely indicates that he's running for the Presidency. Fred has spent the last few years in Hollywood, far from the political fray, engaging only occasionally. Since the beginning of the year, though, Fred has treated us to a stream of well-written essays on a broad range of public policy, and has emerged as the rational voice of federalism among the Republican cognoscenti. He has issued video statements and ensured that he provides commentary on every major issue that arises. He's even engaging the blogosphere to a level that surpasses even some declared candidates.
At some point, though, Fred has to actually get in the race. He needs to build an organization and start raising funds. He needs to appear at debates and make his case explicitly. When will he do that? Hopefully soon, before people tire of his attempts to play coy.
He's quite right of course. As Peggy Noonan pointed out, for a non-candidate, Thompson is running a hell of a campaign already.
By syn, Friday, 18 May , 2007 @ 11:16 am
I’m glad Fred Thompson is waiting to declare his run, let the others burn out all their juice to the point of running on empty. Of the top three candidates running both McCain and Guiliani are out because of their stance on illegal immigration and Romney is too nice to effectively deal with Islamic Fascism.
My impression is that the moment Fred announces he won’t need to worry about raising funds or building an organiztion.
For their stance on illegal immigration
By markg8, Friday, 18 May , 2007 @ 6:55 pm
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(Edit - only warning you get) You were doing fine until you started the ad hominim. Please either read - and follow - the comment policy or go elsewhere.
By Quilly Mammoth, Friday, 18 May , 2007 @ 7:01 pm
Once Fred Thompson declares his candidacy he loses this ability to put out the material he has been. And I don;t blame him. He will truly be a Top Tier Candidate, but in the current debate format he will be lost in the crowd with such loons as Ron Paul. Once the field thins out Fred can come charging out…meanwhile he still retains his not-quite-bully pulpit.
Genius.