Fairness doctrine is undemocratic say christianists

Fundamentalist Christians are up in arms about lots of things now that a decent, moral and ethical human being is residing in the White House.

One of them is the perceived threat that the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" will be reinstated, requiring broadcasters using the public airwaves to present both sides of an issue.

That's the way it used to be. Then, the B-grade movie actor (Reagan) turned prezident overturned the policy.

Which made the fundies and the wackos like Rush Limbaugh ooze with gratuitous gratitude. Now they could say anything they wanted without fear of contradiction by intelligent people living in the real world.

One of the christianists most loudly opposed to re-instating the Fairness Doctrine is Roberta Combs, rightwingnut president of the Christian Coalition. "Pelosi's party of freedom does not want freedom on the airwaves," whines Ms. Combs.

Christiannewswire, after deep theological contemplation, says "Liberals know that this 'Fairness Doctrine' law would intimidate radio station owners not to carry hours of conservative talk (because they would have to offer hours of liberal talk) - meaning shows like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly would be a thing of the past. They know that conservative talk radio is one of the biggest obstacles standing between them and being able to implement the rest of their radical liberal agenda."

Yup. That's how Obama didn't get elected: conservative talk radio!

And you imagine a world without Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly? (Smile.)


The Christian Coalition (which is not very "Christian" and not much of a coalition these days) is fighting back with an on-line campaign "to ensure that the onerous 'Fairness Doctrine' is not reinstituted by Congress or by the Obama Administration."

Let's see how well that works.

They've got one backer already - the great Senator Jim DeMint, Repugnican of South Carolina! Jim, as we know, is one of the really moral, ethical, and intelligent members of the Washington Zoo, so we're not surprised.

DeMint and three other Repugnicans have introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009 which will "prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC( from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which would suppress free speech by requiring the government to monitor political views and decide what constitutes fair political discourse."


There is so little honesty in the Repugnican Party these days that statements like the above are par for the course. Far from suppressing free speech, the Fairness Doctrine would create more free speech. The more a radio station promoted a particular point of view, the more we would hear another, opposing view.

Furthermore, as I understand it, the Fairness Doctrine does not require the government to "monitor political views and decide what constitutes fair political discourse," but merely to ensure that opposing views are given equal time.


The real question is: What are the fundy christianists afraid of? Truth? Accountability? Honesty?

I like what The Freethinker said: "When will these nutters get it through their Bible-fogged brains that their days of religious privilege - mercifully - are fast-dwindling, and that have absolutely no right to continue demanding special treatment purely on the basis of their stupid delusions?"