The Democrats have handed conservatives a golden issue by attempting to bring down talk radio. Congressman Mike Pence offered an amendment to the FCC act today that would bar any use of funds for the re-establishment of the "fairness doctrine," whereby the government would be empowered to dictate the political content of talk radio and broadcast television. (This would obviously be unconstitutional.) This morning, I attended a press conference put on by Pence and the co-sponsors of his amendment, including Minnesota's Michele Bachmann. It was a fun event. It is hard to imagine how the Democrats could give Republicans a better issue than their effort to put talk radio out of business. The Pence Amendment passed this afternoon, but, somewhat surprisingly, 115 Democrats--most of the Democrats present--voted against it. So we'll be able to abuse the Dems on their opposition to free speech for some time to come.The Chicago Tribune's columnist John Kass gives the most honest assessment you'll find in the MSM about why liberal talk radio has failed.
If liberal talk were compelling, liberals would listen, but they don't in numbers necessary to sustain such programming. They don't have to, since much of the agenda is framed their way in mainstream media -- or did I not read that about 9 out of 10 reporters contribute to Democratic and liberal causes? A recent msnbc.com report found 143 journalists making political contributions from 2004 through the beginning of the 2008 campaign, with 125 donating to Democrats and liberal groups, 16 to Republicans and two supporting both.If anybody still needs evidence of the MSM's slant, it was found this week when MSNBC's Chris Matthews orchestrated an on-air ambushing of conservative commentator Ann Coulter and then the MSM dutifully interviewed Matthews the next morning to amplify the mugging, complete with a gross distortion of Coulter's comments about John Edwards.
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