While unconstitutional to be sure the fairness doctrine will not be the disaster for conservatives and freedom lovers that some think. Though I concede it could be a real problem for small print outlets like yours (though to be honest I got started on BWH through your website).

The fairness doctrine will only speed the inevitable and destroy the liberal media. Right now, despite talk radio and the blogosphere, the flow of information to the people is largely controlled by the mainstream media which is nearly universally liberal leaning. Conservative talk radio is wildly succesful because there is a market for it. If you force the conservatives down and limit them, Rush and compatriots will not operate in that condition. They are going to drop off the mainstream media and stop doing radio and TV. They will go 100% onto blogs, podcasts and other alternative media. It will also cause the rise of new stars as yet undiscovered by the mainstream. Talk radio will be left as a barren wasteland where Air America types will broadcast to empty space with few listeners.

The people will listen to Podcasts on MP3 players in their cars, stream off the internet in their offices and homes. LewRockwell.com, for instance, has a very large listener base with almost no overhead costs by using purely online content. He has a website with blogs and articles, supplemented with a podcast. As the people turn to these alternative media they will stop watching the regular TV news as much, as they cruise the internet they will read fewer print newspapers. The network news will lose viewership (and influence). As people spend more time online they will discover more, non-conventional news sources. Less MSNBC.com, less CNN.com, even less Fox.com.

The new online media will be decentralized and hard to manipulate. There are no FCC lisences, no boadcasting equipment to buy. You can podcast with a computer and a $40 microphone. The liberal media will not be able to have their stranglehold on information that they do now. With a limited number of papers and TV stations currently you have to have a certain pedigree to work in the media. You have to go to school and study jouranlism and get influenced by the instructors, it takes a young kid who leans liberal and makes them dyed in the wool liberal. In the new media ANYONE willing to invest the time can be a journalist, they can fight on the market for people’s time, they can fight with the big boys for people’s time . My time on Drudge, on LewRockwell.com, on Reason Magazine’s website, the Gun Rights Radio Network and numerous blogs is time I am not looking at traditional media. I listen to podcasts in the car, I dont listen to the radio anymore. I dont buy newspapers. The fairness doctrine will only hasten the end to the liberal media. I dont support it, it is un-constitutional…but if they do get it through it will only hasten the destruction of the liberal media.

The liberal media and the government can try to regulate and control the internet but I dont think it will work. Tom Brokaw was once quoted as saying something had to be done about these online bloggers, that they would ruin the news because there was no control, no monitoring and people could publish just anything. I suggest he go back and read the constitution. But to the government and the media I would tell them that the question is not how or should you regulate the media. The question is CAN you regulate it. I will turn it over to Princess Leia from Star Wars to sum it all up.

“The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers”
-Princess Leia Organa

Obama’s rationale that I am right because “I won” doesn’t hold much water with me. The one twinkle of hope I see is coming from the 50+ Democrats in the House of Representatives who are trying to return ‘Regular Order’ to the proceedings in the House, opening the possibility for some level of rational discussion and votes.

That twinkle is so slight however, that I still will prepare, Prepare, PREPARE!

As part of that preparation, I am now finally ready to subscribe.

Its surprisingly short for a piece of legislature. I’d suggest reading the whole thing once, then re-reading Section 2-b-4. Its damn creepy.

Wish I could join with those saying they’ll fight to the last. Unfortunately I can barely walk at the moment (health issues), which kind of ruins the whole “blaze of glory” image. But I’m good at coming up with ideas, anybody need a resistance consultant? LOL