Thanks to Raee for pointing out the Fairness Doctrine vote today. I’ve been moving and missed it.
Since I’m in the communications field, this is an issue that I’ve been following. I was shocked when I heard that it was being floated around again. The Fairness Doctrine was pointless when there were only 3 networks running 30 minute news shows once a day. The concept of bringing it back now is laughable. I can’t imagine how many groups would sue to challenge that law.
Raee questions if this is a Republican or Democrat move. I think it’s neither. It’s an elite vs. grassroots move (or country club vs. Sam’s Club as someone suggested on TechRepublican). As we’ve seen with Trent Lott’s recent comments about talk radio and Nancy Pelosi’s general disdain for average Americans, this was an attempt for Congress to essentially control the message in a media saturated enivronment.
This is my soapbox message, but with a resurgance in grassroots activity, the American people can now hold Congress and the President accountable. We saw it with immigration reform, and we’ll continue to see it used more and more in the future. The Internet democratize politics, and I’m convinced that grassroots politics will be more important than ever in the future. Congress can’t bully Americans with legislation anymore, and they aren’t very happy about it.
