February 11, 2009
Paglia slams Dems over censorship
In the marketplace of ideas, the continuing success of conservative talk radio is like Rush Limbaugh waving a red cape in front of Fernando the Feckless (Commie) Bull; unable to build and keep an audience of their own -- to compete in the marketplace of ideas -- Leftists and their Democratic lapdogs seek to muzzle, castrate and defang the conservative-dominated medium.
Unlike some liberal free speech advocates, I'm not at all surprised by the totalitarian impulses on the Left; individual liberty, including freedom of speech, is anathema to the al powerful State, and the ultimate goal of undiluted Leftism is the subordination of the individual to the needs of the many, the State itself representing the purest form of the power of the proletariat.
I'm joined in my disgust at the latest hypocrisy from the Left by my favorite leftist lesbian author, academic, polemicist and iconoclast -- who else could it be but Camille Paglia -- who unloads on Democrats for their increasing support for the reimposition of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine."
Speaking of talk radio (which I listen to constantly), I remain incredulous that any Democrat who professes liberal values would give a moment's thought to supporting a return of the Fairness Doctrine to muzzle conservative shows. The failure of liberals to master the vibrant medium of talk radio remains puzzling. To reach the radio audience (whether the topic is sports, politics or car repair), a host must have populist instincts and use the robust common voice. Too many Democrats have become arrogant elitists, speaking down in snide, condescending tones toward tradition-minded middle Americans whom they stereotype as rubes and buffoons. But the bottom line is that government surveillance of the ideological content of talk radio is a shocking first step toward totalitarianism.
One of the nuggets I've gleaned from several radio sources is that Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who has been in the aggressive forefront of the campaign to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, is married to Tom Athans, who works extensively with left-wing radio organizations and was once the executive vice-president of Air America, the liberal radio syndicate that, despite massive publicity from major media, has failed miserably to win a national audience. Stabenow's outrageous conflict of interest has of course been largely ignored by the prestige press, which should have been demanding that she recuse herself from all political involvement with this issue.
Paglia laid out her views on talk radio in more detail in her previous column:
If there's anything that demonstrates the straying of the Democratic Party leadership from basic liberal principles, it's this blasted Fairness Doctrine -- which should be fiercely opposed by all defenders of free speech. Except when national security is at risk, government should never be involved in the surveillance of speech or in measuring the ideological content of books, movies or radio and TV programs.
Broadcasters must adhere to reasonable FCC regulations restricting obscenity, but despite the outlandish claims of Democrats like Sen. Charles Schumer, there is no analogy whatever between pornography and political opinion. Nor do privately owned radio stations have any obligation to be politically "balanced." They are commercial enterprises that follow the market and directly respond to audience demand. The Fairness Doctrine is bullying Big Brother tyranny, full of contempt for the very public it pretends to protect.
[...]
[L]et's get real: Liberals have been pathetic flops on national radio -- for reasons that have yet to be identified. Air America, for example, despite retchingly sycophantic major media coverage, never got traction and has dwindled to a humiliating handful of markets. The Democrats are the party of Hollywood, for heaven's sake -- so what's their problem in mastering radio?
[...]
The best hosts combine a welcoming master of ceremonies manner with a vaudevillian brashness. Liberal imitators haven't made a dent on talk radio because they think it's all about politics, when it isn't. Top hosts are life questers and individualists who explore a wide range of thought and emotion and who skillfully work the mike like jazz vocalists. Talk radio is a major genre of popular culture that deserves the protection accorded to other branches of the performing and fine arts. Liberals, who go all hushed and pious at Hays Code censorship in classic Hollywood, should lay off the lynch-mob mentality. Keep the feds out of radio!
Paglia has it right, but I wish she'd stop using the Orwellian "Fairness Doctrine" in favor of truth in advertising: this is nothing less than the imposition of government-mandated censorship and thought control. "Fairness Doctrine" should be replaced by "Silencing Dissent Doctrine" or "Conservatives: Shut the Hell Up Act of 2009."
Posted by Mike Lief at February 11, 2009 06:21 AM
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