We already mentioned earlier today that several Republicans have introduced legislation designed to "bar Congress, President-elect Barack Obama and federal media regulators from bringing back the Fairness Doctrine" despite the fact that there are currently no plans or efforts underway to actually bring it back.
But that didn't stop these Republican legislators from taking "preventive measures" just to be sure ... for which they are now being hailed by right-wing groups:
Trying to hedge off an inevitable attack on free speech, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act at a press conference today on Capitol Hill ... We applaud Pence, Walden, and DeMint for their work to protect the airwaves from government control and pledge to join them in this fight.
The American Center for Law and Justice
A return of the Fairness Doctrine would be devastating to Christian broadcasters by putting the federal government in charge of telling broadcasters what to air,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. Such a move would put the federal government in control of dictating the content of what’s aired effectively muzzling Christian broadcasters. That’s precisely why the Broadcaster Freedom Act is so important. We applaud the many House and Senate members who have introduced and co-sponsored the measure. We believe passage of this measure is paramount to protecting free speech.
The President of the Christian Coalition of America, Roberta Combs said: "Congress should resist the urge to shut down radio talk show hosts around the country which is what the "Fairness Doctrine" would effectively do if brought back. Christian Coalition of America has begun an on-line campaign to ensure that the onerous "Fairness Doctrine" is not reinstituted by Congress or by the Obama Administration."
Christian Coalition of America commends the efforts by Senator Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and others in Congress to stop the "Fairness Doctrine" legislation from passing.
Is this really going to become a crusade for the Right: to fight for passage of legislation designed to prevent the implementation of something that nobody is planning on trying to implement?
And to think, pundits were worried that the conservative movement was out of touch and bereft of ideas on how to deal with the various crises this country is currently facing.
