Letters to the Editor
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Rush and Viagra
For Rush to go from Florida where prostitution is illegal to the Dominican Republic, where prostitution is quite legal, and then get busted for improperly labeled Viagra is the height of stupidity, because at the time of his arrest Viagra was legally available over the counter without a prescription in any pharmacy in the Dominican Republic.
However it does not matter how stupid or ignorant or venal Rush is, because his radio show will only interest those who are equally stupid.
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Free Market and Fairness Doctrine
It truly is shocking how far from the truth conservatives are on this.
Imus was not fired due to a liberal plot. He was fired for making offensive statements at work? Who here would not be fired for loudly exclaiming in the office something about the 'nappy-headed hos' in Marketing?
Come on conservatives, it's your vaunted free market in action! It works! Granted liberals may have made the noise that made Imus' bosses take notice but as a public radio broadcaster, but those liberals as listeners are the market and the were behaving freely. I didn't hear any conservatives pledging to make up the losses advertisers may have lost from continuing to sponsor Imus.
As far as the Fairness Doctrine it can be defended the same way conservatives defend the decline of their civil liberties due to an increase in police powers: If you have to fear/hide, then you should have no complaint.
I.E. Only lying, truth manipulating, fear-mongers whose arguments will not stand up to any kind of scrutiny need fear the Fairness Doctrine.
You really have to be up to no good to oppose the Fairness Doctrine.
Reminder: They are PUBLIC airwaves. That does not mean Rush shouldn't have his say, but it does mean that the company that uses OUR airwaves to provide him a platform has a responsibility to provide other/opposing platforms as well.
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THE CHILDREN!!
"Won't somebody think about THE CHILDREN!!"
I can see the angle of finding Imus' remarks particularly hateful because he was talking about younger, less powerful people, but isn't that what the likes of Limbaugh and O'Reilly do all the time? The poor, minorities, immigrants illegal and otherwise?
Wasn't there an instance recently (apologize for the vague anecdote here) where O'Reilly essentially turned a young illegal immigrant childs death in a fire into a chance for political grandstanding?
www.theethicalscumbag.blogspot.com
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The Conservative Persecution Complex Shows Itself Again
There is a strong strain among conservatives to consider themselves a persecuted minority. It's shown through the repeated allegations of a conspiracy by liberals to shut them down. The theory that "Rush will be the next to go" is just one more example of their persecution complex and adherence to conspiracy theories.
As a good liberal myself, I know that more free speech and not less free speech is the solution to outrageous free speech. I do, however, wish that there were some way that boorish behavior could be prevented.
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Does Limbaugh insult kids?
I haven't paid any attention to him for a long time, but he has in the past. The infamous segment on his tv show where he showed a picture of, a then 12 year old, Chelsea Clinton, and called her the white house dog.
His excuse was just as offensive, he claimed an engineer put up the wrong picture, but at the time, the Clintons didn't have a dog, so what picture was supposed to be put up? And of course, the show wasn't live, it was taped, so if it was a mistake, why wouldn't he fix it before it aired?
At that time, I was pretty apolitical, and I thought Rush's show was funny, and I didn't take him seriously, but after that, I knew what kind of mean spirited piece of crap he really was. It was this kind of mean spirited, hate filled, behavior that convinced me to become a democrat. Not that they're any great shakes, but the alternative is a party represented by some of the most unpleasant people imaginable.
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Preparing for Inevitable Decline
Like all fads/hot trends/pop trivialities, right-wing talk radio has peaked. As with professional wrestling, hair metal, boy bands, Porky's movies, at some point the audience stops growing, gets tired of the sameness, and/or grows up and out of following the fad. Advertisers and the rest of world sees the remaining audience as old, yet immature losers and the content as annoying and an easy target for ridicule.
Due to the enduring appeal of its politics, the rabid audience kept wingnut radio going longer than its natural life. Its obvious Limbaugh etc already see the end coming and are trying to extend their careers another year by blaming liberal censorship and the bogeyman Fairness Doctrine. While their ex-followers and the ads for "male enhancement" move to blogs and podcasts.
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The historic oppression of Swedes and Germans in the USA
Ahh, yes. We must remember that any comment making fun of them, say perhaps a ruthless Prairie Home Companion skit, is bound to produce the same hopelessness and rage that women and African Americans have felt for years. We may have to institute policy to protect their obvious discrimination, being such a targeted group. Being married to a Minnesotan, I can tell you he gets followed every time he goes into a store. I want to thank those compassionate conservatives for thinking of him.
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Rush and Viagra
Rush is supposed to be a Christian, and he is single. Why does he even need viagra? He's supposed to be chaste.
Child prostitution is not legal in the DR. And if he were going to male prostitutes...well, that wouldn't go over well with the wingnut crowd.
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Rush and Viagra (2)
It is true that child prostitution is illegal in the Dominican Republic, but to be fair (the fairness doctrine should apply to even such loathsome individuals as Rush) I don't think there is any evidence of him having sex with children.
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This is really funny
So let me get this straight, a lIBERAL radio sportscaster is fired because of comments he made and Conservatives and Rush are afraid. Yep it must be that new libtard math.
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Forget The Fairness Doctrine
The 'Liberal-Left Conspiracy' should start with the ownership regulations that Reagan repealed. The whole of anti-trust law in this country is a joke, but it is especially so where it counts the most: media ownership. Multi-media consolidation has destroyed the fourth estate, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, of expression, creativity, and diversity.
I have no problem with the Fairness Doctrine as it applies to mediums belonging to the people (ie- radio and broadcast TV, not internet or Cable), but it should be a secondary concern at best. Onership consolidation is so much more detrimental to free expression and the role of the press as social guardians. Free-Market determinism only works when there is more than one choice; if all the radio-stations in your town are ClearChannel stations- what difference does it make if I complain to advertisers? What other options do they have to broadcast to that market? That is why racketeering and monopolies are (supposed to be) illegal.
Here's a good timeline for media regulation:
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediatimeline.html