Alan Grayson: an illustration of conservative media success
Every few years, some liberal mentions the Fairness Doctrine.
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was (in the Commission’s view) honest, equitable and balanced. (Wikipedia)
All points of view are welcome on the various media, so the fairness doctrine simply conflicts with the First Amendment. The reason liberals want the Fairness Doctrine is because conservative talk radio and Fox News are so effective at attacking their policies. They want to shut conservatives up.
When Joe Wilson yells out “You lie” in a joint session of Congress during a speech by President Obama, the left wants him punished severely, censured, whatever they can do. When Alan Grayson says Republicans’ health care plan is for Americans to die quickly, the right wants him punished the same way. So what’s the difference?
While the left would do anything they can to shut Wilson up, most on the right would elect to give lunatics like Alan Grayson their own radio show. The reason the left wants Wilson to shut up is because while he was rude, he was 100% accurate, as I covered in another post. I am a political libertarian, but when it comes to free speech, I’m a right-wing nut. When it comes to the truth about issues, I tend to side with the right, mainly because their policies don’t infringe on my freedoms nearly as much as the policies of the left. Republican politicians have reacted to Grayson for political reasons, but they don’t want to shut him up.
Shut up, unless you agree with me
The left wants to shut Rush up. They want to shut Hannity up. They say they’re liars, right-wing extremists. On the other hand, Rush and Hannity don’t want to shut up their competition. Give Alan Grayson his own show, PLEASE, they would say. Here’s a headline from Limbaugh’s web site:
Don’t apologize, Grayson. Please keep talking.
Hannity constantly offers to have any leftist on his show. He welcomes it. What a stark contrast! If Rush and Hannity were spouting as much nonsense as the left would have you believe, why wouldn’t they want him to continue? If Rush is ostensibly “destroying” the Republican party, why wouldn’t liberals celebrate this? Because he isn’t. He’s destroying the Democrat party.
Rush wishes Grayson, Jeremiah Wright, Van Jones, and any other nutjob on the left had their own show. Why? Because their lies and racism and other nonsense only helps the causes Rush supports.
Back to Alan Grayson
If Republicans actually wanted Americans to die quickly, and there was evidence in a bill they had proposed that they supported quick deaths, Grayson’s statements would be extremely effective, and would hurt the right-wing. His statements were so ridiculous that all they did was hurt Democrats. While I despise Hannity’s sycophancy of the American military, and other partisan stuff he does, I have to wholeheartedly agree with him on free speech being 100% free (save yelling “fire” in a crowded theater, etc.).
If liberals want to continue believing that conservative talk radio just spouts lies all day to succeed, observe the career of Alan Grayson over the next few years and see where fallacious hyperbole gets you. Conservative “hate” speech succeeds as a business because its generally accurate. If leftist liberals dislike this, start telling the truth more, and Air America will succeed. I welcome their potential future success.