There’s been a lot of talk in recent days about a revival of the Fairness Doctrine.

Senator John Kerry is calling for reimposition of the fairness doctrine.

In a radio interview on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, excerpted on YouTube, Senator Kerry said he thought the doctrine should return. Calling it one of the “most profound changes in the balance of the media,” he said conservatives have been able to “squeeze down and squeeze out opinion of opposing views. I think it has been a very important transition in the imbalance of our public dialog,” he said.

Kerry joins what appears to be a growing Democratic push-back against conservative talk radio, which flowered after the FCC in 1987 declared that the doctrine was unconsititutional. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has called for the doctrine’s return, and Senator Diane Feinstein (9D-Calif,) says she is looking into it.

The fairness doctrine required broadcasters to afford reasonable opportunity for the airing of both sides of “issues of public importance.” The doctrine was scrapped in 1987 when the FCC concluded it had come up with the rule rather than it being imbedded in statute and thus could declare it unconstitutional. Congress then tried to imbed it in statute, but President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill.

In 2000, a court also threw out corollaries to the doctrine that required broadcasters to provide response time to personal attacks and political editorials.

In other words, Democrats have decided that Air America’s a failed experiment, liberal talk radio can’t compete on an even playing field with conservative talk radio… so conservative talk radio must be dismantled. 

In response, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence (himself a former talk show host) has introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act, which would prevent the Fairness Doctrine from being reinstated.

Obviously I’m not a fan of the Fairness Doctrine.  I think it was silly in the 1980’s, but it’s absolutely ridiculous in 2007.  What would happen if the Fairness Doctrine was imposed again?

1- Most major talk shows would gravitate towards satellite radio.  Congress doesn’t regulate speech on satellite radio, and they’d be hard pressed to come up with a reason why they should regulate private speech you have to pay to hear.

2- Local talk stations would wither on the vine.  In some places you might see a “Supertalk 930 WKY” all-local format, but in most places they couldn’t pay hosts enough to make the format viable.  With the demise of local talk comes the demise of local radio news. 

3- Online media (including shows like “Cam and Company”) become much more popular.  There will be no shortage of online shows for listeners to take advantage of.

The bottom line is this:  those who want to regulate speech live in a very bad time to do so.  Gone are the days when you needed a printing press or a broadcasting license to share your opinions with the world.  The genie’s out of the bottle, and it’s not going back in.  Rather than wasting time trying to stifle free speech, supporters of the Fairness Doctrine would be better off doing the following:

1- Get some real radio hosts who are progressive.  Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller put out good quality left-leaning talk shows.  Air America does not.  But two hosts are not enough… you need many more.

2- Realize that NPR is your competition, not your friend.  NPR is liberal talk radio, whether you want to admit it or not.  And they too put out quality programming.  You want commercial liberal talk?  End government funding of NPR.

3- Don’t be so damned impatient.  Conservative talk radio is continually growing and evolving.  Liberal talk radio will need time to catch up, and three years of sub-par broadcasting by Air America doesn’t help. 

Radio is a business.  When Clear Channel thought that Air America would add to their bottom line, they started adding Air America affiliates to their station lists.  They’re not opposed to liberal talk, they’re opposed to shows that don’t make money.  This is the free market at work.  If you want to try and impose the Fairness Doctrine, then just admit you’re not a big believer in capitalism and the free marketplace of ideas.

Between work and the kidlets, I haven’t had much time to actually blog.  I’ll see if I can get some nannyness up on the site later today.

Via Bitter:

A measure by Stephen J. Murphy proposes that the city require — or at least encourage — bars to make available thin plastic membranes, about the size of a coaster, that are designed to seal the mouth of a glass.

The aim is to deter predators looking to put drugs into the drinks of intended victims. Proponents add that the devices also prevent spills during nightclub dancing.

This is in Massachusetts, btw. 

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Taking it to the extreme on Long Island.

A Bayville couple could face jail time because angry neighbors claim their daughters play too loudly in their backyard.

William and Rachel Poczatek must enter a plea in village court today after their neighbors complained to the village that the Poczateks’ two daughters, aged 5 and 11, were making too much noise around the family’s pool.

“I don’t know what kind of solution there is,” said Rachel Poczatek, 43. “Should I muzzle my children?”

The couple is charged with violating a noise code aimed at “the shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers and vendors which disturbs the peace and quiet of the neighborhood.”

If convicted, the couple could face a $250 fine, a 15-day jail sentence, or both for each day that the offense continued, according to the village code.

We’ve got one couple who live on our street who despise children… which sucks for them because there are eleven kids who also live on the block.  We haven’t been cited for any noise complaints (though there are times when I’ve been tempted to cite my own offspring for making too much noise), but we did get a letter from the HOA about a climber in our backyard.  Apparently our neighbors didn’t like the fact that they could see it from their back deck, even though it was well within our property line. 

My attitude is if you don’t like kids, yet you live in a neighborhood where there are lots of children… you have a choice.  A) Suck it up or B) Move.

According to the WaPo, it’s fueling speculation that he’s preparing for a third party run.

Of course some of us have been saying that for quite some time.

Or else you’ll get suspended.

All touching — not only fighting or inappropriate touching — is against the rules at Kilmer Middle School in Vienna. Hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives? Banned. The rule has been conveyed to students this way: “NO PHYSICAL CONTACT!!!!!”

School officials say the rule helps keep crowded hallways and lunchrooms safe and orderly, and ensures that all students are comfortable. But Hal, 13, and his parents think the school’s hands-off approach goes too far, and they are lobbying for a change.

My kids go to school in the Fairfax County Public Schools system, but I haven’t heard anything like this at their schools.  Seems pretty bizarre to me that the district would rather ban all physical contact rather than simply decide what’s inappropriate and what’s okay. 

via Joanne Jacobs.

And Dr. Helen has more.

I confess, I hadn’t heard about Paul McCartney firing roadies for eating hamburgers.

Neither I, nor any hunter or meat eater on the planet, has any desire whatsoever to influence any vegetarian’s choice of diet or to force them to eat meat. We are the friendly, tolerant Americans.

This is but one of many issues that represent the line drawn in the sand between liberals and conservatives.

Our own intrepid opinion editor at the Trib, my friend John Young, doesn’t want to simply make the choice to be unarmed and helpless for himself. He has again recently insisted that you and I must also comply with his soulless condition of unarmed helplessness in “gun-free zones.”

Nobody from our side wants to force anybody to have a gun or defend themselves. It is us, the conservatives, who are for individual choice.

And isn’t that the crux of the nanny state?  Nanny statists aren’t content to make their own choices, they want to impose their values and lifestyles on the rest of us (and that goes for nannies on the left AND the right).  If you want to be a vegetarian, that’s fine by me.  I have plenty of friends who are vegetarian.  But to fire someone for eating meat?  That just seems a bit odd.

One of my Father’s Day presents yesterday was The Dangerous Book for Boys.  It’s a great book, and a surprise hit… but I think that’s because many of us are tired of the notion that we must raise our boys NOT to be boys.  As the authors say in the preface:

Men and boys today are the same as they always were, and interested in the same things.  They may conquer different worlds when they grow up, but they’ll still want these stories for themselves and for their sons.

…

When you’re a man, you realize that everything changes, but when you’re a boy, you know different.  The camp you make today will be there forever.  You want to learn coin tricks and how to play poker because you never know when the skills will come in handy.  You want to be self-sufficient and find your way by the stars.  Perhaps for those who come after us, you want to reach them.  Well, why not?  Why not?

The book is chock full of goodness, from the history of great battles to how to hunt, skin, and cook a rabbit (with an air rifle no less!). 

Self-sufficiency on the pages of the New York Times bestseller list.  Perhaps there’s hope for the future after all.

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Okay, so this for the Oklahoma readers.  I was watching “The Daily Show” tonight and Jon Stewart spent a good 6 minutes mocking a local weather promo by KWTV.  In it, a family runs to gather their children as weathergod Gary England calmly relays the information about the whopping tornado headed their way.  At the end of the promo, the family’s huddled in the storm shelter as the tornado rips apart their house.  While daughter clings to her mother, the mom whispers “Shhh, honey.  Gary England’s going to tell us when it’s okay.”

Very bizarre promo.  Now I’m wondering if this is being mocked locally as well.

In Broward County, Florida.

Not throughout the entire city… just in city offices, because apparently some city employees aren’t smart enough to pop popcorn in a microwave without setting it on fire. 

All in the name of safety.  Thank goodness this is in England… but couldn’t you see the nanny-staters in your community trying to do something similar?

In California.

Assembly Bill 1634, authored by Los Angeles Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, will allow only select purebred dogs and cats to breed. Pet owners who don’t sterilize their mixed breed pets by four months of age will face a $500 fine and possible criminal penalties.

“This crazy measure will end up costing families heartache and taxpayers billions,” said Bill Hemby, Chairman of PetPAC, an organization dedicated to the rights of pets and owners. “California will be the poster child for an invasive and overreaching government mandate that is impossible to fund, administer or enforce.”

This bill is nuts. 

Because they’re overwhelmed by passport applications.

I was just talking to my mom about this yesterday.  One of her co-workers applied for a passport back in March so he could fly to Germany and watch his son’s Army retirement ceremony early this month.  The base commander actually had to push back the ceremony because the passport hadn’t arrived last week.  The new ceremony’s supposed to be next Thursday… but the co-worker still hasn’t received the passport. 

Not necessarily a nanny-state story, but an interesting take on Fred Thompson and his younger wife. 

My wife’s actually 9 years older and 3 inches taller (okay, closer to 4) than I am, so when I leer, I actually look up at her.  But I do leer.  Well, maybe not leer.  But I certainly provide her numerous appreciative glances every day… especially when she’s in her belly dancing outfit.

This is just silly.

Middle-class wine drinkers will be the focus of government plans to make drunkenness as socially unacceptable as smoking, The Times has learnt.

Under the plans published today, a fresh audit is to be conducted by the Government into the overall costs of alcohol abuse to society and the National Health Service.

“We want to target older drinkers, those that are maybe drinking one or two bottles of wine at home each evening,” a Whitehall source said. “They do not realise the damage they are doing to their health and that they risk developing liver disease. We are not talking here about the traditional wino.”

Alcoholism is one thing, but if you’re just targeting “middle class wine drinkers”… that’s something else entirely.

I confess, this story doesn’t go as far as I’d like.

Smokers are to be denied operations on the Health Service unless they give up cigarettes for at least four weeks beforehand.

Doctors will police the rule by ordering patients to take a blood test to prove they have not been smoking.

 

The ruling, authorised by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, comes after medical research conclusively showed smokers take longer to recover from surgery.

I was actually hoping that the story would say that the British government wasn’t going to pay for treatment for illnesses brought on by smoking.  Even though I’m a smoker, I’m really not keen on the government picking up the tab for illnesses that can be demonstrably linked to your own bad habit.  Yes, I know smoking’s addictive, and certainly any plan that would deny someone coverage because of their smoking would have to be done on a case by case basis, which means it’ll never happen. 

On a related note, I have an appointment with the doctor on Friday to see if he’ll prescribe me Chantix.  I’ve tried the gum, I’ve tried the patch, all to no avail.  I have had several friends use Chantix with good results, so I’m going to see if it helps me.

I’m back from the overnight campout with the Cub Scouts.  Thank you Lord for holding off the rain until this morning.  I learned a few things over the past 24 hours.

- Those little handheld, battery-powered fans?  They work really well and they’re really popular… especially if you’re the only guy who brought one.

- Kids think flaming marshmallows are the coolest thing ever.  And frankly, they are pretty bitchin’.  Taste pretty good too.

- It is possible to walk on a strange trail by the light of a full moon and not get lost, even without using your flashlight.  It is not possible, however, for you to do so without answering a bajillion questions about possible predators in the woods from your six year old.

- I’m too old to sleep on the ground without some sort of pad underneath my sleeping bag.

- Andrew really likes fishing, even though he didn’t catch anything. 

- I really enjoyed camping, and have already made plans with some of the other dads to go out again in early fall.  Talk about being nanny-state free… there’s nothing like being responsible for setting up your housing, making your own food, your own fun, etc. 

Bizarre but true.  Gotta love the British nanny state.  They make Michael Bloomberg look like a raging libertarian.