Kucinich's 'Fairness Doctrine' Threat To O'Reilly

During George W.'s administration, liberals loved to wail over the supposed--but never demonstrated--suppression of free speech.  

But now we have the spectacle of a member of the Dem majority warning a leading representative of Fox News to stop celebrating his network's success--under threat of reinstitution of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine." On last evening's Factor, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, invoking the possibility of the return of the 'Fairness Doctrine,' warned O'Reilly to stop "crowing" about Fox's success.

O'Reilly had been questioning Kucinich about the collapse of the liberal media as reflected in the demise of Air America and Fox's crushing of CNN and MSNBC during this past Tuesday's election night coverage by margins of five and six-to-one.

You can view a good bit of the exchange in the video, but here was the key moment.

DENNIS KUCINICH: You know what?  Be careful, Bill, about crowing about your success right now because people are going to start calling for the Fairness Doctrine to come back if they feel their point of view is not being adequately represented.

Yo Bill, nice network you got there.  Hate to see nuthin' happen to it.

It must be said that O'Reilly was anything but intimidated, expressing certainty that the 'Fairness Doctrine' isn't returning. But that doesn't make Kucinich's threat any less objectionable. And again, imagine the liberal teeth-gnashing if back during the days of the GOP congressional majority, a Republican congressman had similarly threatened a leading liberal media light.