Huffington Post Calls on Obama's FCC to Silence the Right

Photo of Seton Motley.

NewsBusters.org | Media Research Center
Amongst the Censors
In today's Huffington Post is Joseph A. Palermo's "Cheney, Rove, and Fleischer and the Importance of Net Neutrality."  Net neutrality, you see, is yet another way the Left hopes to silence their opposition -- and Palermo calls on Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do exactly that. 

I guess he gets partial credit for honesty.  And if this latest example of the Left's rush to suppression via Obama's FCC makes you think of the old Censorship Doctrine or any of the new ones -- "localism," "diversity in media ownership" and serving the "public interest" -- well, it should.

Palermo:

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"The Huffington Post and other progressive news and information sites, along with MoveOn.org and other Internet organizing networks, played a key role in this dramatic shift in communications technology away from the Right and toward progressive social change.  We need to lock in this advantage.

"...With Democratic majorities in Congress and a liberal Democratic administration we can blunt the political influence of media conglomerates and the Right.... We have a very rare opportunity right now to lock in a progressive advantage in Internet communications, information sharing, and Netroots mobilizing." 

What's so "neutral" about "lock(ing) in a progressive advantage" via regulatory fiat from Obama's FCC?

Palermo acknowledges the Left is winning on the Internet -- in the unfettered marketplace of ideas -- but that's not good enough for him. He insists that Obama's FCC "lock in this advantage."

"A few minor changes in the rules and regulations governing the public airwaves and corporate media consolidation could transform the political economy of the media sector.  Such reforms would make it more difficult for networks to shove people like Cheney, Rove, and Fleischer down our throats because enhanced competition would mean that rivals might be broadcasting more attractive fare."

Substitute "Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin" for "Cheney, Rove, and Fleischer" and you get the idea.

Palermo so loathes the free market and the First Amendment free speech rights of his opponents that he wants to rig the rules to establish a permanent progressive advantage in all things media -- even in areas where he admits his side already has the lead.

The Censorship Doctrine isn't one particular regulatory beast, it is a state of mind.  One that compels liberals -- in fact makes them feel entitled -- to silence the opposition by any means necessary. 

All in the interest of "neutrality" and "fairness," of course. 

—Seton Motley is Director of Communications for the Media Research Center and Contributing Editor for NewsBusters.org.


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The Left's view of the First Amendment

This is the Left's view of the First Amendment: Free speech rights for me, but not for thee.

That's right; now that they

That's right; now that they have the majorities, they want to "lock in the advantage" with laws.

I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson

you don't know the half of it MB

Watch this video of Carol Maloney talking about the AIG bonuses. She actually says that Congress should instill retroactive taxes equal to the exact amount of the money.

These people are literally killing the constitution.

cd... Yeah, I caught her

cd...

Yeah, I caught her live too today...

One good thing I heard today somewhere this afternoon, the Snowe/Wyden I think it was proposal didn't even make it out of committee to implement this 100% BS...so the House can do what it wants, but it ain't going no where in the Senate.

Huffpo?

Who in their right [or left even] mind considers Huffpo real 'news'? Huffpo is the cerebral trash I wipe my white cerebral ass on in my imaginary online toilet of politics that I'd never waste the time to put forth a single nugget of my mind's work.

 

Ann is usually right about these things

This is a marvellous and pathetic attempt as usual by the left to make it sound like THEY are the ones behind the 8 ball when it comes to the MSM.  Ask a leftie and they'll constantly tell you that 'oh woe is us!  The right is everywhere!!'  Yeah everywhere on Fox and that's it?  And even on Fox you DO get diversity of opinion.   You just don't get that screaming left progressive socialist agenda that all the scumbag libs want to promote. 

Ann has (as usual) awesome thoughts in "Guilty" in the chapter "When 95% world domination isn't enough".

"To sin by silence when we should protest, makes cowards of men" -Ella Wheeler Wilcox

um....

Could someone please explain to me what "enhanced competition" means?

BTW, we can sit here now and chuckle about HuffPo being a silly blog, but I guarantee we'll hear this from the mouth of a Congress critter in weeks.

What I want to know is, if

What I want to know is, if rivals are offering "more attractive fare," why would force be required to get it broadcast?

I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson

you misread it motherbelt

The author asserted that if the FCC enhanced them then they'd be more attractive. Kind of like if we had more money we would be richer.

Isn't it pathetic that

Isn't it pathetic that Limbaugh and maybe Hannity are the only right-wingers the left can ever think of for their argument that the right "rules the airwaves"?  Everything else has a leftward agenda from music to movies to television, magazines, newspapers, elementary school, college, etc.  

good point mostly

I always find it funny to think that Rush Limbaugh singlehandedly overpowers Hollywood, CNN, and government education combined. I'm also starting to agree with Unsane - the left is furious that Rush is simply allowed to have a show at all.

That's true.  They have

That's true.  They have the entire news organizations of ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, etc, and the minute Rush opens his mouth they insist that that's what needs to be "balanced."  As if it won't be on TV that night, or wasn't already last night.

I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson

This isn't anything to

This isn't anything to sneeze about...be wary of the leftists plans on down the road very soon to stifle the right via the FCC.

Seton...thanks for the latest update here.

This is insidious.

This is the end run around Congress that has been warned about and watched for. By making this call, Palermo shows that he is anti-free speech, anti-free market, anti-liberty and anti-american. We have to be extra vigilent now. The pattern is becoming clear. Use an existing "crisis" or manufacture one to use to get the government to have more control over some segment of society that it would never normally be granted.

It's already been suggested that the Obama regime should ignore gun legislation in favor of going after the ammunition manufacturers. either through taxes or policy changes that hugely increase the cost of making and/or selling ammunition they could effectively enact a ban on weapons.

Perhaps the recent rash of newspaper bankruptcies and closings will be the crisis they need to call for government regulation of the media so as to "insure a robust and diverse media"?

Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!

www.loyaltoliberty.com

Or when the handbasket

Or when the handbasket arrives in hell so to speak, we could do something that would be fun, like ignore them.  Whatever rule, regulation, or "interpretation of the law" that spews forth from these misguided fools should just be looked at the same way I look at many of my 15 year old daughter's pronouncements. "That's nice honey, but it ain't gonna happen." She still doesn't realize that while there is a bright, magical center to our galaxy, she is not it.  She is to me, but not to the rest of the world, and that gets her in trouble sometimes.  The left is in the same boat as far as I'm concerned.  Everything is all brand new, fresh and within their grasp.  There is nothing that they can't do now.  Until we, the adults, come back home and find the house a total mess and kick their butts as they should be.  They'll have to grow up too, I suppose.  Not until a few things get broken though.  It's up to us to decide how much damage that we'll put up with before we say enough.

It's up to us to decide how much damage that we'll put up with..

..before we say enough.

Okay, all together now, (ahem),  "Enough!"

Now let's give out some spankings, hurt some feelings, and get some cleaning done around DC.

 

======================

To the MSM:  It has been said that, "The pen is mightier than the sword".  So I'll tell ya what- how's about you hold onto a pen and see if it stops me from slapping your face.  I'm just sayin'...

Oh yeah...enough

Oh yeah...enough indeed...and it is up to us...but just what in the heck do we do with the power of the likes of ACORN that we are forced to fund via tax-dollars that were put into the Strangulation Bill...something like 400 million/or billion (too lazy to find the link) to sister groups, that are also doing the census taking...we are going against a take over by the left for illegal voting the likes we have never seen coming up in the next two elections...I really fear what is happening underneath us with this agenda from the left...how are we suppose to stop halt it?

Because 95% of the media's just not enough!

Top three talk radio programs:

  • EIB Rush Limbaugh, 14.3 million
  • NPR Morning Edition, 13.5 million
  • NPR All Things Considered,  13.5 million

The lefties not happy with two out of three?

Well, it shouldn't be difficult to silence the right..

Let's see. Silence Fox news. Silence Rush, Hannity, Levin, Coulter, O'Reilly, Ingrahm, and a few more. Then there's a handful of columnists, Will, Lowry, and Steve Hayes, and Goldberg (and Noel's been moving up into the visible crowd), who occasionally have a voice, here and there, a few folks on the other side of the isle might happen chance into.

How difficult is this really going to be with the Obama administration and the majority party in congress having the full support of the thousands of MSM journalists, network and cable shows, national MS newspapers, Time and Newsweek Magazines, etc., that dominate the media?

Seriously - if the handful of conservative voices are shut down overnight, the only way that 75% of voters are going to find out about it, would be from the shrill celebrations on the front page, above the fold, the next day.

(;~/ gary

 

I wonder if this tool Palermo knows what the 2nd Amendment...

...is actually for?

-Dave

This coup has gone on long enough. The time to put it down is NOW.

The organization of a state

The organization of state run militias?

"two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century" - PreBO

Boy, if that is what Palermo thinks...

...then he may be heading for a major disappointment.

:-)

-Dave

This coup has gone on long enough. The time to put it down is NOW.

SRP

Not according to our Supreme Court. It seems that the second amendment is an individual right. Imagine that. 

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

Arming, not organizing.

The Second Amendment has nothing to do with organizing the Militia, but arming the citizens that make up the militia.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution

Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court

Enhanced competition

would be state TV and radio via maobama, state controlled internet is comin our way soon also if we don't get rid of the sackofs         it that someone left on our doorstep.

Has the left considered?

Has the left considered that the reason so many "right-wing" talk shows do so well, is because those run by left-wing individuals just suck?  I have listened to a few of them, and they just spew forth hate and anger. 

I certainly hope someone in the Obama administration sees this for what is truly is, censorship.

"Not for fame or reward, not for place or rank, not lured by ambition or goaded by necessity.  But in simple obedience to duty." - From the barracks at Ft. Benning

Point of law question: 

Point of law question:  Exactly how would one legally define "right" or "left"?

Oh, lemee see here...a Federal judge would 'know it when I see it.'

One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).

Buffer

Sometimes I wonder if the only thing between Obama suspending the Constitution and declaring himself dictator for life is that he knows the military wouldn't stand for it.  Thanks again, ladies and gentlemen of the military! 

When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.

As I said in the Family Guy thread

 As I've said in the Family Guy thread, and the Calvin Klein thread, and the sexy commercial Evangelical threads, I don't believe in government censorship. I believe in personal responsibility.

You're irrational if you don't want the new president to succeed - Gingrich

 

Front Running

Palermo and his ilk feel emboldened by the current Democratic majority, the way the Democrats felt in 1974 when Nixon resigned. In fact, the left was far fatter headed in '74, unbelievable as that may sound. It won't last.

But it is still amazing when one of them speaks their mind this clearly. They check out as horrible people before you even get to their politics. They emulate the soul of the British when the Revolutionaries took them on in 1776.

THEY mirror Hitler.

As I've Said Before, Dissolve The FCC Permanently...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Dissolve the FCC permanently. Regulating freedom of speech for anyone is completely ridiculous, whether on the left or the right.

I am a little confused, though, about the meaning of "net-neutrality". From my understanding of it, net neutrality would prevent telephone companies from over-charging individuals who already pay a fee to a web server to operate a website. The other thing I have read about is that net-neutrality was intended to prevent censorship rather than control freedom of speech. This may be a poor argument, but didn't AT&T censor part of the feed they were providing for a Pearl Jam concert because Eddie Vedder went into an anti-President Bush tirade? Again, I know what Vedder said was left-wing banality, but was there any need to censor that portion of the concert? That's what I don't particularly understand. Some clarity on the subject would be helpful to me.

didn't AT&T censor part of

didn't AT&T censor part of the feed they were providing for a Pearl Jam concert

The key is that ATT was providing the feed and had the right to censor its feed if it wanted to.  And possibly they did not want to alienate part of their customer base.  I dont know anything except what you have posted so take it for what its worth.  It seem like a case of free enterprise to me.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

Hey liberals here's an idea...

JUST TURN IT OFF!!

lol you've heard that one before haven't you?

No one is shoveing people like Cheney, Rove, and Fleischer down your throats.

Oh and I didn't realise GasHuffPo was a news site. That gets another lol.

 

 

Why doesn't Chuck You

Why doesn't Chuck You Schumer and the rest of the lefties put this guy on a stage and let him DICTATE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT HE DOESN'T WANT FREE SPEECH ANYMORE, EXCEPT FOR HIS SIDE, AND THAT THE REST OF US SHOULD HAVE OUR MOUTHS TAPED SHUT.

 

Worried... Oh....give the

Worried...

Oh....give the arrogance of the vile far-left you are speaking of time...they will!

Barack Obama following Vladimir Lenin Strategies

Compare these Lenin quotes to the actions and thinking of Barack Obama.

"Always accuse the opposition of what you are doing"

"The end justifies the means."

“A lie told often enough becomes truth”

“It is true that liberty is precious - so precious that it must be rationed”

"The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency”

“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.”

Finally, this Lenin quote personifies Barack Obama.

“There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.”

Darnit, you and the rest of

Darnit, you and the rest of us conservatives are clogging up all the tubes!

It's not a big truck, you know.  Stop ruining their internet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8  (Family friendly video)

Not enough hours in the day

to post responses to all the outrages Obamanation is perpetrating that are reported here and elsewhere.

He is turning the Oval Office into the Offal Office.  The American citizens are already knee deep in it, in only 50 days.

I know we all want to do something, feel we have to do something.  I am venting, at least, at www.rounduptherinos.com.

Work in progress, but a good idea on my son's part which I am trying to perpetrate.  Mainly, get rid of the RINOs by supporting primary challengers with small contributions on a massive scale, which is how Obama got his billions to campaign.  But also urge the moderate Dems to do the right thing.  And I see them pushing back right now.

Let me know what you think of my site and ideas.  I'm a novice at this so report any bad stuff.

"It's getting too late for a lengthy debate so let's go for the win."  Linda Eder

Round up the RINOs

The "internet" is a perfect

The "internet" is a perfect example of capitalism. Of course it has excesses, but the system is self-correcting too, if left alone. Naturally the socialist and marxists want to stick their finger in the pie and stir it all around.

Imagine how much money they could make if only they could tax it, and regulate it, and oh yeah, stifle and censor those who disagree with their goals.

Net neutrality is a bad idea. You can get a dial-up connection for less than $10 now. The market itself drove down the price. Not the government. Anything the government does will only cost us more, deliver less, and invade your privacy unnecessarily.

 

 

What I find amusing is that

What I find amusing is that the idiots at Huffington haven't figured out that all of this crap will come full circle and bite them right in the butt. 

Not once did any Conservative blog call for the ouster of this trash heap.  Better yet we as Conservatives wanted this trash around so a light could be shined on just exactly how moronic these people at Huffington are. 

If any politician is stupid enough to use Huffington as a source, they should know that it will come back around and bite them as well.  I usually don't like to hurry time along, but 2010 will be here soon enough, and these libs had better live it up for now because it's fixing to get shut down for them. 

What statistics prove the

What statistics prove the left is winning on the internet? I don't believe it.

And 'more attractive fare' like Air America and DKos? 

Are liberals really so stupid

that they honestly believe that the FCC should force radio/internet to provide liberal programming - even if it can't attract listeners/readers?  Can they not understand the reality that  if the people were  calling for those shows some station would provide them?

Or are they saying the govt should force their crap down the listeners throats even if no one listens and no advertisers will buy time on the shows? 

Classic Projection

"With Democratic majorities in Congress and a liberal Democratic administration we can blunt the political influence of media conglomerates and the Right."

Hay, idiot, how did the Democrats become the majority if, as you claim, the "Right" has the "political influence of media conglomerates" behind them? If the "media conglomerates" really had that kind of influence on politics, the "Right" would be the majority, right? Yet it's the Democrats who are in the majority, correct? Care to explain this anomaly?

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution

Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court

Try this and it is over

The day that radio shows like Limbaugh and Hannity are silenced is the day the civil war officially begins.

Amen

Amen!

Gramscian strategy

I've said this a billion times.  The left's war is to gain cultural hegemony (domination) over all means of communication and avenues of upward mobility.  Then the war on private property begins. 

Responsibility is the price of freedom. - Elbert Hubbard