YET ANOTHER SIGN OF THE FREE-SPEECH CRACK-DOWN TO COME

From Moonbattery:

An editorial at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette denounces conservative domination of talk radio as "un-American" and stridently calls for the imposition of the Orwellian "Fairness Doctrine" to put an end to it by having liberal bureaucrats micromanage the political content of any speech made over radio.

Actually, nothing could be more American than conservatives, all but locked out of print and television media, finding an alternative venue for their views. But you can't expect liberal totalitarians to be reasonable — especially when they anticipate having the whip hand. Check out this reasoning:

The Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys have been given dominance from coast to coast, turning much of talk radio into a heated debate where only one side is heard. While such gabfests draw their share of listeners, a diverse lineup is likely to attract more ears, hence more advertisers and more dollars. And isn't that what the radio conglomerates want anyway?

Obviously there's no need for the government to force broadcasters to behave in their own financial interest. If anyone wanted to listen to moonbats on the radio, Air America wouldn't need to steal from charities to stay afloat.

Not that the Unfairness Doctrine would put more Randi Rodent types on the radio anyway. The idea is to make the bureaucratic requirements so onerous that radio stations will give up on the political talk format and play music or drone about gardening.

By the way, Rush and Sean were not "given dominance." They earned dominance, by serving a need. That's what capitalism is all about, and capitalism — i.e., economic freedom — along with freedom of political speech, is what America is all about.