Next FCC Target: Hate Speech

Another Attack on the First Amendment GIVING THE WAR ON FOX  NEWS MORE CONTEXT Have you heard the one about “hate speech in the media” yet? You will–though one has increasingly little faith that the Dinosaur Media will report on this development. IS the War on Fox News merely one front in the rapidly-escalating War on Free Speech? The heavy hand of the Obama commissars is about to be laid upon: “hate speech in the media”. Anyone want to guess what that is a code phrase for? Any guesses who will be the first to be accused of “hate speech in the media”? Rush Limbaugh? Maybe more fake quotes can be found to make the case. Sean Hannity? Many on the Left think because his opinions don’t match liberals, he is a hatemonger–and he’s been called as much. Glenn Beck? Beck’s already had the “terrorist” label applied to him. “Hatemonger” would seem to be a step back. Fox News? The president’s top advisers have already stated that Fox News isn’t even a news organization. Michelle Malkin? She’s not even a person, just a ‘bag of meat with lipstick”. Not hard to label an inanimate object “hateful”. Recently, On September 30, 2009, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps gave a lecture at the Riverside Church (United Church of Christ) in New York City. Shortly after that lecture, a disturbing letter was sent out to select members of the United Church of Christ. From FCC-Church Conspiracy to Silence Talk Radio and Fox?: Then came the interesting part, or, if you will, the part that sent a chill through my radio. Reverend Guess, on behalf of my own denomination — without so much as a by-your-leave to the rank-and-file 1.2 million members — made plain, in the name of the United Church of Christ that: As a participant, you will be asked to sign a petition to the Federal Communications Commission asking that it open a notice of inquiry into hate speech in the media. We will also urge the National Telecommunications and Information Agency to update its 1993 report, The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes. Read the key phrases again. “Open a notice of inquiry into hate speech in the media.” Meaning, church members are being asked to sign on to an already-in-progress petition to the FCC that is opening the door to legal sanctions from the federal government on “hate speech in the media.” More from this extraordinary letter. Extraordinary, at least, in its timing. Together, we can express our concern about the frequency and tone of anti-immigrant remarks made by several TV and radio commentators, such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and Lou Dobbs. Ah, so the targets are revealed. This must be an example of an Obama faith-based initiative. [LEFT: Silencing dissent has been physically exhausting in the past.] What else did the FCC Commissioner have to say in his lecture? “I am also pushing for a comprehensive FCC evaluation of the state of broadcast journalism.” Author Jeffrey Lord has a detailed time line that will upset anyone who pays attention to free speech. The number of attacks and proposed regulations on free speech have come fast and furious in the last 60 days. [Free Speech and the Internet Under Assault from Multiple Sources and Obama, Free Speech: U.S. Votes for UN Restrictions on Free Speech] Where is the outcry from the basement civil libertarians who saw a fascist in every garage during the Bush years? Where is the ACLU? Well, besides working to get a cross honoring U.S. war dead taken down in the middle of the desert. Most people are not political–they’re too busy trying to meet life’s many daily challenges. The comforting mantra that many nonpolitical people will recite upon hearing disturbing news of attacks on free speech is: “It can’t happen here”. NEWS FLASH: There is an coordinated attempt to enable it to happen here. It’s taking place at the FCC, the FTC, the NEA and at other places in the federal government. The U.S. delegate voted for curbs on free speech in a recent UN vote. The media that should care about such things: where are they? Their talking heads are too busy attending off the record press briefings as a reward for being good little media soldiers. How many pieces of the puzzle have to be assembled before this disturbing picture raises alarms? More from Jeffrey Lord: “Hello? Is anyone home here? Is the First Amendment — which interestingly protects these very same churches — going to be assaulted like this while everyone just sits by and says nothing?” This is not a left-right, Democrat-Republican, liberal-conservative issue. IF implemented, these regulations will affect everyone. It will just affect some people sooner than others. by Mondo Frazier, Posted by Mondoreb on October 22nd, 2009 http://deathby1000papercuts.com/author/mondoreb/ images: * http://steelturman.typepad.com/ * http://swordattheready.wordpress.com/