To no one’s surprise, Democrats called this week for reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine in the wake of the Tucson massacre.
For those who don’t know, the Fairness Doctrine was a Federal Communications Commission regulation that was in place for nearly 40 years.
It was designed to prevent one side of a controversial issue from being suppressed from the airwaves, but it was repealed as a free speech violation in 1987.
Curiously, the only party that has championed the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine over the last 24 years is that party which supposedly is in such favor of free expression is the Democrats.
The rise of conservative talk radio has led to multiple attempts by Democrat politicians to censor the airwaves of opposing political ideas.
The question that must be asked, then, is why? Why would anyone be in favor of such a blatant violation of First Amendment rights?
The answer is simple. Liberalism cannot survive in the arena of ideas.
There are two main reasons for this. First, liberalism is an emotive ideology. By nature, it relies more on feelings than intellect, and is thus unsuited for analysis by reason. Secondly, liberalism is simply unpopular. When faced with the stark reality of what the liberal agenda would mean for the average American, most people are appalled. That is why tax hikes and government takeovers are never part of a campaign platform but are instead attempted through aggressive and sneaky legislation.
The unpopularity of liberal ideology can be illustrated by the failure of liberal talk radio. The primary attempt that liberals have made in that market was a venture called “Air America” that lasted only six years. The reason that it failed was that no one listened to it. Not even hardcore liberals could stand to hear their ideas hashed out on the airwaves for three hours.
When subjected to the careful analysis of conservative thinkers, liberal ideas fall apart, and conservative talk radio has given such thinkers an outlet by which to expose tens of millions of listeners every day to the folly of such ideology. So they must be silenced.
The ultimate concession of defeat in the arena of ideas comes when one side, unable to defeat the other, forces the other side to shut up.
And because they understand the constant danger that talk radio puts them in, that is exactly what liberals want to do.
This brings us to where we are today. Liberals in the media promptly jumped to the assumption that the Tucson shooter was driven to his atrocity by listening to talk radio.
Never mind that he is a registered independent.
Never mind that he hated George W. Bush.
Never mind that a copy of “The Communist Manifesto” was found in his possession.
Never mind that no one has been able to find any evidence that he even listened to the radio.
Regardless of the lack of evidence, liberals have decided that if they can plant the seed that talk radio leads to such acts of violence, public opinion can be swayed to the point where they can safely reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.
But it will never work.
The bad news for the Democrats is that not only are they prohibited from shredding the First Amendment, but also that conservatives have discovered how to silence the opposition without mangling anyone’s rights.
It’s called voting them out of office.
And we are doing exactly that.
Bob Minchin is an electrical engineering senior. His column appears on Fridays.
