Obama`s two faces, maybe three, and the fairness doctrine!.
During the presidential primaries, Obama is reported as supporting the “Fairness Doctrine”, see
Obama and free speech by Samuel Berkowitz, 2/7/08
QUOTE
"I hope Congress gets to work right away on reestablishing the Fairness Doctrine with the FCC. There needs to be balance on the airwaves again on radio as well as TV and cable."
More recently it was reported that :
QUOTE
"Sen. Obama does not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters," Obama spokesman Michael Ortiz, said in an e-mail. "He considers this debate to be a distraction from the conversation we should be having about opening up the airwaves and modern communications to as many diverse viewpoints as possible." See:
Will Democrats hush Rush?, Sunday, July 13, 2008, By Vivian Nereim, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
And now that we know Obama’s two positions on the fairness doctrine, let us take a look at Obama’s actions last month, intended to prevent WGN and Milt Rosenberg, the station’s host, from having Stanley Kurtz, a controversial guest on the show.
Obama’s actions were succinctly stated in The Wall Street Journal as follows:
QUOTE
Team Obama has launched an offensive against WGN, the Chicago Tribune's radio station, for interviewing Stanley Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is a conservative writer who this week forced the University of Illinois to finally open its records on Sen. Obama's association with William Ayers, the unrepentant 1970s Weather Underground terrorist.
An Obama campaign email to supporters called Mr. Kurtz a "slimy character assassin" whose "divisive, destructive ranting" should be confronted. WGN producer Zack Christenson says the outpouring of negative calls and emails is "unprecedented."
He also notes that it is curious -- because "we wanted the Obama campaign's take" on Mr. Kurtz's findings, but the campaign declined to put anyone on air.____ See:
JOHN FUND’S article Obama Should Come Clean On Ayers, Rezko And the Iraqi Billionaire August 30, 2008; Page A11, Wall Street Journal
I thought the fairness doctrine was all about both sides being aired, and not a concerted attempt by one side to silence political speech.
Obama’s actions were also reported by Fox News. SEE:
Rev. Jeremiah Wright Is At It AgainMonday, September 01, 2008
By Brit Hume
Fox News
QUOTE
Intimidation Tactics?
The Obama campaign had its supporters confront WGN Radio in Chicago last week for having a critic of the Democratic presidential nominee on its air.
The Chicago Tribune reports Obama supporters besieged the station with thousands of phone calls and e-mails in an effort to force the cancellation of an interview with columnist Stanley Kurtz. The campaign e-mailed supporters saying: "WGN Radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist fears... pushing lies, distortions and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."
A producer at WGN Radio said, "I got the feeling they were trying to intimidate us." It didn't work. The interview aired.
Kurtz — a Harvard PhD who is now a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford — has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard. A recent article he wrote for The National Review drew the ire of the Obama campaign because it examined Obama's ties to Ayers, a 1960s and '70s terrorist leader whose followers — among other things — tried to blow up the U.S. Capitol.
But the most chilling report of Obama’s actions were reported as follows:
QUOTE
Caller after caller to WGN read off talking points provided them by the Obama campaign alleging that Dr. Kurtz, and by implication and sometimes directly, Milt Rosenberg, was “smearing” Barack Obama and finding Obama “guilty by association.” They also accused Kurtz of lying.
Yet, when pressed for specifics, these callers had none.
This gang of callers and emailers reminded me of the “turbas” - the street thugs organized by the Nicaraguan Sandinistas who would be deployed on a moment’s notice to harass independent trade unionists, human rights activists and government critics during the Sandinistas’ rule over Nicaragua in the 1980’s. Hugo Chavez in Venezuela - a favorite haunt of Bill Ayers and other “Progressives for Obama” - uses similar bodies in Caracas neighborhoods. ________ see:
Obama/Ayers Update: Obama Campaign Unleashes “Turbas” on WGN Radio HostSo tell us Mr. Obama, should we judge you by what you say or by your actions and deeds, or, perhaps you have a third face to speak out of when confronted with your actions, deeds, and what you have already said?
Why has the establishment media [NBC, CBS, ABC CNN, MSNBC , The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc., ] not reported Obama’s attempt to silence political speech ?JWK
Hey Joey tight-lips Biden, how do you feel about your running mate trying to shut down a talk radio show? Do you approve of Obama’s un-American strong arm tactics?
