Rep. James Clyburn (D- SC) went on government-funded radio Monday to advocate for censorship and government controlled “restraint on speech”. He positively yearns for the romantic time of the 1960’s, before the internet, when the government’s “Fairness Doctrine” controlled the free-flow of opinion in our country. Bizarrely, Rep. Clyburn concedes that the 1960’s had some “unfortunate” murders (some would call them political assassinations) but maintains that our society would be better if the government took on the role of censor.
We’ve grown accustomed to high-ranking Democrats calling for restraints on political speech. They always seem to cite Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck and always seem to overlook the far more incendiary rantings of Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes and the odious Mike Malloy. But in Rep. Clyburn’s NPR interview, two chilling new wrinkles to the speech-squelching movement are revealed.
Number one, why did Rep. Clyburn mention the internet as part of his tirade against free political expression? The “Fairness Doctrine” was created to control the content of radio and television stations. Newspapers and periodicals were never affected because, unlike TV and radio, they are not licensed by the Federal Government. The internet (and the content that appears on it) falls under the same guidelines as newspapers. Or, at least, it did.
Welcome to life under the new, “Net Neutrality” provisions voted into existence by the unelected and barely accountable FCC. If the new powers over the internet that the FCC single-handedly bestowed upon themselves are allowed to remain, then logically the FCC has every right to control the content of the internet in the same way they now believe they can control the delivery of that content.
Which brings us to point number two: One of those five FCC Chairmen is none other than Mignon Clyburn, daughter of Rep. Clyburn, himself. What kind of conflict and bastardization to our checks and balances are at play here? A Congressman (third ranking Democrat in the House) is very vocally advocating for broad new powers to control speech on TV, radio and the internet and his daughter is part of the controlling body in the Executive Branch who would implement such a policy.
As usual, the left is trying to exploit this tragedy to implement broad new controls over everyday Americans. To paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy: If you find yourself advocating for laws that will result in more restrictions on people from exercising their God-given right to free speech, you just might be an authoritarian.
(Naked Emperor News discovered the NPR interview for this story)