The American Spectator

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(Page 7 of 12)

p>"There is nothing as deceptive as an obvious fact." -- Arthur Conan Doyle br> -- John McGinnis br> Arlington, Texas /p> p> SPEECH IMPEDIMENTS br> Re: Jeremy Lott's Voltaire's Bastards : /p>

I've always like Mr. Lott's articles, but this one was a home run. I've been yelling about this in my blog for months. I'll grant that maybe John McCain had his heart in the right place -- who could complain about his announced motive of removing the corrupting influence of money in politics? But what he and Russ Feingold have concocted is nothing short of censorship. The media and the politicians are all for strengthening this law so that in effect, the only political free speech left would be that of, guess who, the media and politicians.

This law attempts to remove "the people," or redefine who those "people" are, from "government of, by, and for the people"; it at least attempts to remove them from public political discourse. A good rule of thumb in these days of confusing "lawyer" speak from elected officials and blurry media reporting is that any time the politicians and the main stream media are BOTH for some piece of legislation, it cannot be good for the average American. REPEAL this ridiculous legislation, and enact something that will actually work. We need MORE political discussion in this country, not less -- never less.

I find it VERY interesting that neither the politicians or the media will discuss why political campaigns are so expensive in the first place -- media buys! We as Americans should address our greedy media companies about this problem. The Internet is providing great leverage against the traditional media outlets and their extortion of the political process, new legislation should take advantage of this new media and it's promise to level the playing field.

p>I suggest an Election Channel -- all elections, all the time -- no paid political advertising. Pass a law that bans media companies from political advertising. Or if they advertise political candidates or agendas, they must give full and fair time to all candidates -- then watch them run away from this revenue stream. Let the media go begging for political advertising and I guarantee prices will drop like a rock.

topics:
John McCain, Bill Clinton, Satire, Books, Law, Supreme Court, Military