(NOTE: I know it's a little hard to comment right now with Fluffy roaming around, but any input/discussion would be appreciated on these kinds of posts. I kind of miss the community aspect this blog used to have.)
So...politics! I've decided that with The Obamessiah only a few days away from riding his magical unicorn into the White House to spread the wealth change, it's time to get back to this type of blogging occasionally. I can't afford not to pay attention for the next 4-8 years.
However, rather than discussing current events, this post is more of a refresher on an issue I've talked about a few times in the past: Far too many liberals have a somewhat unnerving inability to accept the fact that some people don't agree with them.
As I've said before, liberals tend to see their opinions as the truth and go forward from there. Much like children, they believe that everyone sees the world as they do, and that any honest person would therefore share their ideas of how to fix the nation's problems.
For example, it's not an opinion that affirmative action combats racism; it's simply a fact that it does. If you disagree, you may claim that you think affirmative action actually perpetuates racism rather than preventing it, but since that's not true, the only logical conclusion is that you hate minorities and don't want them to succeed.
I've discussed other examples in the past, so I won't take up more space with those. However, this is all relevant because liberals now have a clear majority in our government, and I'm kind of worried about how free our speech will really be once they get their hands on the reins of power.
Allow me to share a couple links that are reinforcing this fear. I realize that these are individual opinions, but they represent a more general belief system, so...yeah. First, there's this thread on the CFI Forum (hat tip to Sublime Bloviations) in which the poster rather awkwardly expresses the following:
I’m sure most people are aware of Right Wing Radio shows.Mostly AM band.How often do you hear this stuff?How often do you encounter someone who’s an echo-box of this dreck. Folks,this garbage must be criminalized.I know that it is in the constitution,it’s in the FCC guidelines.It is an exercize of free speech and press. Loopholes must be found to muzzle these outlets.They engage in flat-out propaganda,which is laced with outright fabrications,innuendo,and hate and fear-mongering.Surely,somewhere,buried in the FCC,or in the laws of the constitution,there must be tools to eliminate this stuff. Have you seen the damage it does?I’m speaking from an unbiased,objective point of view too.I’m not trying in this instance to counteract damage done to the left or liberals. These programs have created thousands of robots.Uninformed people who are completely out of touch. Objecting to this and saying that these people freely choose to listen to it,is not enough.Drug cartels are smashed and their members imprisoned for giving people things that they freely choose to do. The actual damage these programs do is quantifiable and relevant.I thought it was illegal to broadcast lies?
Others try to explain why this is a load of shit:
No, No, No! The First Amendment is absolutely fundamental and under no circumstances should ANY political speech ever be restricted or discouraged.
It’s not illegal to broadcast lies...Censorship is not the answer. Speaking the truth is the answer.
But the poster, undaunted, presses on:
Well if speaking the truth is the answer,then where does that leave speaking the falsehoods?Accchh!I know we can’t muzzle people,the way the FCC did to certain other elements of radio.Afterall the FCC has a partisan appointed leader.And of course I know we live in a perfect society where advertisers have absolutely nothing to do with TV and radio content. I know I’m banging my head against the wall here,in the face of rational people,who cite constitutional points.Even though the constitution is constantly bended and morphed to suit the needs of legislators and activist judges,as well as presidents. I know it’s noble to place fair play in high regards.I like lofty ideas.I respect noble,egalitarianism. Unfortunately,I see the unfair playing field that is set-up by corporate interests and conservative-christian based nazis. To repeat,these radio shows are hindering progress.They are having a noticeable,relevant effect on the populations mind-set.
And later:
...The constitution doesn’t have to be thrown out,it could be amended.The Supreme Court could rule in favor of some class action concerning bias/truth in the media. Another 4 years are going to pass.In this time,the propaganda outlets are going to be going full-tilt to destroy the gains made by the Democrats in this latest election.This electorate can easily be swung back by these propaganda outlets,if the new Administration falters in its promise for change and renewal. I’m not being a Pollyanna here.(is that the right word-Pollyanna?)This is a real threat to the democracy that you are defending...
Again, there is a pattern here: This genius doesn't agree with most of the opinions expressed on conservative talk radio, so he decides that the solution is not to counter those opinions with his own, but to simply shut down outlets that have the temerity to broadcast contrary views. The last chunk is especially telling. His justification for outlawing right wing radio is basically that it poses a threat to the new administration's goals. This doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense unless you believe that everyone knows Obama will do the right thing all the time, but certain evil people will lie about it in order to put their equally evil party back in power.
Why is this so important to recognize? One* word: Fairness Doctrine.
An example of this point, slightly older, comes to us by way of this post from another blog:
But the right always complains about the proposed "fairness doctrine", because they say that the quality of the product should stand on its own in the free market, and if people want to listen to Limbo, and his ratings are high - too bad, its what the people have chosen. Which would be a fair point if 'the people' could be trusted to choose the right thing. But the people are stupid, and can not be trusted to see through Limbo, and his ratings are a testimony to this fact. We need to enforce fairness - even if "the people" don't want it....And YES - we *have* come to the point where radio-broadcast-book-burning is necessary, and censorship should apply to the likes of Limbough. 3 hours a day, 5 days a week - he spews the most vile and offensive racist and sexist garbage, and yet people, alot of people - tune in. He must be stopped.
Once again, we see the true danger in believing that only one set of opinions is valid. It's not just that Rush Limbaugh has a different view of the world. That's impossible! The truth is that Limbaugh knows liberal policies are better (the "right thing," in fact), but because he's an evil racist/sexist/whatever, he chooses to lie about it, and the sheeple believe him. Therefore, he must be stopped so that liberals, who really do have everyone's best interests at heart, can do their work.
This. Is. Fucking. TERRIFYING.
How do you reason with people who have decided, before an argument even begins, that their view is unquestionably correct? How do you present evidence to someone who thinks that the point of a debate is to expose the hateful motivations behind your opponent's ideas, rather than proving that your own ideas are better?
More importantly, can the First Amendment survive in an environment dominated by this type of infantile thinking? We've already seen that, in the eyes of many liberals, criticizing Obama's lifestlye, associations, economic policies, etc. is just a roundabout way of calling him a nigger. What happens when they decide that his critics present a threat to national security?
Keep in mind what's already been said on the issue of "fairness," as well as what happened to a certain plumber who dared to ask St. Hopechange a question.
I hope I don't live to see the day that voting Republican is considered a hate crime.
Posted by CD on January 15, 2009 07:27 PM | TrackBack