Mission Accomplished!

... for now.

Dubya's, Kennedy's, McCain's, Specter's, and Reid's immigration reform bill was stopped dead in its tracks. Let's take a moment to relish the victory. But us real conservatives don't have the hubris and arrogance of George "Mission Accomplished" "See you at the bill signing" "I've looked into Putin's eyes" Bush. We know they'll try to bring this back, probably sooner than later. (Rob Bluey of Heritage has more on this point.)

And before then, we know the Democrats want to shut down, or at a minimum, intimidate talk radio in the run up to the election. The Dems are liberal when it comes to taxing and spending (and morality) but illiberal when it comes to political speech and thought. I really am surprised they want to pursue this course. If they thought Americans were riled up over immigration reform, they haven't seen anything yet. But, some lefty blogger reports that Pelosi "is solidly behind bringing back the Fairness Doctrine."

The Fairness Doctrine is anything but fair. This will be used, not to provide "balance", but to shut down the stations that broadcast political ideas the establishment doesn't want broadcast. It will cost stations millions of dollars to fight off and defend against the challenges that will be filed under the Doctrine.

The so-called Doctrine was disposed of in the 80's because it was so unclear and hard to enforce. It is even more unworkable these days. Senator Durbin says he supports it because Americans should hear "both sides" of an issue. what about the people who think there are really more than just two sides of an issue? It certainly would be unfair to exclude their point of view under a "Fairness Doctrine." So a station that broadcasts Rush Limbaugh will have to devote some air time to an Al Franken, and it wouldn't be fair to dissallow the likes of Louis Farrakahn or David Duke to voice their views as well.

And what about Christian stations? Are they going to have to provide air time for commentaries from Planned Parenthood or CAIR, or some gay group? What about entertainment shows on the networks that have a lefty bias?

AirAmerica tried to establish a lefty foothold on the AM dial but failed. What the liberals couldn't achieve in the marketplace, they now want to ram down peoples' throats through the regulatory power of the federal government. In the grand scheme, talk radio occupies a relatively small portion of the media and information landscape. AM talk radio is a small but powerful alternative to the left's dominance of newspapers, network news, NPR, Hollywood, and academia.

If they try to enforce this Doctrine, they will be stepping into a huge hornets' nest of outrage and protest. If they do impose it, they'll take aim against the Internet as the next threat to their established power. Lefty bloggers, as ye sow...