The "Fairness Doctrine"

Lately, we have been hearing about this concept called the "Fairness Doctrine".  What is it?  The term is very misleading if you don't know what it is.  Wouldn't it be good if everything in life was fair and all opinions were, as Fox News says about their programming, "Fair and Balanced"?  As I have told my children many times, life isn't always fair.  Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want or like to do.  Sometimes the information that we read or see on the news we have to take with a 'grain of salt'.  That is why we have a brain.  We have to think about what everything we see on a daily basis and see if it makes sense to us.  We don't need the government to step there big foot in the ring and decide what we should and should not hear or see or read.  That is where the 'Fairness Doctrine' comes in to play. 

The 'Fairness Doctrine' is just this, plain and simple:

a United States FCC regulation requiring broadcast licensees to present controversial issues of public importance in a manner deemed by the FCC to be honest, equitable, and balanced. [1] [2]

To me, this sounds too much like the government trying to restrict the freedom of speech (aka the First Amendment) on the airwaves.  The liberals and democrats in congress are all for it.  In a resent article on HumanEvents.com the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was asked the question, "Do you personally support revival of the ‘Fairness Doctrine?" by John Gizzi and her response was "Yes."  The other event that occurred was when Pelosi denied a vote on the floor for the 'Broadcaster's Freedom Act' which would make the 'Fairness Doctrine' dead.

According the same article...

Experts say that the “Fairness Doctrine,” which was ended under the Reagan Administration, would put a major burden on small radio stations in providing equal time to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative broadcasters, who are a potent political force.  Rather than engage in the costly practice of providing that time, the experts conclude, many stations would simply not carry Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other talk show hosts who are likely to generate demands for equal time. [3]

The issue I have with liberals, democrats and even some so-called conservatives is that they want the government to control more of the American people's civil liberties and freedoms.  As we turn over more control of our lives to a centralized government, we lose more and more control of the country until we no longer have the power to change the course of this country.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine
[2] http://www.slate.com/id/2108443/
[3] http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27185