Draven

I'm all for that. Of course, it was Reagan appointees who worked to get rid of it. And since Reagan is so beloved by Republicans, I'm sure they'll fight any attempt to bring it back.

Nick Danger

I thought you were opposed to the Fairness Doctrine. Wasn't it you who was describing the chilling effect that it had on the broadcast industry?

Draven

No, I don't think so. It wouldn't help with cable news, unfortunately and would need to be updated for the modern age, but I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with having to offer contrasting viewpoints.

The problem, of course, is that too many people would think this applies to the extremes. As in, if someone says that climate change is caused by CO2 emissions, you'd have to let the people who think it's because of aliens talk too. I think there's a middle ground there. Anything to cut down on the polarization is worth trying, I think.

JasonF

The Fairness Doctrine can't fix what's wrong with American news media, and bringing it back would just lead to more shows with people yelling at each other.

Draven

I know this is just an example but since it was an FCC thing so it wouldn't effect a show like Crossfire on CNN. It could help with radio though (which I realize is less of an issue now than it was when Rush was rising to power).

Again, I don't think balance is a bad thing. We just have to stop treating insane takes like they are part of that balance.

JasonF

I guess my point is that when the balance consists of Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala yelling at each other, we haven't made anything better, we've just made it louder.

Draven

Well I can't disagree with that. And I'm not saying it would fix everything. I do think we made it too easy for people to retreat to their corners and never hear a dissenting opinion.

JasonF

There's probably some element of that, but I don't think the problem is people on the right don't know what the left says and vice versa. The problem is we've got two sets of facts. So we could implement a new Fairness Doctrine and then when Tucker Carlson (or whoever) claims that poverty is up 17% under Joe Biden, Paul Begala (or whoever) gets to refute it and say "No, it's actually down 3%." But people will just pick and choose which statement they prefer based on whether they were already pro- or anti- Biden (which was in turn probably driven by whether they self-identify as "conservative" or "liberal') and refuse to be swayed, even if one of those statements is backed by Bureau of Labor and Statistics data that shows who is correct.

Bronkster

Maybe we need a Fact Doctrine.

wendersfan

This is exactly the sort of garbage I'd expect from someone who would also argue the governor of Texas isn't a Democrat.

Ranger

Lowering the flag for this guy is ridiculous.

WCChiCubsFan

^ That is wrong on so many levels.

Troy Stiffler

Is it a technicality, since Trump gave him the Medal of Freedom? Or did they choose to honor him?

Vibiana

PMed from Kittydreamer via Facebook today, made me howl, can't recall the exact wording but something along the lines of wanting to be the undertaker who got to sew El Rushbo's mouth shut.

VinVega

Yeah, Trump 2.0 DeSantis is ordering all FL flags to fly at half staff all over the state for a complete and utter asshole.

Bronkster

Posted earlier in the cartoon thread ...

Decker

That is totally ridiculous.

mickey65

I would have hated to be the undertaker who had to shove the A/V Closure (aka "Butt Plug") up his ass....

cultshock

Not surprising, coming from another complete and utter asshole.

Norm de Plume

Turds of a feather plop together.

Troy Stiffler

Rush plays the hits. https://people.com/politics/rush-lim...rsial-moments/

• He began airing “Barack, the Magic Negro,” a racist parody song about then-Sen. Barack Obama’s popularity with many white voters, in 2007.
• In John K. Wilson's book, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Rush Limbaugh's Assault on Reason, the host was quoted as saying this homophobic statement: "When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it's an invitation."
• In his "Undeniable Truths," written as part of an article for the Sacramento Union in 1988, Limbaugh wrote, "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society."
  • In a later updated version, he wrote:
    • "The Earth's eco-system is not fragile."
    • "Women should not be allowed on juries where the accused is a stud."
    • "The Los Angeles riots were not caused by the Rodney King verdict. The Los Angeles riots were caused by rioters."
• On The Rush Limbaugh Show in 2004, he said, "I think it's time to get rid of this whole National Basketball Association. Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Association, and stop calling them teams. Call 'em gangs."
• As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a Black caller: “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back,” according to Fair.
• During The Rush Limbaugh Show in 2013, he said, "If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it's Caucasians. The white race has probably had fewer slaves and for a briefer period of time than any other in the history of the world."
• During The Rush Limbaugh Show in 2017, regarding LGBTQ+ politicians being elected to office, he said, "I guarantee there'd be some people in the Republican establishment who will now think, yeah, we need to do this. We need to provide a home, we need to provide a comforting atmosphere for the tranny community and the gay community. But those people are voting Democrat anyway."
• " 'Ching cha. Ching chang cho chow. Cha Chow. Ching Cho. Chi ba ba ba. Kwo kwa kwa kee. Cha ga ga. Ching chee chay. Ching zha bo ba. Chang cha. Chang cho chi che. Cha dee. Ooooh chee bada ba. Jee jee cho ba.' Nobody was translating, but that's the closest I can get," he said on his radio show while "translating" Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2011.
• Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” after she publicly advocated for universal contraception coverage, NPR reported in 2012.

Lipid

good riddance to a hateful and ignorant turd of a human being.

cungar

Coming from a guy who can't figure out a simple mask

maxfisher

Two things have occurred to me as I’ve seen the reaction to Limbaugh’s death.

First, there’s been a lot of focus on specific offensive statements. I get the appeal of that because it’s easy, but it sells short the destruction that he caused. I listened to his show heavily after Trump emerged as the front runner in 2016 and slowly tapered off throughout Trump’s term. Yes, he occasionally said some pretty offensive shit. But much more important than that, he broadcasted from an alternate reality where white conservatives were the most oppressed group in our society. Everyone wants to feel like their successes are their own and their failures have been done to them. For three hours every day, Rush told his listeners that those feelings were right, and that liberals had fucked them. He decried a liberal ‘victim mentality’, while constantly telling millions of people that they’d been victimized by it. He defined liberals so broadly that the definition could just about be ‘people not like you.’ He offered up a constant stream of evidence, albeit biased, twisted or outright fabricated, that yes, see, look what these horrible, idiotic liberals are doing to you. To say he poisoned minds is to use that phrase about as accurately as is possible. A list of random racist, sexist, etc. comments doesn’t capture the scope of his villainy.

Second, celebrating his death seems silly. He won. He accumulated enormous wealth and power and wielded them to immoral ends to generate even more. While his audience may have shrunk a bit in his final years, he gained the ear of an incompetent, hateful buffoon of a president who took his input seriously and valued and rewarded his approval. Limbaugh was going to die from the moment he was born, as are we all. His death does nothing to erase the evil he perpetrated and isn’t some kind of moral victory. It’s just nature being nature.

Giantrobo

^Wait what? I feel like 2 messages are in that post both conflicting with each other.