Reply #346: Talk radio people [View All]

[sulphurdunn]

are trying to grant themselves the same 1st Amendment rights on the air that they have off the air. Not so. While the FCC has abandoned the Fairness Doctrine and loosened its rules for the sake of right wing hate mongers, it still makes the rules and can crack down on the likes of Limbaugh anytime it finds the guts to do so. For Limbaugh to claim otherwise is a variation on the corporate personhood argument favored by the Supreme Court and Wall Street. The public owns the airways. Corporations are not people. When Limbaugh runs his mouth on the radio he is acting as an employee or contractor of Clear Channel Communications, a private corporation whose license is leased from the American people. He is in no way acting as an independent citizen expressing his views, nor is he a member of the press. In fact, he claims to just be an entertainer. If he wants to say whatever he wants he should get a job at a subscription cable network like HBO. Otherwise, he hands off his 1st Amendment rights at the studio door just like most of us do on the job.