Lynn Woolley
Tuesday, July 10, 2001

Perhaps and perhaps not. With Bush in the White House, talk radio gets a reprieve, but not a pardon. The new man to watch is Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Concerned that no liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh has yet appeared on the national scene, Daschle and his disciples may yet attempt to return to the Bad Old Days of government control of radio talk.

The signs are there for anyone who cares to notice them – emerging indications that some thoughts may no longer be acceptable. Of course, bad thoughts are usually conservative in nature.

When you analyze liberalism and how it works, you realize that it flourishes in an atmosphere of intimidation. Certain ways of thinking become approved and are added to the liberal canon; wrong thinking is then punished, or the wrong thinker is ostracized. The modern term for this type of mental intimidation is "Political Correctness."

It is no accident that the PC movement coalesced on our college campuses. Liberal thought has long dominated academia, all the way from kindergarten to graduate school. So colleges and universities became the breeding ground for this new, "progressive" outlook on life. The movement is easily spread into other liberal communities such as the national news media, Hollywood, and the Democratic Party. (Among the items that are PC: radical environmentalism, feminism, abortion, multiculturalism and homosexuality. Among those items that are not PC: prayer and religion, business, guns, and tax cuts.)

You'll notice here that the PC movement controls most of the input into young minds including movies, the music they hear on the radio, and their teachers. Teenagers and young adults aren't exposed to the usual sources of non-PC material such as the Wall Street Journal, Paul Harvey and – well, Investor's Business Daily. (It was hard to come up with three sources.) But a few years ago, with the abandonment of an intimidating law known as the "Fairness Doctrine," a new media began to emerge. It was mostly non-PC. It was conservative. It was called "Talk Radio."

The Fairness Doctrine was a complex law that accomplished something very simple. By putting onerous regulations in the way of free speech, radio and TV stations were in effect prevented from expressing political opinion. Equal time would have to be provided, and that meant staff dedicated to finding opposing opinion, and then giving up the airtime to run it. No station could deal with that nightmare and so, few did.

But when the Fairness Doctrine was abolished, free speech on the radio blossomed and led to the emergence of two towering figures: Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

The PC crowd had a problem. Suddenly there were opposition voices in the fields of politics (Rush) and human relationships (Dr. Laura) and the audiences were large and growing. Young people were tuning in. The mainstream media and Hollywood still had their influence, but now there was a small chink in the armor. Even smaller chinks cropped up in the form of lesser syndicated talents and local shows – all over the nation. Almost all the successful programs were conservative.

For almost two decades now, this situation has irritated the Politically Correct movement.

In the '90s, Democrats made an attempt to correct the situation with a new Fairness Doctrine known as the "Hush Rush" legislation. It failed. A Gore presidency might have led to another attempt, and the idea is almost certainly in Daschle's mind.

One thing that separates liberals from conservatives is that liberals are craftier and work without the hindrance of a conscience. They always think that they are right, and any means to achieve the end is acceptable. They are tired of dealing with Limbaugh and Laura, and if Senate Majority Leader Daschle gives them the chance, they will take action. If they can reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, they will do it. If they can reinstate the "Equal Time Clause" they will do it. If not, they will find another way. Most recently, they've demonstrated their fervor with attacks on Dr. Laura.

By now you are familiar with the famous boycotts of Dr. Laura's TV show and the assaults on her advertisers by the gay/lesbian community. This is because Dr. Laura feels that homosexuality is not normal. It also runs afoul of her orthodox Jewish religious beliefs (as opposed to those of Joe Lieberman), and so she states her position on her radio show. Now, I don't have too much of a problem with boycotts because they are, after all, a form of freedom of speech. If you don't like something, you don't buy it. Simple enough. But the attacks on Dr. Laura have gone way beyond this.

Remember that if Plan A doesn't work, liberals will resort to Plan B. And Plan B may be a lot more devious. Here's an example, contained in a letter from the ultra-leftist Los Angeles lawyer and talk host Gloria Allred that was carried in the September 27, 2000, edition of the Dallas Morning News. Since Gloria has no Fairness Doctrine to work with, and Dr. Laura obviously enjoys freedom of speech, Gloria resorts to accusations of discrimination:

"Gays and lesbians also have a right to be free of discrimination and to exercise their free speech in response to hers. Dr. Laura's statements are produced in a California workplace: a television studio. California law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace. If she makes discriminatory statements on her show she may end up with a lawsuit that would teach her an expensive lesson. Employees have the right to be free of discrimination so they can enjoy equal employment opportunity. Statements of prejudice interfere with that right."

This is a chilling statement.

It's not so much that Gloria is any danger to anyone; it's the mere idea that liberals and the PC crowd will search until they find a way to silence any language they disagree with. It's like that episode of "The Twilight Zone" where the omnipotent kid would turn you into a scarecrow for thinking bad thoughts. Gloria Allred would turn Dr. Laura into a former talk show host for daring to disagree with – Gloria Allred.

(It should be pointed out here that Dr. Laura's position is amazingly mainstream. She states that homosexuality is not normal and that it is often a destructive lifestyle. Until the PC movement declared otherwise, this was the prevailing thought in most religions and in most civilized areas of the world. You don't have to hate homosexuals to be disgusted by what the term implies. Besides, Dr. Laura is taking a stand against a certain behavior that she disagrees with. If we now have "behavior rights," then wait for the pedophiles to start coming out of the woodwork. Why not? No one will be able to speak out against them lest he be accused of "behavior discrimination.")

Gloria Allred is a lawyer and she must know that her argument is silly. But to a liberal, any means to achieve the end is fine. The gay/lesbian community was a factor in the cancellation of Dr. Laura's TV show. With that success, they could attack her radio program. If they succeed there, can attacks on Rush Limbaugh be far behind?

According to information in trade magazines, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the ability through rulemaking to re-establish the Fairness Doctrine. The Clinton FCC surely considered it, and may have rejected the idea due to the political climate and a Republican U.S. House and Senate. But now the Democrats have control of the Senate and Dr. Laura has already lost her TV show. What if her radio show or Rush's becomes the next target?

No conspiracy theories here, but the pattern is forming. Look at the facts: The Dr. Laura test case proceeded nicely for the gay/lesbian community. Democrats used the Jeffords defection to take control of the Senate. They continue to lament the fact that a "liberal Limbaugh" has failed to emerge on a national scale.

It could all come together. A Democratic House of Representatives to join the Senate in the next election, liberal pressure for "moderate" Bush nominees to the Supreme Court, still too many liberals within the FCC, and one notch on the belt from Laura's TV show. A Democratic Congress would be anti-business, anti-gun, and anti-free speech. If you're a radio talk show host – or if you're a regular consumer of conservative talk – you have reason to be concerned.

Visit Lynn's Web site at www.BeLogical.com. His e-mail address is lyn@belogical.com.

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