The FCC's plan of allowing a handful of corporations to monopolize the public airwaves has ironically resulted in the day to day broadcast of lynch mob politics, death threats and incitement to anti-government violence. Once again... as we've seen with the SEC and the EPA, the existence of a regulatory agency is meaningless if the government itself is controlled by industry.
Two articles:
FOX News: The Number 1 Name in Murder Fantasies
Tuscon Rampage Casts Light on Toxic Political Tone
Of course, the Gun Control issue is already being raised. But I think this misses the point completely. The problem here is that of an FCC licensed news organization encouraging its listeners and viewers to act out on their murderous fantasies. This is the thing that needs to be fought and its effects will prove deadly whether or not FOX viewers use guns, pipe bombs, or Ryder trucks full of house hold chemicals. Is this latest shooter really that much more dangerous than Eric Roudolph or Timothy McVeigh?
The irony here is that the biggest proponents of gun control tend to do very little, in the day to day, to stand up for progressive issues and politically confront today's Neo-McCarthyites- the only thing that can balance our political climate. Obama talking about reaching out for "bipartisanship" while FOX commentators are basically calling for the assassination of Democrats will go down in history as an example of what it means to be completely out of touch with political reality.
I will also point out that the people who support banning certain types of weapons within the 50 states often do the most to facilitate their export around the world, often to repressive governments where they've been responsible for thousands of deaths. International arms sales actually declined in the first two years after Hillary left the White House. See my article.
It's not because people have guns that they shoot elected officials. It's because demagogues like Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck and their ilk are whipping up violence and hatred among the most paranoid, ignorant, and impressionable people in society. It is there the problem lies and it is there a solution must be found.
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