The Rush Limbaugh Program (1988 - 2009) R.I.P.

By David Hinz

Rush Limbaugh, the most visible Conservative voice of Talk Radio, has expanded his listening audience through the tenure of four US Presidents. Dire predictions of his demise, in 1992, with the election of President Clinton, were greatly exaggerated. suggestions that the election of President Bush in 2000 would lead to waning listenership were equally inaccurate.

However, regardless of the winner in the 2008 Presidential election, we could well be listening to Rush Limbaugh for the final time, sometime in 2009. This is not to predict a sudden shift in the taste of his listeners, because that will not take place. Nor does this suggest that he will suddenly chose to hang up his microphone, because that is also not likely to be the case.

Government action, originating in Congress, and signed into law by the new President, will likely silence Rush Limbaugh, and all other Conservative radio voices, forever.

The Fairness Doctrine

I am speaking, of course, of the reinstatement of the so called Fairness Doctrine. In Red Lion Broadcasting v FCC, the Supreme Court of the United States in upholding the Fairness Doctrine opined:

A license permits broadcasting, but the licensee has no constitutional right to be the one who holds the license or to monopolize a... frequency to the exclusion of his fellow citizens. There is nothing in the First Amendment which prevents the Government from requiring a licensee to share his frequency with others.... It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount.

And:

It is the purpose of the First Amendment to preserve an uninhibited marketplace of ideas in which truth will ultimately prevail, rather than to countenance monopolization of that market, whether it be by the government itself or a private licensee. It is the right of the public to receive suitable access to social, political, esthetic, moral and other ideas and experiences which is crucial here. That right may not constitutionally be abridged either by Congress or by the FCC.

The Fairness Doctrine was used by the Kennedy Administration to try to stifle Conservative Republican voices. They were using the FCC to stifle free speech with which they did not agree. This is an egregious abuse of power -- real abuse of power -- not imagined.

Bill Ruder, Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Kennedy administration, acknowledged that "Our massive strategy [in the early 1960s] was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters and hope that the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue."

In a memo to the Democrat National Committee,(see page 47) FCC Commissioner Martin Firestone wrote:

The right-wingers operate on a strictly cash basis and it is for this reason that they are carried by so many small stations. Were our efforts to be continued on a year-round basis, we would find that many of these stations would consider the broadcasts of these programs bothersome and burdensome (especially if they are ultimately required to give us free time) and would start dropping the programs from their broadcast schedule.

In an effort by the DNC to intimidate radio stations into submission, a DNC staffer by the name of Wayne Phillips, noted;

Thousands of copies of Cook’s article were sent to state Democratic leaders and to every radio station in the country known to carry right-wing broadcasts, together with a letter from Sam Brightman of the DNC pointing out that claims for time would be made in the event of attacks on Democratic candidates or their programs.

While Conservative talk radio is no longer confined to small rural stations, the attempts to silence them have increased, over the years, proportionally. In 1987, the "pro-broadcasting" FCC of President Reagan. Former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler posited that:

“...the perception of broadcasters as community trustees should be replaced by a view of broadcasters as marketplace participants.”

Almost immediately Democrats attempted to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. The following hear a Democrat Congress sent legislation bringing back the Fairness doctrine to President Reagan's desk -- which he vetoed. Further attempts in 1991 to impose the Fairness Doctrine, once again, on the radio industry, died with President George H W Bush's threatened veto.

While the opening up of the airwaves has resulted in the revitalization of AM radio -- a medium that was all but dead in 1987, the left has never tired in its attempt to stifle conservative talk. Leftist FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson would sum the struggle up as:

“...a struggle for nothing less than possession of the First Amendment: Who gets to have and express opinions in America.

The attempts described above demonstrate the truth of that statement, as President Kennedy and the DNC actively worked to restrict that access to the First Amendment. The threat that Conservative talk radio poses to liberal dominance of the airwaves; public broadcasting and the three major television networks, illustrates the reason that the Democrat Party has made it their crusade to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

The Threat Posed By Talk Radio

With the unanimity of the Mainstream Media, and its overwhelmingly liberal world view, Right-wing talk radio serves the function of pointing out that "The Emperor Has No Clothes." In pointing out fallacies in the liberal MSM narrative of events, talk radio has become a lightning rod for MSM criticism. Using such pejoratives as "hate radio" the liberal left has sought to obfuscate the message by discrediting the messenger.

Through such left-wing, Soros-sponsored organizations as Media Matters for America, liberals have attempted to intimidate talk radio hosts into self-censorship. Their attacks on Don Imus for his ill-timed, and poor taste comments about a women's basketball team, resulted in his firing. MMFA constantly monitors every major right-wing talk show, looking for comments, often taken out of context, to assault talk radio.

The perfect of example of this, relating to Rush Limbaugh, was the "phony soldier" phony controversy. Taking his words completely out of context, MMFA spun Limbaugh's words into a slur against the US Military, resulting in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV) denouncing him on the Senate floor, and sending a letter to his sponsor, demanding his dismissal. This utter disregard for TRUTH is what makes their efforts at censorship so frightening.

“If anyone ever doubted that there is enmity between Democrats and American talk radio, they need look no further than the personal attacks leveled on Rush Limbaugh on the floor of the Senate,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the sponsor of legislation shielding broadcasters from government interference. “I thought it astonishing that members of the U.S. Senate would engage in repeated and distorted personal attacks on a private citizen. It gives evidence of a level of frustration with conservative talk radio that is very troubling to anyone who cherishes the medium.”

Current and Future Attempts to Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine


Efforts are currently underway to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Through The Media Ownership Reform Act (HR-4069), Rep Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has introduced legislation to bring back restrictions on broadcasters. According to the Cato Institute:

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) recently introduced a bill titled The Media Ownership Reform Act, which proposes the radical re-regulation of the media marketplace in America. His draconian bill (H.R. 4069) would not only undo all the limited ownership reforms that the FCC pushed through last summer, it would reinstate cable–broadcaster cross-ownership regulations that were struck down by the courts and more tightly restrict the number of radio stations a firm can own locally and nationally. Worst of all, the bill would resurrect two disastrous FCC rules that were thought to have been swept into the dustbin of history long ago: the so-called "Fin-Syn" rules and the hideously misnamed Fairness Doctrine.

Fin-Syn. The Financial Interest and Syndication (or "Fin-Syn") rules were put into effect by the FCC in 1970 to prohibit a TV network from holding a financial stake in independently produced programs. Networks were forced to either purchase all of their programming from independent producers or develop programs in-house. But in-house production capabilities were also limited by consent decrees that the three major television networks were forced to enter with the Justice Department. The logic behind these restrictions was that vertical integration of broadcast television program creation and distribution would allow broadcasters to gain excessive control over prime-time programming on their airwaves.

Congressional Democrats have embraced the bill. Sen Diane Feinstein told Chris Wallace of Fox,"Well, I'm looking at it, as a matter of fact, Chris, because I think there ought to be an opportunity to present the other side. And unfortunately, talk radio is overwhelmingly one way." Sen John Kerry has stated, "Well, I think the Fairness Doctrine ought to be there, and I also think the Equal Time doctrine ought to come back," while Sen Dick Durban has said, "It's time to re-institute the Fairness Doctrine."

Dennis Kucinich (D-Mars) has promised to revisit the Fairness Doctrine through the Senate Subcommittee he chairs.

Given Democrat antipathy toward talk radio, it can be easily demonstrated that, with either Sen Clinton or Sen Obama becoming President of the United States in January of 2009, this bill will sail through a Democrat controlled Congress, and will be promptly signed by the president.

But, what of Sen McCain? After all, Rush Limbaugh, and a whole host of other talk show hosts have been exceedingly critical of Senator McCain. The question in many Conservative minds has to be, if Fairness Doctrine legislation finds its way to President McCain's desk, will he sign it? The jury is still out on that verdict.

The Senior Senator from Arizona has already demonstrated, in the minds of many conservatives, his disregard for the First Amendment, as it applied to McCain-Feingold, Campaign Finance Reform. While he has, in the past, expressed his opposition to the Fairness Doctrine, he has recently showed anger toward talk radio, and the way the medium has "unfairly" treated him.

Joining Senators Norm Coleman and John Thune, Sen McCain offered the Broadcaster Freedom Act, to prevent the re-introduction of the Fairness Doctrine. From the John McCain website:

McCain said the Fairness Doctrine “had a chilling [e]ffect on free speech, and it is hard to imagine that the American people would support reinstating a policy where the Federal government would be required to police the airwaves to ensure differing viewpoints are offered.”

But Sen McCain has vented his anger, on more than one occasion, over his treatment by talk radio. When Talk Radio all but single-handedly derailed his vaunted McCain-Kennedy, comprehensive amnesty bill, he lashed out, with his now famous comment in Vanity Fair:

“By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the go**amned fence if they want it.”

The good Senator has told Conservatives that, in the issue of illegal immigration, he has "seen the light." But the above comment demonstrates how his rage against the rebuff of the people, brought about by such talk show programs as Rush Limbaugh, smolders just below the surface.

As President, there is no question that a Democrat controlled congress will once again attempt to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, in an attempt to muzzle the very right-wing voices that have plagued Sen McCain. The question must be, as President, will he honor his commitment to Conservative principles, or indulge in a bit of revenge toward those who have demonstrated antipathy toward him.

Only he will be able to answer that question, when and if that day comes to pass. It is my fear, that the days of Conservative talk radio are numbered. So enjoy Rush Limbaugh while you can, as it is likely that his program will not survive the next president.