Censorship & Monopolies: Commerce Committee Discussion
FCC Chairman (and big business toady) Michael Powell may have had a bad day this past Tuesday. Then again, maybe not. After all, Powell seems to not give a hoot about how others perceive him, or about the opinions of the vast majority of those Americans that have made their feelings known regarding his proposed rulemaking changes. But why should Powell care? He would appear to be certain to grab a position with one of the big monoliths when he steps down, or when his term expires. Many already see him as on the payroll(s) and a loyal employee of various monopolistic broadcast and telecom behemoths.
Tuesday was the day of the McCain-led Senate Commerce Committee hearings on Radio Ownership. Concentrated ownership is merely one aspect of the proposed changes to how the FCC regulates broadcast media, et al. Powell also, in the not-yet-published Triennial proceedings, seeks to plant a big fat wet kiss to the Baby Bells, making commerce easier for them and much more difficult for the competitive and alternative local exchange carriers, bandwidth providers and LD companies.
From the News area [1] on the website all about Country.com [2] (requires registration) comes these two articles:
Yeah, right. If Dickey had gone into acting rather than broadcast management, he could have played Pinnochio.
It would appear that allaboutCountry got this piece from Yahoo News [3]. Canít find a release or a statement to the press, nor official coverage of the hearings on any of the McCain sites. Of course, it was televised on C-SPAN, so thereís not just the Senate record, but a video of the proceedings, as well. Curiously, a Google search [4] of [McCain "Dixie Chicks"] shows nothing from any of McCainís sites (official or not) in the first 100 hits listed.
The statement made by SC Senator Fritz Hollings can be read in full, found posted [5] on Hollingsí On-Line Office website [6].
Unlike McCain, Hollings is all over this (and other) issues in his official site and his partisan/private sites. This is evidence of nothing more than the focus and posting of the staffs running these sites. As the upcoming Presidential campaign gathers more momentum, it is a sure bet that all politicos will be paying more attention to their site content. The use of the web (and blogs!) by Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, et al, has served as a light bulb, a veritable revelation to those who had previously dismissed or under undervalued the reach (and therefore, perceived influence) of the net. That Howard Dean raised some significant campaign moolah via the web is the real wake-up call to all the politicos and aspirants.
The thing I like most about Howard Dean is his last name. Actually, contrary to the belief of some, yours truly, a Libertarian leaning Leftie, finds very little to like about my namesake. Wesley Clark, where are you when we need you [7]?!?
"When I was in the military, I took an oath to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution is a constitution about freedom and liberty. It doesn't say that it's okay to mislead people, it doesn't say the end justified the means," --Wesley Clark
The quote above comes from The Wesley Clark Weblog [8] , another site devoted to drafting Clark for the democratic Party 2004 campaign. Prominently posted on the front page side bar is a disclaimer: The Wesley Clark Weblog is not affiliated with General Clark.
Back in September of 2002, The Washington Monthly [9] published an article [10] written by Clark, ìAn Army of One [10].î A good read, well worth the click [10].
But I digress.
Rook urges Hook
Regular readers of this space have come to all but expect that I will either quote John Rook or link to his site [11] (or both!). In the latest home-page essay on his site, John points out that payola is illegal, except when it comes to FCC Chairman Michael Powell. So he urges Dubya to drop the axe on Powell. Read this one, and see why one can appreciate John Rookís refusal pull any punches.
Johnís reader mailbag, aka Sound Off [12] has some interesting comments, too. Another good read.