Radio Free U.S.

Public Enemy already told us we “can’t truss it,” and when it comes to the most important amendment in the Bill of Rights – the First Amendment – our motto is it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Fortunately, that’s U.S. Sen. Jim Demint’s motto as well.

By attaching a “Broadcaster Freedom Act” as an amendment to an upcoming D.C. Voting Rights bill, DeMint (R-SC) is looking to short-circuit a revival of the “Fairness Doctrine,” a CCCP-style intervention into the inner sanctum of the Fourth Estate that would force broadcast media outlets to provide “contrasting viewpoints” on political issues.

Eliminated during the Reagan era, the “Fairness Doctrine” was determined to be unconstitutional because it “restricts the journalistic freedom of broadcasters” and “inhibits the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and the degradation of the editorial prerogative of broadcast journalists.”

That language stems from a Federal Communications Commission ruling that has been upheld on multiple occasions by the courts, but there’s also the language of the First Amendment, which clearly states that Congress shall make no law “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

President Barack Obama has said he “won’t pursue” a reintroduction of the “Fairness Doctrine,” but he hasn’t yet assured the public he would veto such a bill were Congress to pass one – which is why DeMint is making his push to get Senators on the record for or against it.

“Do you support free speech or do you want to silence voices you disagree with?” DeMint says he will ask of his fellow Senators.

That’s a good question … and one every member of Congress should answer.

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