FAIRNESS DOCTRINE WATCH

The Crush Rush Democrats’ agenda; Wesley Clark crusades to kick Rush off of Armed Forces Radio; Update: Daily Kos wants in on the action!

By Michelle Malkin

Update Midnight: Poor Daily Kos is feeling left out of the Rush-bashing action. Kos promotes VoteVets.org diatribe to the front page.

Lonewacko has advice on how to fight back.

Another target.

Update 8:35pm Eastern. Backdoor restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, take two: Wesley Clark ramps up the nutroots’ campaign to kick Rush Limbaugh off of Armed Forces Radio:

It’s time to put real pressure on Rush Limbaugh. His show is broadcast on Armed Forces Radio, and this time we are going to go straight to the lifeblood of Rush’s show — Congress. Congress has the power to remove Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio, and it won’t be as easy for elected officials to ignore our call.

Clark’s PAC is leading the organizing campaign:

Today, I am asking you to join 13,793 other Americans and email Congress urging them to take Rush Limbaugh off Armed Forces Radio.

Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled American servicemembers who support an end to the war in Iraq “phony soldiers.”

We’re going directly to Congress to take him off the Armed Forces Radio airwaves. Elected officials in Congress have the power to prevent Limbaugh from using taxpayers’ money to disrespect and censure the voices of our soldiers.

Join us and hold Rush Limbaugh accountable for his offensive and outrageous comments — tell your member of Congress to Dump Rush From Armed Forces Radio today!

These people are fighting dirty. They are focused. They are unhinged.

Watch from the sidelines or get your head in the game.

***

Backdoor restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. That’s what I said the anti-Rush campaign is really about. The Hill underscores the point in a piece filed tonight:

House Republicans are threatening to launch a discharge petition on legislation that would ensure the future prosperity of conservative radio talk-show hosts but is expected to face opposition from Democratic leaders. On Monday evening, Republicans filed a rule with the House Rules Committee laying the groundwork for a petition that would force action on protecting radio from government regulation later this fall.

The move comes at a time when Democrats have launched a coordinated attack on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, accusing him of disparaging American troops critical of the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.”

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has said broadcasters should be required to give listeners both sides of political issues so voters can make informed decisions.

Conservatives fear that forcing stations to make equal time for liberal talk radio would cut into profits so severely that radio executives would choose to scale back on conservative programming to avoid rising costs and interference from the government.

Republicans’ concern has grown as Democrats have waged a battle against Limbaugh in recent days. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a letter to the chief executive of Clear Channel Communications, Mark Mays, calling on him to denounce Limbaugh’s remarks.

The Baltimore Sun’s Swamp blog has the list of the 41 Crush Rush Democrats (also posted over at Dingy Harry’s website):

Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader
Senator Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader
Senator Charles Schumer, Vice Chairman, Democratic Conference
Senator Patty Murray, Secretary, Democratic Conference
Senator Daniel Akaka
Senator Max Baucus
Senator Joseph Biden
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Robert Byrd
Senator Benjamin Cardin
Senator Tom Carper
Senator Bob Casey
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Senator Kent Conrad
Senator Christopher Dodd
Senator Byron Dorgan
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Tom Harkin
Senator Daniel Inouye
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Senator John Kerry
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Mary Landrieu
Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Blanche Lincoln
Senator Bob Menendez
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Barack Obama
Senator Jack Reed
Senator Jay Rockefeller
Senator Ken Salazar
Senator Bernie Sanders
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Jon Tester
Senator Jim Webb
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator Ron Wyden

Allahpundit salutes the 10 Dems who refused to put their names on the letter.

The Swamp also has a copy of Clear Channel’s reply. A snippet:

I’ll believe Harry Reid cares about the First Amendment when he condemns MoveOn.org for stomping on the free speech rights of the CafePress shop owners who stood up for Gen. Petraeus and satirized the MoveOn goons.

Waiting…

Waiting…

***

If you’d like to write to Clear Channel to share your fair and balanced view of Limbaugh, here’s the address:

Mr. Mark P. Mays
CEO, Clear Channel Communications Inc.
200 East Basse Road
San Antonio, TX 78209

***

Next on the counter-offensive to-do list:

“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.”

Pence, a former professional talk radio host, and Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), a radio station owner, on Monday sent letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) demanding a vote on the Broadcaster Freedom Act.

***
Dan Riehl dares Harry Reid to ask the troops who they’d rather listen to:

Let them vote - a show by you, or Limbaugh’s program. It won’t be the first time you were humiliated when people had a say in the matter.