The ongoing Barack Obama campaign effort known as Organizing for America has quietly staged talking points for a "grassroots" uprising on the airwaves of American talk radio.
Called "On The Air," the web page lists five "Discussion Points" that are described as "[...] to provide extra information and suggestions." There are also four "Calling Tips" that include such sound advice as:
- Be polite, respectful, and clear. Remember, you represent Organizing for America.
- Some radio shows may connect you right away, but most will take your name and basic info and put you on hold.
- Some hosts may challenge your views. Stay calm and firm.
- If you can't get through, don't worry! If the show you call is busy or not accepting calls at the moment you call in, simply click "Give me another show" to find another.
And with that.. on the page also is a script block that offers the names and phone numbers of various radio shows. Most appear to be national broadcasts, although Ben Smith at Politico says one he sampled was a local show from Buffalo, NY.
Some of the most notable shows listed are Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Medved, Dennis Miller, Mark Levin, and The Savage Nation. There are a couple of Liberal shows listed, including Randi Rhodes (formerly of Air America) and current MSNBC host Ed Schultz.
Notably not found after multiple attempts? Rush Limbaugh.
At the bottom of the page there is a comment form, asking for your email address, whether or not your call was allowed on the air, and "Feedback for Us."
While on the surface this appears to be only about the health care discussion, I believe that this also may be the beginning of a campaign to enact some kind of "Fairness Doctrine" type legislation.
Many of these "grassroots activists" will quickly become frustrated, either because the host is able to disagree on substance and therefore appear to win a discussion, or because due to the already high volume of calls some of these "grassroots activists" will not be able to get through.
Once that frustration sets in they will return to the "Feedback" form on this web page and voice their opinion, and the Obama administration will attempt to use that to their advantage by creating the argument that talk radio is not "fair" because they talk down or do not allow opposing opinion.
8 comments:
I hope I'm not incorrect in my feelings that the Fairness Doctrine is dead. At the beginning of Barry's term, I was quite worried but not so much now. I think the dems have burnt too much goodwill on healthcare to be able to convince anybody that the Fairness Doctrine is truly fair.
They're already smoking by the gas pump and they know it. Fairness Doctine or a gun grab and these guys know things will go really kaflooey.
Then again, the dems are both arrogant AND stubborn, so who knows...
Fairness doctrine is legislation isn't it?
I don't believe these changes will come through that door. I would look towards what the FCC is doing in the shadows. Some things have leaked, such as the internet monitoring (I think), but there is nowhere near enough attention on this unelected body.
It has been my opinion that once HC reform is destroyed, the next attack will come from FCC. We will see.
This what happens when their own radio shows fail. They have this crazy urge to join ours.
I wouldn't worry about the fairness doctrine.
Particularly with those two Liberals listed.
They both oppose the fairness doctrine.
The only Liberal I know who supports it is Bill Press.
Thom Hartmann (the top rated Liberal) strongly opposes it.
The fairness doctrine is something that Hannity Gins up when he doesn't have time to do show prep. Don't lose any sleep over it. Secondly, even if it did pass, it ISN'T equal time, so don't think
it means that means 1 hour of Liberals for 1 hour of Conservatives.
@Woodsterman (Odie) I think your confused. Call and ask Limbaugh how many of his listeners are Democrats, last I heard it's about 40%.
inno -
I think you might be right..
"the dems are both arrogant AND stubborn, so who knows..."
For now it is a non-issue, but what ozzie said rings true.. they get burned on health care, they might just go after the media in any way possible, because clearly they will then believe that they don't have control of the message.
ozzie -
Fairness Doctrine would be legislation. Currently is is non-existent.
I agree with you, they just might use the FCC as their next tool to "fundamentally transform America."
Odie -
That's an interesting point.. since Air America died, my local talkers in particular have noticed an uptick in the volume of liberal callers.
Not that that's a problem.. they're more than welcome, but they need to be polite and respectful and make valid points, not just throw bombs, which is usually what they tend to do.
17R3W -
Thanks for commenting..
I don't think the liberals I listed have anything to do with it, except that they are liberals, which gives the Obama admin the ability to claim they were "fair" in their assessment of how callers are handled.
In fact, if you logic that out - those two are the perfect candidates, because I know for sure Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes are as left as they get.
I also know the "doctrine" would not be "equal time" as much as "point, counterpoint" but the problem that exists (in my opinion) is that there is no effort to control the "fairness" of CBS, ABC, MSNBC, or any other network that clearly offers biased "news" in addition to opinion from the left, yet because the left does not like what the right has to say, they wish to control it.
Also, it is a complete manipulation of the free market system. The market has decided that talk radio is successful, but again.. the left does not like the message, so they wish to destroy the message and therefore the success, and in turn unfairly manipulate the market.
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