Why the Future of Public Education in America is Bleak

Because we have teachers who post crap like this.

Don't like conservativism in America? Blame talk radio. Yeah, that makes good sense. Let's pray for this clown's students.

"Why doesn't some crusading liberal organization, like People for the American Way or the ACLU or (heaven forbid) even the Democratic Party plan an assault on this idea that rightwingers have an exclusive right to own talk radio airwaves?"

Answer: because maybe these liberal organizations recognize that associating themselves even more with socialism isn't such a good idea. Well, then again, it's been a long time since I've seen evidence that liberals could recognize a bad idea even if it fell in their laps and started clawing like a frenzied cat...

Let me first say that if we want to be perfectly "fair," it's not just a matter of getting more liberals on the radio. There are, as a matter of fact, more than two points of view in America, and so if we want to be fair, we need to make sure the Klan has a radio station, the Greens have a radio station, the Flat Earth Society has a radio station... the list is as endless as our fractionalized mosaic of a society can possibly accomodate. By arguing that only liberals need government assistance in getting on the radio, you bring to mind the supremely unfair treatment by Democrats of one Ralph Nader. That's right, chuckles, you want fairness, unless fairness means Nader gets on the ballot without harassing lawsuits.

Second, consider just how much your whining reveals about the shallowness of your content. Radio is not a powerful medium. Television is more common, more watched, more effective, more versatile. Television is a defining aspect of American culture. Why on earth would anyone with a television bother to listen to the radio? The answer is Choice (that mantra of the Left). Conservatives got sick of liberal crap on television, and turned on the radio when Rush Limbaugh learned he could fill a niche. Now it's an enormous niche, because Americans like what they hear. They choose Rush (and to a lesser degree, Hannity) because that's what they want to hear. If radio is a big deal, it's not because radio is a superior medium, but because at one point it was the only medium that conservatives could use to broadcast their message.

Which brings me to the third point - if you want fairness, does that mean the New York Times has to hire a conservative Editor-in-Chief and quit acting as the unofficial propaganda arm of the Democratic National Party? Should government compell network news channels to actually make a half-hearted attempt at disguising their liberal bias? No, it's only radio that gets under this guy's skin. Why is that? Why does government-compelled "fairness" only apply to conservative talk radio?

Fourth, there is such a thing as liberal radio, and it's the exception that proves the rule. Air America and their seven or eight listeners are proof positive that when liberals have nothing more than message, no one wants to hear them. Conservatives get on the radio because they have an audience, and an audience means advertisers will pay for air time, and paying for air time means radio stations can function. But put a liberal behind the microphone, and the audience dries up, and so do sponsors. What lesson can we draw from that?

"The time has come for the Fairness Doctrine to be reinstated to bring some balance to our national discussion on public policy issues. The time has come for some powerful organization to seriously challenge the existing order."

I agree. As my first challenge to the existing order, I will fire Dan Rather. Then I will fire all but the op-ed writers at the New York Times. Same thing with the L.A. Times. And NBC. And the Washington Post. And PBS. And NPR. You want balance, Mr. Teacher-man? Get rid of the leftists who disseminate anti-American crap and then complain that darn it, they just aren't liberal enough.

As my second challenge, I will get voucher programs so the unfortunate parents of children stuck in your class can learn your sorry butt some accountability. How ironic that this chuckle-head has the First Amendment at the top of his blog, and one of his most recent posts is a complaint about conservatives exercising their Free Speech rights.