User talk:174.109.49.139

I am troubled by the statement:

Under Patrick's chairmanship, the FCC voted to abolish the so-called "fairness doctrine" thereby establishing, for the first time, full First Amendment freedoms for the broadcast industry.

This is clearly a biased opinion. I believe the "fairness doctrine" was established to protect free speech against bigoted slander and fraud. The use of the words, "so-called" implies that the doctrine was not fair. Also, the words, "for the first time," implies that the doctrine suppressed free speech. Neither of these claims is the whole truth of the matter (recall the phrase: "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"). What the fairness doctrine suppressed was unopposed bigotry creating a base from which to make political attacks with unfair and distorted opinions. This doctrine prevented safe spaces for bigotry by forcing broadcasters to give equal time to dissenting opinions. It did not suppress a bigot's right to speak freely and tell the truth and expose the frauds of their opponents. The basis of the doctrine was a sense of reverence for the truth, something lacking in today's America. The doctrine promoted truth by having all points of view put on the table with each other and defended from all the perspectives. Thus it was a "fairness" doctrine, that no opinion was sacred and above scrutiny, that no opinion could "bully" other opinions unfairly. The abandonment of the "fairness doctrine" is at the heart of America's great divide, because bigotry has been given credibility to stand alongside liberality, as if one is just as worthy as the other. In truth, these words are opposites. Case in point, Fox News has made famous two slogans, "fair and balanced" and "liberal-biased media." This reveals itself as favoring hypocrisy and bigotry. The phrase "liberal-biased" is an oxymoron, the mixing of two words that are opposites. By definition, a liberal is one who is open-minded and not biased. Humanly speaking, of course, no human is without prejudice, so liberality is not something achievable, but rather something to be aspired towards. The real opposite to the word "liberal" is the word "bigot", the one who insists upon their opinions as the truth and defends their prejudice with distortion. I don't claim that Fox News is telling lies, per se, but rather using cherry-picked "truth" as if it were the whole truth, and thus "fair and balanced" is just a marketing ruse, as if they are the true defenders of fairness and balance.