Al Gore has a new book coming out, The Assault on Reason, which is excerpted in Time. It's a compelling piece. At the heart of this problem is the runaway de-regulation of media companies, starting with the repeal of the fairness doctrine under Reagan.
Somewhere along the line, we've forgotten that all of the broadcast assets in this country are supposed to serve the public good. A good place to start fixing the problems Gore addresses would be re-instate limits on concentration of ownership (one of the very few things I've ever agreed with William Safire on). (In a later post, I'll address some of the changes we need to make to our campaign finance and election laws.)
While Gore says he isn't running again, after seeing An Inconvenient Truth and reading this piece, I truly hope he will. When I look back on the aftermath of 9/11, and all the disastrous policy decisions and downright criminal behavior by the Bush administration (torture, illegal wiretapping, Iraq, hamstringing the EPA, handing the keys to the Education Dept. to lenders, tax giveaways to oil and gas companies, etc. etc. etc.) . . .
Imagine if Gore had been President? A man who believes in public service, who believes that government can solve problems . . . a man with an actual brain in his head. I could almost weep for what might have been.
My dream ticket: Gore/Obama '08!
Bring back rational thought to the White House. Please.
H/t Atrios.
1 comment:
Most Western countries aside from the US require broadcasters to provide political candidates free air time, which reduces the amount of money candidates need to raise for spending on media. The US of course does not make any such demands on broadcasters even though the broadcasters depend on the public air waves. There is however a movement for creating free air time. For more information read Common Cause's compeling argument, http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media_Reform/Free_Airtime_CommonCause.html
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