On Ads and Censorship
On two occasions this week, we were given a peek into the Right's love affair with censorship. The first instance was when hardcore conservative Rush Limbaugh denounced Michael J. Fox for making a political ad for a Missouri Democratic candidate who supports stem cell research.
As is typical of the Right, Rush tried to discredit the message by attacking the messenger. He claimed that Fox was either acting and exaggerating his Parkinson's symptoms or he was off his medication during the shoot. Rush even pantomimed the scene for us, gyrating like he was on an Qxycontin/Viagra induced bender.
Fox for his part, took the high road. And ultimately Rush's bum rush backfired since media coverage has actually increased awareness and support for stem cell research. Whoopsie!
The second instance of censorship came, ironically enough, when NBC refused to air a trailer for a new documentary about the censorship of the Dixie Chicks. NBC's reason for the denial was because it was "disparaging" towards the President. While this is rather laughable given the content of the ad, those on the Right are no doubt happy about NBC's bit of self-censorship. And as some note, this has become a common practice of the mainstream media: the administration and their defenders are given almost unlimited time to air their narrative while counter narratives are either omitted or questioned ferociously. On those rare occasions when the media does stand up and do their job, they can simply be cowed by a charge of "liberal bias".
Freedom of speech is, for now, still guaranteed in this country. But if the Right has any say in it, they would rather you just shut up. Or in the case of the Dixie Chicks, just sing.
With so many great posts being generated about these two incidents, linking to them all would take forever (and use up valuable main page space). So instead I will simply guide you toward some of the more interesting fare.
Check out the heavy hitters at AMERICAblog, Carpetbagger, FDL, Hullabaloo, Crooks & Liars, Media Matters, and Shakespeare's Sister.
(Filed at State of the Day)
As is typical of the Right, Rush tried to discredit the message by attacking the messenger. He claimed that Fox was either acting and exaggerating his Parkinson's symptoms or he was off his medication during the shoot. Rush even pantomimed the scene for us, gyrating like he was on an Qxycontin/Viagra induced bender.
Fox for his part, took the high road. And ultimately Rush's bum rush backfired since media coverage has actually increased awareness and support for stem cell research. Whoopsie!
The second instance of censorship came, ironically enough, when NBC refused to air a trailer for a new documentary about the censorship of the Dixie Chicks. NBC's reason for the denial was because it was "disparaging" towards the President. While this is rather laughable given the content of the ad, those on the Right are no doubt happy about NBC's bit of self-censorship. And as some note, this has become a common practice of the mainstream media: the administration and their defenders are given almost unlimited time to air their narrative while counter narratives are either omitted or questioned ferociously. On those rare occasions when the media does stand up and do their job, they can simply be cowed by a charge of "liberal bias".
Freedom of speech is, for now, still guaranteed in this country. But if the Right has any say in it, they would rather you just shut up. Or in the case of the Dixie Chicks, just sing.
With so many great posts being generated about these two incidents, linking to them all would take forever (and use up valuable main page space). So instead I will simply guide you toward some of the more interesting fare.
Check out the heavy hitters at AMERICAblog, Carpetbagger, FDL, Hullabaloo, Crooks & Liars, Media Matters, and Shakespeare's Sister.
(Filed at State of the Day)
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