Michael Copps for President…
Unfortunately, Michael Copps isn’t a candidate for 2008. But if he was, Cherrybomb would sure be voting for him. Below, Copps sounds off about the fascist, I mean Government agency he works for, the FCC.
“Today’s Decision Would Make George Orwell Proud”
Copps is of course talking about the December 18th vote that overturned a 32 year ban of dual ownership of a newspaper and a television (or radio) station in the same city. However, since FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin has made his screw-you free speech agenda very clear, the largely Democratic opposition to the vote went on the offense. The introduction of s 2332 (co-sponsored by Trent Lott) by Dem, Jay Inslee and Republican congress member Dave Reichert, came less than 24 hours after the hearing in Seattle amid reports that the FCC actively suppressed the submission of information from the public. Translation, people in high places were pissed.
Here, Copps provides us with a first hand assessment of what happened at the Seattle hearing last month:
Put bluntly, those Commissioners and staff who flew out to Seattle, sixteen witnesses, the Governor, the State Attorney General and all the other public officials who came, plus the 1,100 Seattle residents who had chosen to spend their Friday night waiting in line to testify were, as Representative Jay Inslee put it, treated like “chumps.” Their comments were not going to be part of the agency’s formulation of a draft rule; it was just for show, to claim that the public had been given a chance to participate.
Remember, Seattle was only given five days notice for this hearing. Even so, over a thousand people attended the hearing. I was there and I’ll tell you, when people were arriving around 5:00 or 6:00 pm hoping to testify, were told they would have to wait until midnight or 1:00 am to do so. And they waited. If s2332 is passed, it will require the public have 90 days to comment on any proposed media ownership rules submitted by the FCC.
Mr. and Mrs. Antichrist…er, Martin…
Anyways, if anyone is a chump in this game, it’s Kevin J. Martin. Martin is a Bush protege and his wife used to say words on behalf of Dick Cheney. Currently, Cathie Martin (above, right) is helping George Bush say words. Things seem to be going rather well for Mr. and Mrs. Antichrist. Don’t you think?
And, while Copps Orwellian take on this situation isn’t far off base, Orwell didn’t always have such bleak outlook on the future world:
“Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act.”
Now is not the time to be passive. Tell your reps in Congress you will not take Kevin J. Martin’s shit. I’ll make it really easy for you. Now all you have to do is give a fuck for five minutes.
