6 responses so far ↓

• 1 Milena Thomas // Oct 20, 2008 at 8:54 pm

  Let’s have a little solace in blogs then, I suppose?

  While it is irksome we cannot control the quality of bloggers out there, I am overjoyed such a medium for free expression exists. I love that great Voltaire quote, “I do not agree with what you say, but I will fight to my death for you to say it.”

• 2 Julian Elson // Oct 21, 2008 at 3:35 am

  I’m curious: do you actually support the Fairness Doctrine, or do you just think that the MRC claim to being champions of free speech is absurd even if they are “coincidentally” correct in their opposition to the Fairness Doctrine?

• 3 Julian Sanchez // Oct 21, 2008 at 10:20 am

  OH, sorry, I assumed it would be clear that I think the fairness doctrine is repellent — though it also has approximately zero chance of actually being reinstated. I just find it rich that MRC is suddenly pretending to care about free speech.

• 4 JD // Oct 22, 2008 at 11:30 am

  Since when does the MRC not care about “free speech,” in the sense of freedom from government regulation? I’ve never seen them ask for government regulation of anybody. All they do is criticize the speech of the mainstream media — which is completely consistent with the existence of free speech, and indeed is an example of the exercise of free speech. Free speech doesn’t mean, “No one gets to criticize other people’s speech.”

• 5 Julian Sanchez // Oct 22, 2008 at 3:49 pm

  Yeah, except… that’s not true. Do a search on their site for “FCC” and you’ll find dozens of articles in which MRC president Brent Bozell calls for more vigorous FCC regulation of “indecent” content on TV and radio — and laments that they can’t do the same on cable.

• 6 Robert S. Porter // Oct 23, 2008 at 6:18 pm

  Just for reference, Voltaire never said “I do not agree with what you say, but I will fight to my death for you to say it.” Instead it is an author’s synthesis of Voltarie’s philosophy.