STANDING UP AGAINST FREE SPEECH:

Senate Democrats on Friday blocked an amendment that would have prevented the return of the Fairness Doctrine, a federal rule requiring broadcasters to air opposing views on issues. . . .

The subtext of the debate over the Fairness Doctrine is talk radio’s perceived dominance by conservative voices.

In a telephone interview, Coleman said his motivation was to preserve the First Amendment. But he added: “I do have a strong objection to folks wanting to cut off talk radio because it’s conservative. Let the people be able to make the choice.”

Thune agreed.

“Having the bureaucrats dictate the content of the airwaves isn’t much different from what we are seeing in places like Iran and Russia where they are rolling back freedom of the press,” he said.

Nice to see such a robust commitment to robust discourse. As noted earlier: “This is all thinly-disguised posturing for what’s really bothering the senators: They don’t like that people are allowed to criticize them on public airwaves.”

UPDATE: Reader Brian Hollar notes that the article linked above has been taken down. Here’s a cached version.