Fairness Doctrine getting more talk in Washington, or is it?

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has been getting a lot of airtime in the last couple weeks. She did say that she was in support of the "Fairness Doctrine," which only silences conservative talk radio. She has close ties to the liberal talk radio world because her husband has owned various liberal radio stations.

This idea of the "Fairness Doctrine" being reintroduced into law may happen, but nothing is official yet, according to the Detroit News. The Detroit News with Politico.com say that "no member of Congress has scheduled hearings, there is no Fairness Doctrine legislation being introduced, and the long-dormant broadcast law is likely to stay that way."

Stabenow may be talking about the "Fairness Doctrine" but nothing is going to change, at least they say that now.

Former President Bill Clinton is also speaking his two cents about the "Fairness Doctrine" these days. He spoke to the Politico:

"Well, you either ought to have the Fairness Doctrine or we ought to have more balance on the other side," Clinton said, "because essentially there's always been a lot of big money to support the right wing talk shows and let face it, you know, Rush Limbaugh is fairly entertaining even when he is saying things that I think are ridiculous."

The Democrats may not like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and others, but they also don't want to see AM radio die. So if they want AM radio to survive, they better not mess with bringing back the "Fairness Doctrine."

Here is a video from Fox News today about this topic:



IN THE NEWS:
Detroit News: Talk radio: The return of 'fairness'?
Politico: Clinton wants 'more balance' on airwaves
Accuracy in Media: Pelosi Supports Return of Fairness Doctrine

Many Clinton Advisers Skipping Obama Speech in Denver

Clinton Advisers Skipping Obama Speech
By Matthew Mosk, Washington Post

A number of Sen. Hillary Clinton's top advisers will not be staying in Denver long enough to hear Barack Obama accept the nomination for president, according to sources familiar with their schedules.

Clinton will deliver her speech Tuesday night. She will hold a private meeting with her top financial supporters Wednesday at noon, and will thank her delegates at an event that afternoon. Former president Bill Clinton will speak that night. Several of Hillary Clinton's supporters are then planning to leave town. Among them, Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman, and longtime supporters Steve Rattner and Maureen White. Another of Clinton's top New York fundraisers, Alan Patricof, did not make the trip to Denver.

Robert Zimmerman, a Clinton supporter who is trying now to navigate between the two camps, will be staying for Obama's speech. But he said in an interview that it would be unrealistic to expect there would not still be some tension between the two camps -- he noted that the same was true with supporters of Gary Hart and, to a lesser extent, Howard Dean.

"This convention provides a very important opportunity for the Obama campaign to bond with the constituencies that supported Hillary Clinton," Zimmerman said. "It's not about Barack or Hillary. It's about bringing in the people here who voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Senator Obama and Senator Biden are, without question, qualified to do that."