Chavez shuts down TV station. Pay attention, Americans.

Venezuela’s yawning political divide spilled into violence on the streets of Caracas last night as thousands of people rallied, some to protest and others to celebrate the shutdown of the country’s oldest and most watched private television station.Radio Caracas Television, an opposition-allied station, went off the air at midnight on Sunday after President Hugo Chavez withdrew its licence, accusing the network of “coup plotting.”But the move has fuelled accusations that Mr Chavez is moving towards an increasing authoritarian rule and quashing any dissent against his so-called “socialist revolution”.



Meanwhile, in America...


It is in that fine tradition that we have the "Fairness Doctrine," a warm, fuzzy-sounding bit of pap that's anything but fair.

The Fairness Doctrine is an old Federal Communications Commission regulation that required all political opinion broadcast on the public airwaves to be balanced with equal time for the opposing viewpoint. Originating in the 1940s, when radio and television stations were few and far between, it may have made sense to require balance, lest a region be inundated with unchallenged opinion presented as fact. ... But now the Democrats are in charge and bills to restore the Fairness Doctrine have been introduced in both chambers. Led by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), free speech, allegedly revered by the left, is under assault. ...


Now, I'm not directly comparing Hugo Chavez to Dennis Kucinich, but... Bernard Sanders IS a self-described socialist. Think about it.