I do think it's a great thing for America. Taking away a full-hour of prime time television on a major news network (!) from a guy that says an evil cabal of communists and Muslims are trying to take over this country (and the entire world) is a good thing. Getting the implicitly sanctioned and never questioned rantings of a lunatic off a major news network (!) is definitely a good thing.
But I'm not celebrating because I still can't believe they let him spout these things in the first place. Freedom of speech is one thing. He can rant and rave on a street corner all he wants. That's his right. But responsible broadcasting is something else. Fox News was given a license to broadcast with the understanding that they would do so in the public interest. Every broadcaster agrees to that. It's part of the F.C.C. charter.
Yet, Fox News gave a full hour of air time to a man that was whipping up fear in the public, a man that was screaming "fire" in a theater. And they gave it to him for two years. Every single night. Without disciplining him, without questioning him, without correcting him, without apologizing for him or making him apologize. By not doing any of those things, they implicitly supported every word he said.
I don't blame Beck for that. I blame Fox News.
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