Sunday, December 30, 2007
Ron Paul supporters turn to the FCC when Fox News excludes their canidate from a debate
Ron Paul claims that he’s been excluded from a New Hampshire January 6 Republican debate being organized by Fox News. This is the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary. Ron Paul says he is being excluded because Fox News is scared of him. Why is Doctor Paul constantly questioning everyone’s bravery? First a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and now a cable news network.
Ron Paul’s Internet fans aren’t taking this exclusion sitting down. They are organizing a boycott against any company that advertises on Fox News. They have a list. They are getting the word out to all followers of Ron Paul to not to buy products from these companies.
One of these companies is Gold Bond. That means if a Ron Paul fan were to get a rash in an embarrassing place, they would have to turn elsewhere to get some instant relief. Let’s just hope that they go rash-free.
What’s even funnier is that some Ron Paul supporters are also advising fellow Ron Paul supporters to contact the FCC and complain. This is from a post on a Ron Paul message board:
I’m actually surprised that I haven’t seen this tactic posted yet. Along with advertisers, this is the other major weakness of broadcasters/networks.
The other critical items we can influence directly are the FCC broadcast license for each affiliate, AND FCC approval for station purchases/mergers/trades. By specifically targeting FCC approvals, your comments will have a LOT more long-term weight. Endangering the local affiliate’s license with enough negative comments in the right way will change their attitude from “It’s the network, nothing we can do” and largely ignoring you to actually calling the NewsCorp on your behalf saying “OMG, fix this NOW!”
Remember, the FCC threatened to hit EACH broadcast station with a 6-figure fine for the half-second “wardrobe malfunction” at the SuperBowl*.
This is funny for two different reasons. First, Ron Paul represents a political philosophy that believes a big federal government is bad. If he had his way, not only would the FCC cease to exist, so would the IRS, the Department of Education, the CIA, the FBI, and a whole host of other federal agencies. What do Ron Paul supporters do when they think their man has been slighted? They whine about it to a government agency.
It makes you wonder why they are Ron Paul supporters in the first place.
Secondly, the FCC doesn’t have any jurisdiction over Fox News. It’s a cable network, not a broadcast network. Whining to the FCC about something a cable network is a waste of time. Then again, why should that stop a Ron Paul supporter?
And why is Fox News excluding Ron Paul from the debate? Because there is no debate. It was canceled three weeks ago because of it’s close proximity with another similar event. Ron Paul had been invited to attend, but reportedly his staff never got back with the event organizers to confirm that he would attend.
Why would Fox News exclude someone like Ron Paul from the debate? Including Ron Paul ensures more people will watch. Not only his rabid die hard fan base, but people like me that think he’s a loon. I would watch just for the entertainment value. Who knows what he would say.
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You sir are a dick.
Actually, it’s Rick. With an “R”.
No, it’s Rick with a “D”.
Sorry, but you’re wrong. The WorldNetDaily post is based on a NolanChart.com post which is based on an old UL that contained several errors. I spoke to the author of the NolanChart.com post earlier tonight and he said he hadn’t spoken to anyone who was in contact with the Ron Paul campaign or anyone at the New Hampshire GOP. He literally pieced stuff together from what he could find on the web and posted it!
In contrast, Jane Aitken, who founded the Ron Paul campaign with Kent Snyder, is in touch with the campaign and the New Hampshire GOP. I spoke to her for two hours around midnight last night.
She says:
1) The campaign has been in touch with Fox and the NH GOP
2) There *is* a forum on Dec.6 that will be televised by Fox, as the AP reported
3) Ron Paul is not currently invited
4) The NolanChart.com post is inaccurate
The HQ was not in error. The following two releases and articles were prefectly legit, as was the AP article:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/press-releases/94/has-fox-news-excluded-ron-paul
http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2007/12/paul_fox_news_i.html
Jim, if you don’t like me expressing my opinion on my blog, why not file a complaint with the FCC? Of course the FCC has no jurisdiction over bloggers, but they don’t have any jurisdiction over cable news networks either.
I guess you could just keep on calling me names.
You sound petty and ignorant. Other than that, nice one.
Don’t feel too bad, Rick. I think MJ is just upset because her marriage to Peter was annulled by Mephisto, and now maybe she doesn’t even actually exist. Or something like that; I can’t keep this shit straight.
Sloofus, I thought the very same thing about MJ. I think she only said that because she is hurting inside and doesn’t even know why. Plus, I think I read on Digg that Mephisto is a Ron Paul supporter. What’s odd about that is Mephisto holds an upper management position over at Fox News.
Just because you said so, I think not.
You, among other things know not what you speak regarding the FCC and cable.
Consider this regarding the FCC’s authority: “Political Cablecasting Once a cable system allows a legally qualified candidate to use its facilities, it must afford “equal opportunities” to all other candidates for that office to use its facilities. The cable system may not censor the content of the candidate’s “equal opportunity” material in any way, and may not discriminate between candidates in practices, regulations, facilities or services rendered pursuant to the equal opportunities rules. Candidate appearances which are exempt from the “equal opportunities” rules include appearances on a bona fide newscast, bona fide news interview, bona fide news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of a bona fide news event.”
Want to bone up before you make any further stupid assertions? Read more at: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/csgen.html
Skip, the link to the FCC fact sheet refers to local cable providers that carry broadcast TV. It doesn’t cover a cable network like Fox News. Fox News — like all cable networks — does not have a broadcast license. They don’t have a frequency. They don’t actually broadcast anything over the airwaves.
Good luck with all of your pursuits.
Skip, I loved your work on the “Real People” in the late 70s and early 80s. Your work has inspired me, though I thought you died 10 years ago.
Still, your comments on this post make you sound like a pedantic dick who only has knowledge of things because you have internet access.
Best of luck! Hope your new job as internet dilettante works out for you!
Love,
Schooly
PS- Did you ever jam your thingy in Sara Purcell’s crack? I’ll bet that was sweeeeeeet!
Sara Purcell?
OMG. I haven’t thought of her in years. When I was a kid, she did a show called A.M. Los Angeles. She co-hosted the show with Regis Philbin. It was the original Regis and Kathy Lee show. It used to be just for the Los Angeles area.
I don’t understand the Sara Purcell/Skip connection, but I’m sure it’s hilarious.
She and Skip Stephenson were two of the hosts for “Real People.” It was pretty bad but I loved it when I was a kid.