Originally posted by AKIron
The FCC has always had ultimate control over the public airways. The laws they are enforcing aren't new but have been stretched beyond recognition over the years. There have been recent attempts to stretch them beyond the point of breaking. These attempts were perhaps a wakeup call to the FCC?
The problem is there are not clear laws to break. The FCC has carte blanche to make up what is indecent. They say they investigate complaints (a perverted process when you have individuals like the guy in Florida who log every show and file countless complaints) and then they decide if it is indecent or not.
So stations do not know where the line is and if they have crossed it.
Stern is often portrayed as "low brow" or "shock jock" but if you listen to him you realize he is actually intelligent. More intelligent than guys like Limbaugh or Dr Laura or any one of the countless mindless idiots on the air these days. Stern has an opinion on things that is based on his view of the world. He likes to make money, is afraid of violence and crime, hates traffic, envys others success, likes guns and has many other traits that result in a very complex person. As such he does not just support or disagree with an issue because it is politically correct, or democrat or republican or pro women or whatever. He sees how the issues affects him personally and then decides if he is for or against it.
That is what makes him entertaining, he is so self serving in his opinions. Rush Limbaugh is so predictable he is boring. Many other radio personalities are afraid to rock the boat or even have an opinion. For this reason Stern can be complex. He supported Bush after 9-11 (because Stern is afraid of terrorists and hates them) but after he decided that what Bush is doing is not making him any safer he started to question his support. Eventually he decided that Iraq was not a good thing. So he stopped supporting Bush. What other radio guy has the courage to be so honest?
Stern's problems with Clear Channel and now the FCC seemed to start exactly the time that he stopped supporting Bush (who he had supported strongly after 9-11) and started supporting Kerry.
The only good thing about all of this is that by making an enemy of Stern the FCC (and GWB) actually may have caused themselves enough damage to lose the next election. Stern can swing hundreds of thousands of votes to Kerry. He talks about the issues every morning..