Conservative talk-radio host Michael Savage and the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, have joined forces to challenge the so-called “Fairness Doctrine.” Several liberal senators and former President Bill Clinton have made recent threats to muzzle talk radio by reinstituting the Doctrine, which is reminiscent of a totalitarian state and not a free democratic society.
“Michael Savage is the personification of what the liberals hate about conservative talk radio, and we’re proud to represent him in this crucial battle to preserve the grand purpose of political speech protected by the First Amendment,” said Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center.
Democrat politicians such as Senator Debbie Stabanow, Senator Tom Harkin, and former President Clinton have called for hearings on radio “fairness” and the passage of a law that will have the effect of silencing the conservative voice on important political issues.
“With the stink of public corruption blanketing Washington, with our elected officials passing the single largest spending bill in our nation’s history without even reading or debating it, with the increasing nationalization of our financial institutions, with almost dictatorial control of Congress by one political party, and with increasing signs we are becoming a socialistic country, Americans need more dynamic talk show hosts like Savage, not less,” said Thompson.
Michael Savage’s nationally syndicated radio show, The Savage Nation, is one of the highest-rated talk shows in the country. Millions of faithful listeners hear it each week. Dr. Savage coined the phrases “Compassionate Conservative” and “Islamo-Fascist,” now widely used by Republican speechwriters.
Conservative talk-radio hosts such as Dr. Savage have been so effective in rallying public outcry against many aspects of the liberal agenda that Democrat politicians have increasingly called for a return to the “Fairness Doctrine,” Orwellian- speak for censorship.
Thompson commented, “If the Doctrine is so fair, why are the liberals limiting it only to radio? Why not television, the internet, and all the print media?”
The Fairness Doctrine, first introduced in 1949, required radio stations to broadcast opposing views on any matter of public importance they discussed. However, in 1987, President Reagan directed that it be abandoned. Since then, Democrats have made several unsuccessful attempts to reinstate the Doctrine.
With total Democrat control of the federal government, the Fairness Doctrine can be reinstituted by a regulation of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or by Congressional enactment. Whatever form its reinstatement may take, any limitation on the Free Speech rights of Michael Savage will result in an immediate legal action. The U. S. Supreme Court would most likely find any reinstatement of the Doctrine unconstitutional.
Thompson continued, “A regulation of speech motivated by nothing more than a desire to silence political opposition on controversial issues of public interest is the purest example of a law abridging the freedom of speech. Such action is the hallmark of totalitarian governments, not a free society.”
Law Center attorney Robert Muise has already been assigned as the lead attorney representing Dr. Savage. The Law Center is receiving offers of assistance from attorneys across the nation who are outraged at this threat to free speech.
Savage is a longtime on-air supporter of the Thomas More Law Center. He used his radio show to marshal overwhelming support for one of the Law Center’s clients, Marine LtCol Jeffrey Chessani. Chessani is being prosecuted by the government in the so-called Haditha massacre – a massacre that never happened. A military judge ultimately dismissed the case. However, the government appealed. No decision has yet been made by the appeals court.
