The Worst Is Yet To Come

 

It is not over.

Derek Chauvin has been convicted. Yes, that's a turning point in the history of Minnesota, and in the nation. Yes, that's a positive development. But it is not over.

Because while Chauvin was being convicted, Tucker Carlson was pretending with Candace Owens that Chauvin was somehow innocent. Fox News in general was insisting that Chauvin was getting shafted.

The worst of them were even saying that Chauvin deserved a promotion, not a conviction.

It is not over.

Chauvin's own police captain and co-officers testified against them. I wonder how the pundits on Fox News think they know Chauvin's actions better than his own colleagues do.

On the very day Chauvin was being convicted, what was the House of Representatives doing? Censuring Chauvin? Passing legislation making it safer for citizens' being arrested? Maybe even making things safer for cops?

No, it spent the day censuring Maxine Waters for threatening the riots we all knew would happen if Chauvin got off.

That's right. No censure for the Right Wing Media Cult. No censure for Tucker Carlson. No censure for Sean Hannity.

Yes, Biden is in the White House. But 40% of the nation is still convinced by The Big Lie that he somehow didn't actually win.

Yes, things are getting done, yet not ONE Republican is willing to break ranks and support Biden for anything. It is a repeat of how they treated Obama all over again.

The very worst elements of the Right Wing Media Cult are getting stronger and more virulent, without Trump in power. Without Trump having money. Because Trump still has the Right Wing Media Cult on his side, and so long as they back him, he will forever be on the game board.

Make no mistake: The Right Wing Media Cult will make another attempt at thwarting democracy in 2024! Only this time, they'll be more blatant, better prepared, better planned, and better armed!

You have been warned.

Eric

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The Native Advertising Goes On...

 

Native Advertising is a commercial which mimics the platform its on. We see this when we scroll through a news app and find an ad which is disguised to look like another news story. We see it as a sponsored post on Facebook or Twitter. We might even see it as an embedded news story, as I once did when I saw David Muir do a "news" segment on CBS about a new heart medication.

A skeptical eye can discern the difference between a genuine news post and a fake one. But skepticism is in short supply these days. This is one large reason why the plague of our time, misinformation, is so rampant, even in the so-called "Information Age."

What I've come to realize lately is that the entire "infotainment" industry is essentially native advertising. It is political advertisement disguised as news commentary. And what's really disgusting, is that this sort of crap is done as commercial television. So if you're watching, say, Sean Hannity, or Jeannine Pirro, or Tucker Carlson, and the show breaks away for commercials, you've actually seen your larger commercial interrupted for a smaller one. The entire hour is non-stop commercial!

I said after January 6 that such programming cannot, CANNOT, simply be allowed to go back to work as though nothing happened. But, of course, it was, and now we're in a situation where Republicans are acting like nothing happened at all. And that's because they're watching political ads disguised as opinion news programs. Back, to back, to back non-stop native advertising pushing the most extreme anti-liberal hatred.

I have no desire to spend the next two years warning people about the most severe threat to human freedom and yet see nothing done about it. But I fear that may be the case. True, it's only March. There's a long stretch yet in front of us to make changes. But so far, there has been ZERO accountability brought upon Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram, and their ilk. Meanwhile, their faithful listening audience who sacked the Capital on their orders, and Trump's, are facing jail time and/or huge fines. Why aren't these suckers banding together and filing their own lawsuit? 

I imagined that by now, a flurry of lawsuits against everything involving Trumpism would be underway. And I know, Merrick Garland was only confirmed a week ago. But damn it, the wheels of justice are turning way too slowly!

I see no point in waiting for the Dominion lawsuit to take Fox News out of the cable TV lineup. The pundits will just go over to Newsmax or OANN and continue there. And nothing will be done about the vast number of AM radio stations lying to the white working class every working hour of every working day. The announcement by Westwood One that Dan Bongino would take over in Rush Limbaugh's radio slot is all the proof we need of this.

No, I won't spend two years pleading for people to get off their asses and deal some real-world consequences to the right-wing-pundit destroyers of America. I don't know what I'll do if we get to 1.5 years in, and still nothing is done, but I'll do something beyond words, that's for sure. 

Just please, someone at least hinder the non-stop commercials for the Right Wing Media Cult? Please?

Eric

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So Long, El Rushbo

 

The good news is that one of the worst right-wing lying hacks has been taken off the air forever.

The bad news is that it took death from cancer to accomplish it.

I never take glee from the demise of a despised enemy. A life spent building something which must be completely torn down if humanity is to survive is a life truly wasted. Such needless retrograde. And it deserves to be truly mourned. For that reason, I am deeply sorrowful at the death of Rush Limbaugh.

I mean, he could have at least lived long enough for Biden to rescind his Medal of Freedom. Dick.

I would very much have preferred it if Limbaugh were removed from the air by a responsible right-wing media establishment which recognized that the lies he continuously told were doing harm to conservatism, and the Republican brand. I would have preferred it if Limbaugh were forced off the air by advertisers refusing to do business with any network which aired him. It would be nice if that were the sort of responsible media we had in this country.

Instead, the Powers That Be had to do their job for all of them.

And I do not have any delusions about the absence of Rush Limbaugh somehow making the Right Wing Media Cult quieter, any more than the absence of one fan at a playoff game makes the crowd noise less. There are thousands of dittohead Limbaugh clones out there who are ready to take his place, many of them being guest-hosts on the Rush Limbaugh show during his illness beforehand.

It is the cult which must die, not Rush.

So long as the Right Wing Media Cult receives legitimacy from established news networks, the lies will seem to be institutionalized. Listeners and viewers will rationally conclude that there must be some element of truth to the lies, or they wouldn't be on the air in the first place.

Institutionalized lies seem like truth.

We must de-legitimize Hannity, Ingram, Levin and the others immediately! If not sooner! Yet I see ZERO evidence that anybody is taking this action, even though it must be our #1 priority.

Fucking why?

I said after the attack on January 6th that the talking heads of the Right Wing Media Cult could simply NOT be allowed to just go back to work as though nothing happened! But they were!

And we saw the result in Trump's acquittal. Sorry - jury nullification. The sequel.

We need these hate-porn generators, like the late Limbaugh, moved to the non-news side of media.

The op-ed section must go back to the back-page of the newspaper - where it belongs!

We need this more than action on climate change.

We need this more than Covid vaccines.

We need this more than a Texan needs a working space-heater!

We can't simply wait around for the rest of the cult leaders to die, too.

Because by then, it will be too late.

Eric

*

Save The Republicans!

You read me right. Save the Republicans!

We can't stop the fount of disinformation in the Right Wing Media Cult. Not yet, anyway. But we can influence Republicans to impeach Trump.

Here's how it can work:

Look at the two votes recently cast regarding Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene. In both votes, the right thing was done. Liz Cheney was retained in her leadership role, and Marjorie Taylor Greene was removed from her committee appointments. Yet the Republicans cast two VERY different votes! Now, Greene may be "laughing" about the spare time she's been granted, and what she plans to do with it, but the ones who should be laughing are ourselves - at the composition of the House of Representatives.

The two votes could not be more different. Liz Cheney was overwhelmingly supported by Republicans, by a vote of 145 in favor to 61 against removing her from her committees. That vote was done by anonymous ballot, where the names of those voting were not revealed. Yet in Greene's case, her vote was public. Representatives had to vote on the record regarding her. Only 11 Republicans voted to remove her, and Greene was given a standing ovation earlier. That can only mean....

There are at least 134 Republicans in the House who are just plain ol' 'frady cats!

They want to hold Donald Trump accountable. They want to rid their party of him. And they were vocal about impeaching Trump - at first. They were scared straight by the January 6 attack on the Capitol. But then they were scared back crooked again! By what? Trump is powerless and penniless! What could he have to scare people with?!

The answer is the hordes of dittoheads who still follow the Right Wing Media Cult! They're all still with him, and the inertia behind their falsehoods hasn't died down yet.

The 134 Republicans on the House who supported Liz Cheney anonymously, but who were too scared to censure Greene, did this about-face out of fear. They know that Trumpism simply must die. But they're scared of what the Trump mob will do to them! Their wives and kids are receiving death threats! They vote in favor of Greene, and even applaud her, not because they approve of her, but because they don't want a bottle thrown at their wife's head when she goes to the supermarket!

What about the Senate? Are there similar 'frady cats in the Republican minority on the senate floor?

I argue yes! We know of the few that stand by their convictions: Romney, Murkowski, Collins... even Mitch McConnell is standing up to the bullshit somewhat! Ten Republicans were seen in broad daylight talking to Joe Biden about Covid relief efforts - a huge step! But are there more than ten? Remember, we need 17!

Yes! We know Lindsey Graham is one of them, fickle bitch that he is, and there are undoubtedly more.

And here's  how we get them to vote in favor of impeachment! We let them know that WE WILL PROTECT THEM!

Now is the time to write your Senators and let them know - if you vote against Trump, we WILL fight to guard YOU! To guard your FAMILY! To protect you from the hordes of Trumpers who dared to attack the very heart of our nation!

HERE is where you get to fight to REALLY make a difference. If you marched for BLM, if you protested police violence, if you were bound and determined to do SOMETHING this past summer, let me tell you...

ALL THAT WAS A WARM UP FOR WHAT YOU MUST DO NOW!

Tell your Republican Senators that if they vote to impeach, we've got their back! Tell them we'll protect their family at the store! Tell them that we will get in between any Trumpanzee and them!

Let them know: WE'VE GOT THEIR BACK!

And MEAN it! I don't know about you, but any Republican who votes against Trump (and keep in mind, in my case that means Ron Johnson - which is huge!) will be a person I'll FIGHT to PROTECT, PROTECT, PROTECT if anyone dares threaten him afterward!

This is not only HOW we fight, this is WHEN we fight! If you wanted to fight before, you should fight now! If you DID fight before, you MUST fight now! This is the winning shot!

PROTECT THE REPUBLICANS!

HERD THOSE 'FRADY CATS!

We need this. Now. RIGHT now!

 

 

Right now!

Eric

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"Klonning" - The Hate Crime Of The Century

What is "klonning?"

To answer that, I must lament the state of our media, and our country, because the one follows the other.

There's no words I can write which can express the utter and complete despair I feel when looking at what's going on in current events right now. Sure, Biden won, and he's finally been safely sworn in, but only eight days later it is abundantly clear that the underlying sickness cannot not be cured simply by Trump no longer being president.

As I said on this blog, in no uncertain terms, the right-wing pundits, who are the root cause of the seditious attack we endured on January 6th, could simply not be allowed to go back to work. Well, they were allowed to go back to work. They got back on the air, found every stupid excuse they could find for themselves and for Trump, and now we're seeing the consequences.

Only ten Republicans voted to impeach Trump in the House. Ten! On a vote which should have been unanimous! And now they, not the Republicans who voted against impeachment, are facing a huge backlash! Their constituency is actually saying to them, "How dare you vote that sedition and fascism are unacceptable!"

In the Senate, 45 Republicans sided with Rand Paul's silly claim that impeaching a president after his term of office ends is unconstitutional. Only five Republicans voted yes. Five! Out of a vote which should also have been unanimous! And they, too, are facing a backlash.

What's a little blatant treason among friends?

Nikki Haley, the sometimes oh-so-rational Nikki Haley, actually said on the Laura Ingram show Monday, "I don't even think there's a basis for impeachment."

Fucking what?!

Yeah, who cares about sedition anyway? The truth is dying. And nobody gives a fuck.

People make a serious mistake if they assume that a Biden presidency will fix it all. The underlying riptides of lying are there. Some serious urgency is needed to fix this situation right now, and all I see are people breathing sighs of relief.

As if this weren't the beginning of the battle, rather than the denouement.

What right-wing media is doing is so heinous, so criminal, that our language needs a new word for the crime. Merely saying "lying" doesn't cut it. People are too inured to the word "lying." And "treason" does not work, either. People dismiss "treason" as mere hyperbole, even when it is accurate.

What new word could possibly express how truly unacceptable their behavior is?

Here's my answer: KLON (pronounced like TRON).

It stands for Knowingly Lying On the News. K.L.O.N. Or "KLON." A person who knowingly lies on the news is a klon. What he's doing is called "klonning."

Example: If someone on the news says that Joe Biden stole the election, we know empirically that this is false. That person, assuming he or she isn't a mere guest on the show, is a "klon."

One is a klon if one knowingly disseminates false information on any form of news outlet, whether it be a news program, a news station, a news channel, or a newspaper. If it bills itself as "news," it must meet a  certain standard under the law.

The word fits. It sounds a little bit like "clown," which is both fitting and accurate. It also sounds a bit like "Klan," and for the same reason. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are proud members of the Ku Klux KLON.

QAnon commits KLON. It even rhymes.

Klonning is not freedom of speech! It is a betrayal of the public trust! It is deliberately misleading people in a way which produces real, physical, tangible harm, both mentally and sometimes physically.

Klonning is a hate crime.

There is a loophole. Klonning might be done legally, provided the media outlet is rendered as tabloid, rather than "news." "Tabloid news" is an oxymoron.

Klonning is acceptable in the National Enquirer.

There are liars, cheats, scoundrels, and klons, in descending order.

About two years ago, I invented another word that didn't really catch on, although I see it pop up every once in a long while. That word was "YARP." It's the word "pray" spelled backwards, and I invented it so that non-believers would have something to say to someone in distress besides, "I'll pray for you." Instead, one could say, "I'll yarp for you," meaning that I'm sending well wishes and good vibrations your way.

Well, I can only yarp that klon will catch on.

Eric

*

The Limits Of Free Speech

 

Well, we survived.

After a rough and tumble four years, in which everything went wrong except the economy for the first three, and then even the economy tanked in year number four, we have finally emerged on the other side. The would-be dictator is gone; his insurrection, quelled. Joe Biden has been safely sworn in as our 46th president.

Now what?

Now, the ire of the righteous must turn towards tearing down the apparatus that built Trump in the first place. If we kill the Frankenstein monster, yet leave Victor Frankenstein un-lynched, the mad scientist will undoubtedly try again.

That means the high priests of right-wing misinformation in the cult, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingram, Mark Levin, Lou Dobbs, and Maria Bartiromo, must be held accountable for their lies.

But how? Isn't freedom of speech a divine right?

Yes! But not without limits. Let's explore what those limits are, and what they should be under the law.

We all know the analogy about shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater. A person who does that can ignite a panic which leads to many innocent people getting trampled. Surely, such a lie is prosecutable, and the person who shouted should be held accountable for the injuries or deaths that were caused.

In the same manner, the Hannity/Limbaugh caucus shouted "fire." More precisely, they shouted, "Fraud!" when there was none. Or, to be absolutely precise, there were irregularities, just as there are irregularities in every election, but the irregularities in this election seemed much larger and more ominous because it was more scrutinized than any election before.

If you look at something really close, it seems bigger, even when it isn't.

For four years, these Chicken Littles have been shouting, "The democracy is falling! The democracy is falling!" When it clearly hasn't been. You might think, just like in the children's tale, that at some point people would just stop paying attention to Chicken Little. And there has been a drop in Fox News ratings, that much is true. But that drop has not gone sufficiently below the kind of threshold needed to induce firings.

In fact, after a brief period of reality on January 7th, Fox News seems to be doubling down on the bullshit.

Does freedom of speech give one the right to say something which is untrue? In fact, it usually does. People may be genuinely mistaken and so pass along incorrect information with an honest heart. But it also protects citizens' right to outright lie. People may spread rumor, or even bluntly lie about any number of things, without fear of legal consequence in most circumstances. Comedians are free to do parody. Authors are free to do satire. Religions are free to preach faith-based falsehoods. So long as there is no discernible physical harm in these actions, such fictions are our right.

And yet, the right to fiction is not an absolute! For example, one could be sued for libel, if the lie resulted in tangible, physical harm, or measurable financial loss. A CEO who gets fired over a false rumor that he was sleeping with his secretary, might be able to sue the originator of the rumor for losses, and win in court.

There was real, physical harm, and measurable financial loss, arising from the lie that Joe Biden somehow didn't win the 2020 election. The phrase "Stop the steal!" has literally cost lives, and damaged property.

Which means that Trump, and the Hannity/Limbaugh caucus are in an actionable position under the law for those damages! Is there a lawsuit pending? There should be.

The right to fiction is also not applicable when it comes to selling products. If one sells a can of soup, one is legally required to list the ingredients on that can, and the contents of the can must not deviate from that list. If the list itself contains something harmful (monosodium glutimate, for instance), and the consumer buys it anyway, that's on the consumer. But if the product label says one thing, and the product contains another, that's on the manufacturer! For example, if the label says "gluten free," but the product actually contains glutin-based flour, the manufacturer can be sued! If a product is sold as a cure for various diseases, such as "magnet therapy" or "pyramid power," such product is also liable for a lawsuit.

In like manner, Hannity, Limbaugh and their copycats have been selling false product. They have been claiming themselves as truthful opinion-pundits, when in reality they have been spewing known falsehoods.

It is the equivalent of selling a bottle of bleach which is labeled "milk."

Of course, as we all know, it can be devilishly tricky to take certain fraudsters to court. If the peddler of some penis-enlargement pill (for example) is sued for fraud, the defense attorney will usually cite some shoddily done university study and get off the hook. Whether that university study is reliable or not isn't the point. All that is required is enough plausibility to make the vendor non-culpable.

Limbaugh, Hannity, and their ilk try a similar tactic. They label themselves "infotainment," branding themselves as entertainers rather than actual news broadcasters. Fine, except they are typically broadcast on actual news networks, and not on E!, or Lifetime, or USA.

I like to call it, "misinfotainment," because that's closer to the truth.

That covers the legal limits of freedom of speech which are already on the books. The Limbaugh/Hannity collective should already be facing lawsuits for the violation of those existing laws. But is there any way the preservation of truth in our information can be strengthened without violating our freedom of speech and expression?

I argue there is! Let's call it "the Integrity in News Bill."

I doubt this will ever be brought up for an actual vote. If it is, Fox News will hire ever lobbyist they can get their hands on to stop it. But it is a GREAT idea. Here it is:

If the media outlet labels itself "news," it is legally bound to adhere to a set standard of truth. Opinion shows must be balanced to show both sides of any political debate, somewhat like what CNN's "Crossfire" show used to be. No one on a media outlet branded as "news" is allowed to knowingly make a false statement, like the one Maria Bartiromo made a few days ago when she said that Antifa people were instigating the January 6th riot on the Capitol. Such a breech of public trust would result in a hefty fine, and/or the offending pundit being fired. If one's network is meant to inform the public, then it should be legally bound to inform the public! Not misinform the public! "Infotainment" shows get exiled to some other channel. Perhaps Hannity could land a job on TBN. Rush Limbaugh could go to the Playboy channel.

Maybe Rachel Maddow will end up on MTV. 

This fix needs to happen, and FAST! Because it is so easy to artificially beef up ratings with bullshit and anger-porn, that it's spread just about everywhere. Every major metropolitan area has at least one A.M. radio station devoted exclusively to right-wing bullshit. Most local television stations are owned by one or two companies, all of whom want their own right-wing propaganda given time on your local "News at Nine" broadcast.

70% of Republicans don't believe that Biden stole the election because one or two pundits say so. They believe Biden stole the election because ALL the right-wing pundits, AND Fox News, AND OANN, AND Newsmax, AND all their Facebook friends, AND their local pastor say so!

It's gotten WAY out of hand! The lies have NEVER been so institutionalized!

But it ALL begins with the right-wing bullshit masters, Hannity and Limbaugh. And they get it from right-wing spin-doctoring institutions like the CATO Institute.

Will any of this be stopped? Can it be fixed? I don't know. I hope it will. But one thing's for certain:

These right-wing pundits, after nearly burning down our ENTIRE nation, must NOT be allowed to simply go back to work as though nothing happened!

The piper must be paid!

Eric

*

Justifying The Unjustifiable

Folks, it's as simple as this: If Trump is guilty of inciting a riot upon the U.S. Capitol (and he is), then those who incited Donald Trump are equally guilty. More so, in fact, because they are the root cause.

That means Limbaugh, Hannity, Dobbs, Ingram and Levin, among others, should be fired for cause, brought up on charges, and prosecuted for peddling a false product, and perpetrating a fraud upon the general public - both of which are federal crimes.

It also goes without saying that, after five years of shilling for Trump, the right-wing pundits have been proven dead wrong. The only rational conclusion people can make is that the Hannity/Limbaugh caucus simply cannot be trusted anymore.

Of course, they don't want that. So they're trying to find any excuse for Trump, and by extension themselves, that they can find.

Rush Limbaugh was quick to attempt to blame Left-wingers. On his January 7th show, he said that the crowd "undoubtedly" included some Antifa, pro-Democrat instigators. Social media quickly joined in spread rumors that Antifa members infiltrated the crowd and caused the attack. However, many arrests have been made since, and they're pretty much all right-wingers.

When that explanation failed, they quickly pivoted, trying to say that the attack was only "a few bad apples," and that the vast majority were kind and respectful. To that, all I can say is, 'roll the footage!' Do a head-count on everyone being unruly, violent, or disrespectful, and you'll see perfectly well that it was way more than "a few."

In fact, the right-wing origin of this riot was put well beyond shadow of doubt when footage circulated of Alex Jones participating in the crowd itself, after spending much of his own fortune promoting the event. Naturally, he sneaked off before the Capitol was breached. He is currently being questioned by the FBI.

On January 11ths edition of 'Fox & Friends,' Judge Jeanine Pirro equated the ban against Parler to Kristallnacht. No, really, she did!

On January 7th, Lou Dobbs claimed the Democrats were trying to "overthrow" Trump. No joke!

Even after Cumulus Media ordered its talk show hosts, like Mark Levin, to knock off the "stolen election" rhetoric, they went right on ahead anyway, most of them claiming to have not received the memo.

Mark Belling contributed to the madness the Monday after. You might think that after a weekend to reflect, Mark would see that his fiery rhetoric contributed to the boiling over of Trumpist extremism. But no. Instead, fearing to lose the job he doesn't need (because he's wealthy and of retirement age anyway) he calls the responsible crackdown on those who continually shout "fire" in a crowded theater, like himself, a form of oppression.

"Just checking over here, I want to make sure I haven't been canceled yet. Am I still on the air? Am I allowed to broadcast? I think it's beginning to dawn on people exactly what's going on. We are in the early stages in this country of total totalitarianism. And I'm not going to sugarcoat this because it's going to continue until it's stopped."

When you perpetrate a public fraud, there are laws which prosecute you. One cannot sell a fraudulent product in a grocery store, or a department store, because that will get you sued and your business shut down!

How much more important is our news media!

Now, I believe in freedom of speech. Belling should be able to go on spewing whatever bullshit he wants. BUT NOT ON A NEWS NETWORK!

The word "NEWS" is sacred! You tell the truth in that territory, or you get the fuck out!

And yes, there is room for editorializing. The Op-Ed page is as old as newspapers themselves. But not only should op-ed be clearly delineated, but those who do op-ed SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED SAY PROVEN FALSEHOODS! Because that crosses the line between opinion and fraud! If your opinion is based on the notion that (for example) gremlins are in control of the Pentagon, you should probably be held accountable if you decide to print or air that statement.

In the news, one can have an alternate opinion. One cannot have alternate facts!

"It is breathtaking that Twitter kicked Donald Trump off," Belling said on Monday. "Because if they can kick off the President of the United States, that means they can kick off anyone. What chance has Joe Blow in Joplin, Missouri have if Donald Trump can't survive on Twitter?"

Except that Joe Blow in Joplin doesn't have 80-odd million followers, 90% of whom will believe any bullshit he makes up.

This is a question which should have been brought up back when Twitter should have kicked Trump off four years ago! A better question is, why the hell did Twitter allow this to go on for so long? Why did it allow Donald Trump to spew anger, hatred, racism, bigotry and even sedition for four solid years with zero consequences? Isn't it fair to say that Twitter gave Trump way too much leeway just for being the president?

Trump is guilty. The right-wing media cult leaders who made Trump in the first place are even more guilty still. If Trump is to be made a pariah, if his impeachment is to be successful to bar him from participating in the 2024 elections, then so too much Hannity, Limbaugh, Levin, OANN and Newsmax.

They are snake oil peddlers, who should be treated every bit as harshly as Kevin Trudeau, James Van Praagh, John Edward.

Let them give their bullshit opinions. That's free speech. But if such opinions depend on dissemination of outright bullshit, they've started to sell fake product, and have thus crossed the line.

Our laws, or at least FCC policy, should reflect that.

 

Eric

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