Editor Of Human Events Wants AG Designate Eric Holder To Answer Questions About Fairness Doctrine

Jed Babbin, the editor of the popular conservative website HumanEvents.com, wants Eric Holder, Barack Obama's pick for Attorney General, to answer questions about the Fairness Doctrine.

Posting today, Mr. Babbin wrote this:

The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. Before Holder’s nomination is voted on by the committee, he should answer searching inquiries that may reveal his unfitness for that post.

Going through Holder’s record is a huge task, but some of his speeches, legal writings and other actions -- as investigated by a House committee almost seven years ago -- quickly reveal some of the most important questions. Holder should be required to answer the following questions in the very first hearing.

[snip]

The Fairness Doctrine: In a June 2004 speech -- again to an American Constitution Society group -- Holder spoke about the difficulties of convincing people to support the liberal agenda. He said:

“In the short term, this will not be an easy task. With the mainstream media cowered (sic) by conservative critics, and the conservative media disseminating the news in anything but a fair and balanced manner, and you know what I mean there, the means to reach the greatest number of people is not easily accessible.”

Question for Holder: The so-called “Fairness Doctrine” is a relic of the 1940s. It allowed federal bureaucrats to regulate the content of radio broadcasts on an ideological basis to ensure “balance.” President Reagan did away with it in 1987. Do you think a law or regulation that re-imposed the “Fairness Doctrine” would be Constitutional today?

Babbin's questions for Mr. Holder make good sense to us.