Wednesday, March 31, 2010

This seriously distresses me ...

... but that whole First Amendment thing is rightfully in the way.  It's for occasions like this that I have on previous occasions advocated the re-implementation of the Fairness Doctrine.  Here's from The STL GlobeDemocrat:

Candidate's racist radio ads must be aired

KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 30 (UPI) -- A radio station in Kansas City, Mo., says it has no choice but to air racist and anti-Semitic ads from a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate from Missouri.

KMBZ Program Director Neil Larrimore said Federal Communications Commission regulations and federal law require his station to run the commercials "without any edit," The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday.

"Our hands are tied," Larrimore said.

The ads are from Glenn Miller, a Springfield, Mo., man who once led the White Patriot Party and was described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white supremacist and former paramilitary organizer.

Under FCC regulations and federal laws, a "legally qualified candidate" must be given reasonable, uncensored access to broadcast airtime if he or she can pay the cost.

One of Miller's ads, aired during the an evening talk show, urges whites to "take their country back" and denigrates Jews and non-whites. Other ads include pejorative language about minorities, KMBC-TV, Kansas City, reported.

The radio station is running a disclaimer, which is allowed under FCC rules, before the Miller ads. The disclaimer cannot criticize or support the commercials, the Star said.

Miller filed the necessary paperwork with the Missouri secretary of state but hasn't filed with the Federal Election Commission and won't have to unless he raises or spends $5,000 or more, the Star said.

An FEC spokesman said Miller must file a statement of candidacy and campaign finance disclosures. If he doesn't, he could face sanctions and penalties, the spokesman said, adding that the federal agency can't force his ads off the air.

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