Mr. President, Reinstate The Fairness Doctrine….

Mr. President:

Reinstate the fairness doctrine.  

If you are truly as concerned with the polarization of this country as you claim to be, then one of the best steps you can take is to reinstate the fairness doctrine.

The fairness doctrine required media outlets to present BOTH SIDES of controversial issues.  Since the final demise of the doctrine in 2011, media outlets have been free to promote pet agendas, singular points of view.  The elimination of this rule has been cited in research as a major contributing factor in the rise of polarization we witness today.

IF you are as concerned with the polarization of the country as you claim to be, it is within your authority to issue an executive order requiring the FCC, as a federal agency under your immediate authority, to reinstate and enforce the fairness doctrine.

If we are going to address extremism in all of its forms, it begins with ensuring that people have access to UNBIASED INFORMATION REGARDING BOTH SIDES of controversial issues.  The media play a major role in that endeavor.

Please take a moment to sign my petition:

https://chng.it/q4nkq8B5bq

ISIS Is Throwing A War - Are We Attending?

In the aftermath of the Sotloff beheading, Pres. Obama finally said this morning that we would deal with ISIS. That is, we are going to try to make them a "manageable problem." Not destroy them, we are going to work with regional partners to try to contain them in Syria. But we're not going to go to war with them or try to destroy them.

The administration's approach reminds me of a line from Tom Clancy's novel, Executive Orders: "'The UIR is going to throw a war,' J-3 thought, 'and nobody's going to come.'" Executive orders is about a newly formed islamic caliphate, too, that attacks the US. That would be a good read for Pres. Obama.

There is no way to make this a "manageable problem." As long as even a few of these people survive, they will again recruit a following and make war. I am not a war hawk, but we have been operating with this same mindset toward the middle east for decades. We go in, pacify, leave, and then watch as a new crop of extremists rises. A show of force will never work. Pacification will never work. They operate on a "destroy or be destroyed" premise. Containing them in Syria, as the president has suggested, only accomplishes two goals: it gives the president the justification he has wanted for the last year, since the Syrian civil war began, to enter Syria, and it concentrates ISIS on the border of Israel - their REAL target.

As it stands, we are likely going to have to deal with ISIS both OVER THERE AND HERE in the very near future.