A New President Will Bring A New FCC…

Monday, November, 3, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

Election Day not only will give us a new president but it brings a new FCC too.  Should the pundits be as accurate as polls have shown, a Democratic sweep will put the FCC in that party’s column and it could have an effect on the Internet as well.  Realistic or not, the fear in the Web world is that a regulated Internet will follow.  Obama takes the side of net neutrality backers, who say ISPs should not be able to discriminate against certain types of Internet traffic requiring more bandwidth, such as the downloading of movies or block certain content altogether.  McCain opposes net neutrality…

Obama is supported by Google which backs a law on neutrality while McCain takes the side of AT&T and telecom companies.  If the Democrats improve their majorities in Congress as expected, major changes are expected in the leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees communications issues.  Cable companies like Comcast fear a McCain presidency.  McCain has pushed for “a la carte” programming choices for subscribers.  In reality, what’s likely to happen under a new president with FCC, Internet, Communications, etc. is less radical than what everyone anticipates.  It will probably fall somewhere between the worst fears and highest hopes of all concerned…

The NAB is not concerned about all the rumors.  David Rehr thinks Washington will look about the same but with a more Democratic “tilt”.  The NAB chief says leadership of the key media and FCC oversight committees aren’t expected to change in the coming session but Rehr also expects the FCC to look at stricter radio regulation, adding “We’re prepared for that.” …     

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1961] Batday: The Boston Patriots beat the Dallas Texans 28-21 at Braves Field when a fan sneaks onto the field and bats away Dallas QB Cotton Davidson’s pass into the end zone as time runs out. The play stands, the Patriots win (we love these endings especially when the home team wins. Remember when that convict on work patrol cleared a spot on the field for a winning field goal ? Then there’s the “tuck rule” imposed to favor Tom Brady in a big game against Oakland. We love this stuff…
2. 1971] Premiered on this date: “Play Misty For Me” starring Clint Eastwood. Every disc jockey’s worst nightmare…1978] “Different Strokes” begins for 8 successful seasons…
3. 1979] Wedding Bells: James Taylor and Carly Simon tie the knot in Carly’s Manhattan apartment. Sadly they separate in 1982 and divorce in 1983…
4. 1986] Breaking the story: A Lebanese magazine breaks the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, which exposes the Iran-Contra affair…
5. 1988] Breaking the nose: Geraldo Rivera breaks his nose in an on-camera brawl with skinheads.  I didn’t know who to root for in that fight…
6. 1992] Two big winners on Election Day: Bill Clinton is elected our 42nd President, defeating President George H.W. Bush (and) Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the 1st black woman elected to the U.S. Senate…
7. 1994] Guilty as charged: Susan Smith is arrested for drowning her two young sons, 9 days after claiming the children had been kidnapped. She’s still serving life without parole in prison…
8. 1999] Guilty as charged II: Aaron McKinney is convicted of murder in the beating of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard. McKinney and Russell Henderson are each serving life in prison for the 1998 murder…
9. 2004] A political first: Hamid Karzai is declared the winner of Afghanistan’s first-ever presidential election…
10. 2005] Scooter is busted: VP Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby pleads not guilty to a five-count felony indictment in the CIA leak case. Libby is convicted and sentenced to 30-months in prison but ‘W’ commutes his sentence…

Music Memories:

• 1957] Released on this date: “Great Balls of Fire” - Jerry Lee Lewis (and) “At The Hop” - Danny & the Juniors…
• 1969] Number One on this date: “Wedding Bell Blues” - 5th Dimension…
• 1991] Live from San Francisco: More than 300,000 attend a free concert in Golden State Park in memory of rock promoter Bill Graham. Performers include: The Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joan Baez, Santana and a reunited Journey…

Commentary:

When Studs Terkel passed away on Friday he was 96.  Although he was famous as a Pulitzer Prize winning author, humorist and great speaker, few realize that Studs started out in radio in the ’40s as a disc jockey.  He would move to TV as an actor and didn’t publish his first book until 1967.  His most famous books were “Working“, “Hard Times” and “The Good War“, which earned him a Pulitzer.  He started using “Studs” after reading his favorite book, “Studs Lonigan.”  His real name was Louis… 

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:

Phil Simms 53, Adam Ant 54, Dennis Miller 55, Roseanne Barr 56, Larry Holmes 59, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie a.k.a. Lulu 59, Shadoe Stevens 62, Michael S. Dukakis 75 and Bob Feller 90…

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