Venezuela's thug-in-chief continues war against independent media (Could it happen in U.S.?) :: Political News and commentaries

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September 8, 2009

Venezuela's thug-in-chief continues war against independent media (Could it happen in U.S.?)

The Latin American Tribune reports that the Chavez government just upped the ante in its campaign against Venezuela's only independent 24-hour news channel Globovision - and by implication other critical media, making it clear once again that it intended the will of Chavez and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to prevail and that those who "harm the interests of the state" will be punished.

Of interest and consequence to Americans is the fact that Barack Obama's new Federal Communications Commission Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd, yet another far-left radical appointed by our president, is a big fan of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and his Soviet-style control over the media. As shown in this video, Lloyd speaks of Chavez' revolution and the resulting taking of the media from private ownership (Hat tip - Human Events):

"In Venezuela, with Chavez, is really an incredible revolution - a democratic revolution. To begin to put in place things that are going to have an impact on the people of Venezuela. The property owners and the folks who then controlled the media in Venezuela rebelled - worked, frankly, with folks here in the U.S. government - worked to oust him. But he came back with another revolution, and then Chavez began to take very seriously the media in his country."

As Connie Hair notes in her piece at Human Events:

Lloyd also wrote in his 2006 book, Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America, "It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of speech or the press. This freedom is all too often an exaggeration. At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the press serve as a distraction from the critical examination of other communications policies. ... "[T]he purpose of free speech is warped to protect global corporations and block rules that would promote democratic governance."
This is a man implementing policy at the FCC that will govern freedom of speech.

That final point is worth repeating, in perspective. This is, indeed, the man implementing policy at the FCC that will govern freedom of speech in America. He is a big fan of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and his Soviet-style control over the media, and he speaks of Chavez' revolution and the resulting taking of the media from private ownership.

Should Americans be concerned? A reasonable person should rationally say you bet we should.

Here's more on Lloyd and his alarming agenda. In this video Lloyd's plan to attack talk radio by crushing them with taxes (100% of budget), then give that tax money to public radio stations: