FCC Hires Far Right Activist: Infringement Of Free Speech To Follow

Well, what a nice quid pro quo. Far right activists pushed Bush to name someone like Kevin Martin to head the FCC. Now Martin has hired far right activist Penny Nance to "advise" him and reach out to Congress and the public. Nance claims to be an "anti-pornography" crusader, but in fact she attacks free speech and wants to make her interpretation of the Bible the law of the land, a la the Taliban. This is indeed like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. First, PBS is put under the thumb of activist Republicans, now our airwaves are put under the heel of far right fringe activists who want to wrest power from the people and impose their religious beliefs on the country.

On Penny Nance's resume:

*board member of Concerned Women For America -- their stated goal is "helping...to bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy."

*founder of Kids First Coalition -- activist group which reprints Republican speeches and papers on its website (just what kids love to read!) and pushing to censor DVDs and end a woman's right to abortion

*attacked basic cable in January -- she sees a "huge indecency problem" despite the fact that any and every channel on cable can be blocked by parents at no charge -- so if all you want your kids to watch is The 700 Club, you've got the power right now. But Nance knows this. She wants to stop YOU from watching what you want, as well. Say goodbye to "The Shield" and "Battlestar Galactica" (Pagan worship) and more if she has her way.

* worked with/for Center for Reclaiming America -- which wants to "implement the Biblical principles on which our country was founded."

The FCC has some 50+ indeceny complaints it may start acting on soon. Nance's hiring seems to indicate Martin wants to politicize that process and use the platform of the FCC to impose a narrow, fundamentalist Christian ethos onto the airwaves that are owned by ALL Americans.

This is very dangerous. Why in heaven's name would the FCC hire an adviser who is a fringe political activist that spends all her time campaigning to influence the FCC? Shouldn't they be the non-partisan guardian of the airwaves that deals with complaints on all sides and try to act judiciously? Ha.

Call or email Chairman Kevin J. Martin at the FCC and tell him how disturbed you are that he would hire a fringe activist that repeatedly lobbies the FCC as an adviser. Why doesn't he hire an activist from the other side as well so that ALL Americans can feel they have a voice in how our airwaves are regulated? Better yet, why doesn't he avoid hiring activists who repeatedly lobby the FCC from ANY side and simply hire non-partisan people devoted to the best interests of the public at large, not the groups they've been affiliated with for years?

Tell Martin you are happy to see the market decide what is best for families -- not the government. We don't have an official "family hour" anymore -- which Nance would like to reimpose. Instead we have countless channels providing HUNDREDS of family friendly hours every day, from nature shows on Discovery to Nickelodeon to Disney and many, many others. Tell Martin you're scared that Nance's far right political beliefs don't reflect reality or your vision of America as a pluralistic society.

Contact: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Call: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
Martin's direct line: 202-418-1000 (per threader Charles) Be polite!
Write to him at:
Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Kevin Martin
445 12th St. SW
Suite 8b201
Washington DC 20554

Tell Martin: you expect the FCC to represent ALL Americans. Tell him to fire partisan political activist Penny Nance and apologize for siding with some of the very groups that lobby the FCC. The airwaves belong to ALL Americans, not just far right act ivi sts who think SpongeBob SquarePants is a danger.