FCC rubber-stamps Comcast's takeover of NBC

Gee, let's make corporations bigger - because we've seen how well that hasn't worked.

If there's one thing that's held true in America for the past 15 years, it's that you can usually count on ineptitude being rewarded. And if there's one agency that can usually be counted on to reward it, it's the FCC.

The FCC - the media gatekeepers who shut down Tantrum 95.7 because of its political views - have now approved Comcast's takeover of NBC and its cable channels. Comcast, as you may know, is a major cable company known for its dreadful service and for favoring right-wing channels.

The lone FCC commissioner who dissented from the 4-to-1 rubber-stamp vote is Democratic commish Michael Copps, who pointed out that the merger "confers too much power in one company's hands." If this merger is allowed to stand, this will be the first time in America that a cable company will own an over-the-air TV network - which itself raises conflict issues.

Of course, the FCC has been rubber-stamping with such velocity for years that one is surprised that their stamp hasn't been worn down to the handle. Since the pro-child-molester Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed, I don't think there's been a single instance in which the FCC rejected the sale or transfer of a radio or TV station - regardless of consequences.

What does all this mean, and how can it be stopped? NBC already leans far to the right: It infamously doctored a Michelle Obama speech during the 2008 campaign, and it tried to fire Keith Olbermann because he donated to Democratic campaigns. But don't expect NBC to improve, considering Comcast's own fascist leanings.

Are the states listening? The states need to break up Comcast and NBC, since the FCC won't. (Don't count on the Kentucky legislature to do it though, because they can't do anything right. That's why we have 2 other branches of government.) The same goes for other megamergers that have afflicted TV and radio in recent years.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/fcc-approves-comcastnbc-m_n_810495.html)