Irony

Being behind the times, I just read last month's issue of Vanity Fair. In his "Editor's Letter," Graydon Carter bemoans the polarization of the electorate. He traces this, in part, to when the Reagan administration dropped the Fairness Doctrine.

The Fairness Doctrine, for those who can't remember anything before 1987, was an FCC policy that allowed politicians to punish broadcasters who criticized politicians. You had to be "balanced," as determined by the government. Having a point of view was, in essence, illegal.

I don't agree with Carter, but up to this point, the argument's been consistent. However, he closes his letter praising the series of lengthy anti-Bush articles he's been publishing. This last issue before the election had seven anti-Bush pieces, by my count. Now Carter may feel his arguments are more rational than those heard on TV or radio, but if the government had a Fairness Doctrine for magazines, he'd be required to double the size of each Vanity Fair to include pro-war, pro-Bush pieces, or stop publishing altogether.

Perhaps Carter didn't have time to consider this, since he's been so busy publicizing his anti-Bush book What We've Lost.

I thought the funniest piece in the magazine was by John Mellencamp. He's worried artists are afraid to speak out against the Iraq war and the Bush administration.