Noted Washington blogger/observer Wonkette has called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her sudden support for the Performance Rights Act. She said, “The radio stations are not down with this pro-welfare initiative at all! Because they are already doing enough for Ke$ha and these other music losers by promoting them all the time, for free.”
Wonkette wrote, “[Pelosi] said there’s an ‘army of advocates’ in Congress who are working extra-hard to pass this socialists-for-vocalists scheme, because they nothing better to do. Where is America’s army, of freedom?”
Wonkette’s site is keyed on satire and humor, so perhaps she went a little too far with one argument: “And besides, if the Founding Fathers had wanted radio royalties to go to America’s pop stars, they probably would have said something about it in the Constitution…”
But she did offer a tip of the virtual pen to the sponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act, writing in conclusion, “In related news, alt-country singer-songwriters U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway and U.S. Rep. Gene Green of Texas have joined hands *across the aisle* to defeat this poorly constructed welfare scheme, which they say will imperil the futures of America’s disadvantaged college radio DJs and bankrupt all of America’s farm-based hip-hop stations.”
RBR-TVBR observation: Wonkette generally comes down on the liberal side of the argument, as does Pelosi. This left-on-left skirmish is a perfect illustration of the fact that this is a non-ideological issue. Wonkette, broadcasters who may or may not agree with you on other issues thank you for your support in this case, based purely on the evidence.
