Why? Because talk radio’s been spectacularly effective in drumming up opposition to the amnesty bill — so much so that Jon Kyl’s trying to integrate Hugh Hewitt’s suggestions into the legislation. If the nutroots had managed the sort of grassroots uprising that Limbaugh et al. have pulled here, Harry Reid would be posting sycophantic YouTube videos of himself singing hosannas to “people-powered politics.” Since it comes from the right, Feinstein naturally wants to stomp it. But fine. If the left is stupid enough to try to force ideological balance on broadcast media, I’m sure there are a few smart conservative lawyers who’d be only too happy to work within the paradigm, as it were. We’ll start here, with “fairness” within broadcast news divisions. Next will be trying to extend the principle to non-broadcast media like, oh, for instance, the Internet. That’d be tricky for various reasons but if, like Feinstein, you “believe in fairness,” why let nitpicking like the First Amendment kill the dream?

The clip begins with a minute or two of Trent Lott, who’s still trying to pretend like critics don’t know what it’s in the bill but has, at least, inched far enough away from the ledge to oppose the Fairness Doctrine. He’s also smart enough to let Feinstein do most of the honors in defending the bill. Exit question, per her lament that the status quo amounts to “silent amnesty”: Who’s to blame for that status quo anyway?