Today's political version of Reefer Madness revolves around how conservatives under Obama have made it their comical obsession to fearmonger how Democrats are out to “silence” conservative voices in the media via the return of the Fairness Doctrine. The right-wing media have raised the issue to pointless heights because c'mon, there is no more pressing issue facing our nation today than debating a long-forgotten FCC statute that hasn't been on the book for two decades; a long-forgotten FCC statute that the president is on the record saying he does not support reviving.

So of course conservatives must be vigilant, right?

Well, according to a recent report by John Cook at Yahoo! News, Rupert Murdoch's News Corps recently spent money lobbying the issue of the Fairness Doctrine:

Other bills getting the weight of News America's lobbying effort include two provisions in the Senate, introduced by Jim DeMint and James Inhofe, that would bar the FCC from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a rule abandoned in 1987 that forced broadcasters to offer time to competing viewpoints on controversial issues. The bills are a reaction to persistent suspicions from Obama's political opponents — including some Fox News commentators — that he intended to bring back the doctrine to rein in right-wing talk radio. This despite Obama's insistence, as reported by Fox News, that he had no intention of doing so. It's unclear which side News America took on that bill, though it would be difficult to imagine the company opposing it.

And oh yeah, for the Rupert defenders in the press who have suggested that News Corp's recent $1 million donation to Republicans wasn't cause for concern because the company was simply making a regulatory “investment” and keeping taps on the broadcast industry, Cook uncovered this nugget [emphasis added]:

Another mysterious bit of lobbying that News America did relates to an appropriations bill. The company attempted to influence “Department of Justice sections on salaries and expenses, United States attorneys, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Office of Justice Programs.” Why News America would be interested in the salaries of U.S. attorneys and FBI agents is unclear.