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 Wednesday, October 17, 2007
NIH Director Undercuts Bush’s Ethical Stem Cell Guidelines

The Washington Post reports that the director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias A. Zerhouni, advocates expanding unethical embryonic stem cell research despite the fact that President Bush has instituted ethical guidelines withholding tax-payer funds from supporting such research.


Also check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page.

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posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:05:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Adult Stem Cell Might Help with Hip Replacements

The Telegraph in UK reports on this exciting research hoping to determine if ethical adult stem cell can be used to help patients better recover from hip replacement surgery.

Also check the AdvanceUSA adult stem cell page.

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posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:01:39 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Tuesday, October 16, 2007
ENDA Update

ENDA is scheduled to be marked up in committee on Thursday, October 18.  CitizenLink reports that a House vote on ENDA could be just around the corner.

Please call your representative TODAY and urge him/her to vote "No" on ENDA!  For more information on ENDA check the AdvanceUSA home page or the ENDA category here at AdvanceUSA Blog.

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posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 8:46:39 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Embryonic” or “Early”: More Deceptive Language from Supporters of Unethical Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning

Welsey J. Smith reports on this example of anti-life, liberal spin.

Some pro-cloning reporters and publications in Missouri (and elsewhere) have taken to referring to embryonic stem cells as “early stem cells” in an effort to deceive the public.  Slowly but surely the general public is realizing that embryonic stem cell research destroys or endangers tiny human lives.  Using the euphemism “early” instead of the established scientific term “embryonic” is a desperate attempt to hide that fact. 

For more information on the cloning issue in Missouri click here or check the other blog posts in the Missouri category.  For more information on stem cells and cloning click here.

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posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 8:44:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Group Uncovers Troubling Information About the Abortion Drug RU-486

Excerpt from MSNBC article:

"These documents show the reckless and politicized nature of the FDA's decision to approve the abortion pill," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "The FDA certainly has a lot of explaining to do. For starters, why has the FDA previously refused to disclose the Chinese connection and the related safety issues? And why did the FDA allow the abortion lobby to participate in the clinical trial process? The American people deserve answers."

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posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 8:38:51 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“NARAL Wants Rudy”

Kathryn Jean Lopez reports at NRO’s “Bench Memos” that the radical pro-abortion group NARAL believes that a pro-choice candidate winning the Republican nomination “would help” the pro-abortion movement.

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posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:58:26 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Friday, October 12, 2007
“Robbing Peter to Pay for the Appalling”

Our friend Tom McClusky at FRC has an insightful article at WND in which he exposes the gradualist strategy of the radical “gay rights” movement and how it threatens religious liberty.

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posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 9:48:27 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Pro-Abortion Guttmacher Institute Produces Bogus Abortion Statistics”

The Guttmacher Institute is the research/propaganda arm of Planned Parenthood and has recently been caught distorting data to advance its radical pro-abortion agenda around the globe.

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posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 9:46:51 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Pledge Protection Act Seeks to Keep "Under God" in the Pledge

Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) has introduced the Pledge Protection Act (H.R. 699) which denies federal courts the jurisdiction to hear cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance.  Radical secularists like Michael Newdow and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have shown a clear intent to do away with any reference to God in the pledge of allegiance.  This legislation proactively prevents activist federal courts from declaring the phrase "under God" an unconstitutional establishment of religion.  Under Article I Section 8 and Article III Sections 1 and 2, Congress has the authority to determine the jurisdiction of federal courts.  Please call your representative today and urge him or her to support The Pledge Protection Act of 2007 by signing on as a cosponsor and by eventually voting “Yes” on H.R. 699.

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posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 8:45:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Planned Parenthood No Longer Welcome In Missouri Schools

Baptist Press reports that Gov. Matt Blunt has signed legislation that prohibits Planned Parenthood from teaching sex education in Missouri public schools.  Planned Parenthood has a clear conflict of interest as the nation’s number one abortion provider and has a history of promoting promiscuity over abstinence.  Hopefully other states will begin to take this common sense measure.

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posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 8:27:55 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Supreme Court Lets Appeals Court Ruling Stand Stripping Christian Teacher of Right of Expression in the Classroom

The Rutherford Institute reports.

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posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 8:25:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Thursday, October 11, 2007
More Pro-Cloning Deception in Missouri

After narrowly losing a fight against a so-called “cloning ban” on the state-wide ballot last year, anti-cloning forces in Missouri have begun the effort to close the glaring loopholes and truly prohibit all forms of human cloning.  The proponents of the new constitutional amendment to completely ban human cloning have to gather 139,181 - 151,619 signatures to get the measure on the 2008 ballot.

Their efforts hit a snag yesterday when the Secretary of State of Missouri (Robin Carnahan) released the official ballot summary which reads like an opposition talking point.  Understandably anti-cloning groups charge the language is unfair and deceptive.  To read the text of the ballot summary click here or continue reading.

Excerpt from Columbia Tribune blog post:

Curt Mercadante, a spokesman for Cures Without Cloning, said the language “in no way accurately reflects what we’re attempting to do.”

 

“Quite honestly, it sounds like a talking point out of an opposition group’s playbook,” Mercadante said. “What the amendment is attempting to do is very simple: attempting to prohibit all human cloning in the state of Missouri.”

Despite exaggerated claims of the potential of embryonic stem cell research, one disabled Missourian is speaking out against unethical research and supporting the efforts of Cures Without Cloning to truly ban human cloning in Missouri.

Excerpt:

"No matter what potential good may come of it, you know, you can't create and destroy human life for research," said Chelsea Zimmerman from Cures Without Cloning. "It's just wrong."

 

A car accident nearly eight years ago left Zimmerman in a wheelchair, but this did not change her view of embryonic stem cell research.

 

"Obviously, I would love to walk again, I would love to see other people out of their suffering," Zimmerman said. "We aren't trying to limit research, and we are in favor of cures, and there are cures and treatments happening with adult stem cells and adult stem cell research."

For more information visit Cures Without Cloning or the AdvanceUSA Missouri/Human Cloning page.

UPDATES:

Text of deceptive ballot summary below:

Read more ...
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posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:59:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Israeli Company Seeks to Fight ALS with Adult Stem Cells

Even though Israel has no restrictions on embryonic stem cell research the Israeli company has decided to invest only in adult stem cells for practical reasons in its mission to provide treatment for neurological disorders such as Lou Gehrig's disease and Parkinson's.

Reuters Excerpt:

Ironically, in the Jewish state of Israel embryonic stem cell research is less controversial, noted BrainStorm's ultra-orthodox president, Chaim Lebovits.

 

Still, the company said it has decided to concentrate on adult stem cells because they are also easier to control than embryonic cells, which can give rise to tumours.

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posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 7:02:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Criminalizing Your Thoughts”

Attorney and author John W. Whitehead shares his insights on the danger of hate crimes legislation, especially the recent hate crimes legislation passed by the Senate.

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posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 7:01:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Nietzsche Would Laugh: Chuck Colson on the Contradictions of the “New Atheism”

Excerpt from Colson’s column at Townhall:

One atheist understood the moral consequences of his unbelief: That was Nietzsche, who argued that God is dead, but acknowledged that without God there could be no binding and objective moral order.

 

Of course, the “New Atheists” deny this. Instead, they unconvincingly argue that you can have the benefits of an altruistic, Christian-like morality without God.

 

Nietzsche would laugh—and wonder why they don’t make atheists like they used to.

posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 10:38:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Same-Sex ‘Divorce’ Being Used to Push Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ in Oklahoma”

The Alliance Defense Fund reports on this subtle tactic to impose same-sex marriage by judicial decree.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:42:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Maggie Gallagher: “Why Hillary Beats Rudy”

Maggie Gallagher offers her views on why conservatives should not settle for a socially liberal nominee for President while seeking to debunk the myth of Rudy Giuliani’s electoral invincibility.

posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:40:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Debilitating Muscle Disease Treated with Adult Stem Cell Transplants in New Research: Patient Reports Improvement
“…Dr. Glasser did not have feeling in his feet before the transplant and now he has feeling in his feet again, possibly indicating that his peripheral polyneuropathy is improving as well.”
                             - Ewa Carrier, M.D.

A debilitating muscle disease that can cause lameness and suffocation is being treated with adult stem cells in groundbreaking research conducted by The Bone Marrow Transplant Program at University of California, San Diego Medical Center.  A description of the disease is as follows:

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a rare neuromuscular autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system, which normally protects the body, mistakenly attacks itself.  The transmission of nerve impulses to muscles is interrupted, which ultimately prevents the muscles from contracting.  Without the proper nerve impulses, muscles that control breathing can’t function.

Here’s a description of how the ethical adult stem cell therapy works:

This new procedure reprograms the patient’s stem cells, destroying them with chemotherapy, before re-introducing purified blood-forming stem cells.  After the transplant, the modified stem cells build new bone marrow, renewing the immune system with correct signaling, renewing the immune system with cells that don’t attack the body.

For more information on the successes of ethical adult stem cell research click here.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:36:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Oregon Opponents of “Gay Marriage” Fall a Mere 116 Signatures Short of Defeating Dangerous Legislation

Oregon already has a marriage amendment, but liberal activists managed to convince the state legislature to pass two laws which awarded privileges suspiciously similar to marriage to same-sex couples.  An AP report continues:

State elections officials reported Monday that the effort fell short 116 valid signatures of the 55,179 needed to suspend the law and place it on the November 2008 ballot for a popular vote.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:33:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Two Efforts to Combat Pornography

CitizenLink reports on this noble effort to combat the scourge of pornography in this country through the ‘White Ribbon Against Pornography’ Week.  Check out their website to see what you can do in your community.

Another article highlights one family’s experience with hard-core pornography in a hotel room and their subsequent lawsuit against the hotel for endangering their two young daughters.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:30:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Religious Expressions” Not Allowed on Capitol Flag Certificates

The Washington Times reports on this example of banishing references to God from public life.

UPDATE: After the outcry of conservatives over the refusal of the Architect of the Capitol to allow “religious expressions” on the certificates accompanying special flags flown over the Capitol and a letter from Minority Leader Boehner, members of Congress will now be allowed to write whatever they want on flag certificates granted to constituents.  It may seem like a small issue, but it is a clear victory in opposing the steady trend to remove all reference to God from the public sphere.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:29:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Dear Abby” Announces Support for Same-Sex Marriage

Years of speculation are over.  In an AP exclusive the writer of the famous advice column “Dear Abby” has officially announced her support for same-sex marriage.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:26:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Science Web Site Misleads Women Saying Abortion-Breast Cancer Link a Myth”

LifeNews combats the pro-choice propaganda with hard scientific statistics and biological facts.

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:22:39 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
England Steps off the Ethical Pier: Creation of Chimeras and “Savior Siblings” to be Allowed

LifeNews reports on the British government’s recent decision to allow several forms of unethical research.

The British government has caved in to pressure from scientists there and announced it is backing a revised bill in parliament for human-animal hybrids, or chimeras. The creation of part-human, part-animal embryos has pro-life advocates upset as they say it's another step in the devaluation of human life.

As if creating human chimera embryos for the sole purpose of killing them for their stem cells weren’t enough LifeNews continues:

The bill also allows the creation of so-called "savior siblings" for serious illnesses and not just life-threatening ones. In addition to taking embryonic stem cells from the human being, the bill would allow scientists to harvest organs and take "other types of tissue and cells."

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posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:21:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Massachusetts Health Panel Poised to Overturn Ethical Stem Cell Research Rules

The Boston Globe reports that a health panel appointed by Gov. Patrick is seeking to overturn the important stem cell guidelines former Gov. Mitt Romney instituted to prevent tax-funded unethical research on human embryos.

Excerpt:

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said removing the regulations put in place under Romney would open up a "Pandora's box of creating human embryos in laboratory conditions on a wide-scale production."

 

"We need safeguards against the rampant exploitation of human life," he said. "Harvesting eggs from women is an exploitation of women and creating human embryos for the sole purpose of destroying them is an exploitation of human life."

UPDATE:  It’s official.  As CitizenLink and LifeNews report the health panel in Massachusetts has overturned former Governor Romney’s ethical guidelines preventing the creation of embryos for destructive research.

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posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 8:32:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Three Embryonic Stem Cell Researchers”

Excerpt from LifeNews report:

The Nobel prize committed mentioned embryonic stem cell research in their citation to the scientists and said, they had discovered "principles for introducing specific gene modification in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."

 

However, the science behind treating humans with embryonic stem cells and the work the scientists did is very different and embryonic stem cell treatments, if they're ever produced, could be decades away because of various problems such as rejection by a patient's immune system.

 

Adult stem cells have not had those problems and have already treated patients with dozens of diseases and medical conditions.

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posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 8:30:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Monday, October 08, 2007
Justice Thomas on Precedent
Providing further evidence that Justice Clarence Thomas could rightfully be considered the model originalist justice, this piece from ABC news shows Thomas’ philosophy on precedent versus straight-forward constitutional interpretation and dispels the mean-spirited and racist myth that Thomas is merely Justice Scalia’s “puppet.”

Apparently this post is the first in a series examining Justice Thomas’ jurisprudence.  AdvanceUSA will update this post with further entries as they become available.

UPDATE: John Yoo, Berkley law professor and former clerk for Justice Thomas, shares his insights into Thomas’ originalist interpretation of the Constitution in his Wall Street Journal article “The Real Clarence Thomas.”

UPDATE 2: Listed below are Jan Crawford Greenburg’s other posts in this series examining Clarence Thomas (the man and the judge).  These will be updated as more become available.

A Silent Justice Speaks Out (Sep. 30)
Clarence Thomas Unplugged (Oct. 3)
Being a Justice (Oct. 4)
Thomas on Precedent (Oct. 8)
Thomas and Oral Argument (Oct. 9)

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posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 1:02:32 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Abortion 'Best Predictor of Breast Cancer,' New Study Says”

CNS reports on a new study which shows that abortion is statistically the best predictor of breast cancer. 

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posted on Monday, October 08, 2007 9:50:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“ADF: Keep Foreign Law Out of U.S. Courts”
Should U.S. judges consult foreign laws and precedent when making their rulings or determining constitutionality?  It seems like a pretty obvious answer to most of us, but to liberal, activist judges using foreign law sounds convenient and fashionably multicultural.

The Alliance Defense Fund has released a new video that warns of the dangerous trend among activist judges who use foreign law to advance their liberal agenda through the courts.

Excerpt from CitizenLink article:

Bill Saunders, senior fellow and director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Human Life and Bioethics, explained that it's part of a strategy to achieve what can't be gained through the legislative branch.

 

“The social Left, the cultural Left, has known for a long time that the only way they’re going to achieve their agenda is through the courts," he said. "So they have looked to international institutions to try to build up arguments that the ‘international community’ supports certain things like abortion or gay marriage and that, therefore — according to them — we in America should pay some attention to that.”

This is another example of why appointing qualified originalist judges is so crucial to our nation.  Check the AdvanceUSA pro-justice page for more information.

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posted on Monday, October 08, 2007 9:48:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
 Friday, October 05, 2007
Hatred Not Needed to Be Convicted of a Hate Crime

Fox News reports on a tangled murder case that illustrates the confusion and nonsense that hate crimes laws can cause.  Criminals should be prosecuted for what they do, not what they think.  CitizenLink also explains how this case relates to the hate crimes legislation recently passed by the Senate.

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posted on Friday, October 05, 2007 6:47:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
FDA Documents Reveal Numerous Deaths Linked to HPV Vaccine Marketed to Teen Girls

In an effort to protect against cervical cancer, some lawmakers and medical professionals advocate making HPV vaccines mandatory for adolescent girls.  As the following press release demonstrates there are significant concerns regarding the safety of these drugs.  Furthermore, since the human papillomavirus (HPV), often a precursor to cervical cancer, is a sexually transmitted disease forcing girls to receive it can significantly undermine parental decisions regarding their daughter’s personal health and sexuality.

Below is a press release from Judicial Watch which exposes some of the serious health concerns with a particular form of HPV vaccine:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-646-5188
October 5, 2007
 

Judicial Watch Uncovers New FDA Records Detailing Deaths in
1,824 Adverse Reaction Reports Related to HPV Vaccine
Judicial Watch Sues FDA for Producing “Partial Response” to FOIA Request

(Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released new documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing 1,824 reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil, including as many as eight deaths related to the vaccine.  Judicial Watch had previously obtained 1,637 reports relating to Gardasil on May 15, 2007, bringing the known total to 3,461 adverse reactions including eleven deaths since FDA approval.  Among the new information uncovered by Judicial Watch:

Read more ...
posted on Friday, October 05, 2007 6:44:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Pew: “27% of Republicans Would Vote for Pro-Life Third Party Instead of Giuliani”

Pew Research is reporting that a sizeable percentage of Republicans would rather vote for a third party candidate who was pro-life than pro-choice Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  This is interesting information considering the recent agreement of conservative activists in Salt Lake City to do just that in the event Giuliani wins the GOP nomination.

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posted on Friday, October 05, 2007 3:36:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
Hillary Clinton Promises to Lift Embryonic Stem Cell Ethical Guidelines

The Kansas City Star reports that Hillary Clinton has promised that she would overturn President Bush’s ethical guidelines prohibiting tax-payer dollars from supporting stem cell research that destroys human embryos if she becomes president. Unfortunately some Republican presidential candidates would likely do the same.

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posted on Friday, October 05, 2007 3:33:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“Republicans Seek Quicker Action on Judges”

Excerpts from The Hill online magazine:

With just 16 months left until President Bush leaves the Oval Office, there are 48 vacancies on the federal district and appellate courts, and Bush has yet to nominate judges for 24 of those seats.

…

Republicans say if Democrats continue to block Southwick and other qualified nominees, they will spotlight the “obstruction” in the run-up to the election, an issue that plays well with and energizes the conservative base. And some blame sprawling Democratic investigations into the Justice Department and other aspects of the administration for slowing down the White House’s process in finding suitable nominees.

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posted on Friday, October 05, 2007 2:49:16 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #   
“[Un]fairness Doctrine” Denounced by Sen. Coleman at Heritage Foundation Event, AdvanceUSA Attends
“The fairness doctrine flies in the face of the First Amendment.”

     -Sen. Norm Coleman

Pointing out that the “fairness doctrine” is not fair at a