All about ‘fairness’?

Perhaps the most ridiculous idea to come out of the current Congress is the push by some Democrats to revive the so-called Fairness Doctrine.

Smarting from the fact that consumers prefer Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to Air America and CNN, many lefty lawmakers — including Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the upper chamber — want the government to step in and oversee content to ensure “balance.”

Sort of like in the old Soviet Union or today’s Venezuela.

The Fairness Doctrine — imposed in the late 1940s and abandoned in 1987 — demanded that broadcasters present both sides of a controversial issue or risk having federal regulators pull their licenses.

It was an incredible affront to the First Amendment in the first place. But it would be even sillier today, given the wide array of choices available in the modern information marketplace.

Thankfully, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin — in a letter released last week — says his agency has no intention of bringing back the Fairness Doctrine. Government regulation simply isn’t necessary, he noted, to ensure the public has access to a broad range of opinions.

In the meantime, however, Republicans should continue to push legislation to ensure that no future administration or FCC could reimpose the Fairness Doctrine without the consent of Congress.

That, at least, would make it somewhat more difficult for Democrats to breathe life into what should be a rotting corpse.