BIG BROTHER AND THE TRY TO "HUSH RUSH"

George Orwell wrote in 1984 about a society where the government controlled all the information available to the public. There's a new battle facing the Pentagon, and it's almost Orwellian in nature.

Our nation's military leaders, who apparently are taking orders from the Clinton administration, are refusing to air Southern Missouri native-turned media star Rush Limbaugh's radio and television shows on the armed forces broadcast system. This form of censorship is coupled with the liberals' movement in Congress to restore the Fairness Doctrine in broadcasting, which the Federal Communications Commission scrapped in 1987.

The "Fairness Doctrine" gives the federal government the power to second-guess the editorial discretion of a broadcaster. In no other part of our media does the government enjoy this power. While it may sound reassuring and comforting to say that there is nothing wrong with fairness, our founding fathers decided to reject government imposed "fairness" in favor of a potentially unfair, but nonetheless free press.

In the case of the military, shows like Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue are aired around the globe. This means that the liberals believe it's okay for our American troops to hear about transsexual marriages and deviant behavior, but they're not allowed to hear about conservative, common-sense values and the administration's tax-and-spend policies.

What most aggravates me is that the liberal media has controlled the airwaves for so long and we never heard this cry for "&fairness." Now, however, when conservatives -- like Limbaugh with his #1 radio show -- are beginning to make inroads nationwide and counter the attacks of the liberal propaganda machine, the so-called fight for "fairness is resumed. I will continue my opposition to the Fairness Doctrine because I don't want to see Orwell's science-fiction novel become reality and our constitutional rights be eroded.