Monday, February 15, 2016

237.2 - Passing thought: Will the US denounce the government of Japan as "tyrannical" for threatening to close "biased" media outlets, as it did in the case of Venezuela?

Passing thought: Will the US denounce the government of Japan as "tyrannical" for threatening to close "biased" media outlets, as it did in the case of Venezuela?

Just a passing thought here. The openly Marxist Hugo Chavez was president of Venezuela from 1998 to 2013. During that time, across the administrations of Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama, any time there was a threat in Venezuela to close down or suspend a newspaper or broadcast station, the US government declared it was proof that Chavez was or at the very least was trying to become, a tyrant and a dictator.

On February 9, Sanae Takaichi, the Internal Affairs and Communications Minister of Japan, told a parliamentary committee that the government can order broadcasters to suspend operations if they continue to air TV programming that the government deems politically biased.

Takaichi told a Lower House Budget Committee that the government is legally authorized to order stations and networks to cease broadcasting if they ignore official calls to remain "politically neutral," a term that Takaichi hinted could include the meaning "do not criticize the government."

I wonder how long we'll have to wait before some US government official says that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking to become a tyrannical dictator.

Sources cited in links:
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/search?q=Hugo+Chavez&max-results=20&by-date=true
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/09/national/politics-diplomacy/minister-warns-that-government-can-shut-down-broadcasters-it-feels-are-biased/

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