A "Pax" On McCain?

I just wanted to point out that, with all of the stories now floating around concerning "Senator Honor and Virtue" (including this one) and his unparalleled shilling for the telecoms (notably, the access he granted to lobbyist Vicki Iseman of Paxson Communications), I don't think it has been pointed out that Ion/Pax TV (so named in honor of founder Lowell Paxson, pictured) was once the network that catered to family friendly programming such as "Touched By An Angel," "Alice," and "Mama's Family" (though Ion seems to be more secular, if you will, featuring fare such as "The Drew Carey Show" and "The Wayans Brothers," with "Baywatch" coming in March).

I would argue that PAX TV’s wholesome image stands in contrast to Paxson himself, who has benefitted from congressional intervention by McCain on at least two occasions: during the period from 1998 to 1999 as well as 2003 to 2004, when Paxson lobbied to delay passage of a bill that would have forced all broadcasters to stop transmitting via analog television by December 31, 2006 and slowed the transition to digital broadcasting, which, as noted here by Drew Clark, presented public safety risks particularly for Florida residents (with Paxson also a resident of Florida, ironically enough).

I'll add, though, that there's nothing illegal about lobbying to save one's company, but I think Paxson's actions – in particular, working to hang onto the analog spectrum channels of 63, 64, 68, and 69 for obsolete television purposes instead of allowing New York Fire Department Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeiffer and special operations chief Ray Downey to use those channels for firefighter communication – had a broader impact that ended up jeopardizing the FDNY firefighters.

And I happened to come across the following parody which I thought was a bit amusing, and that is a version of “The Sopranos” for PAX TV edited in an appropriate manner for that station (though a couple of bad words did slip by).



Update: More from Atrios here...