Two Cheers for Michael Powell

The Federal Communications Commission chief says there's nothing he can or should do to stop the Sinclair Broadcast Group from showing an anti-Kerry documentary Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal. From a Variety report:

"There is no FCC rule of prior restraint of a program being aired on television," [Powell] told reporters following an FCC meeting. "I think that would be an absolute disservice to the First Amendment and I think it would be unconstitutional if we attempted to do so. So don't look to us to block the airing of a program."

The comments were Powell's first public response to queries from 18 Democratic senators and two prominent Democratic House members who called on Powell to step in and stop Sinclair from running the docu on all 62 of its stations, many of which are in battleground swing states.

Be sure to check out the wide-ranging interview with Mr. Powell conducted by Nick Gillespie, Jesse Walker, and Drew Clark, forthcoming in the December issue of Reason. And you'd see it that much faster if you were a subscriber.