The big headliner in the shocking saga of the indictment against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is his attempting auctioning of the Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama for personal favors.  However, there's a less hyped (but no less chilling) charge in the indictment:

[Blagojevich] corruptly solicited and demanded ...the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and transactions of the State of Illinois ...the provision of millions of dollars in financial assistance ...to the Tribune Company involving the Wrigley Field baseball stadium

Basically, the Chicago Tribune had some writers who were critical of the governor.  The Tribune Company owns the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, and wanted some public money for stadium upgrades.  The governor brazenly attempted to use the power and treasury of the government to regulate free speech and silence political dissent.

A similar, though more subtle, movement against political dissent is possible in the coming months.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that she's in favor of at least considering re-implementation of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" regulation of radio.  Under this program, the government would have the power to compel radio stations to offer "equal time" for consenting viewpoints on "controversial" issues.  Of course, the government would have the power to decide what issues are "controversial", and what exactly would constitute the opposing viewpoint (most issues have many viewpoints) and what would constitute equal time. 

The possibilities for government regulation of speech are endless under a "Fairness Doctrine", and would potentially bring forth a bureaucratic nightmare for radio station managers; it is likely that many stations currently engaged in news and talk would change to a less regulated format rather than face potential fines.  And, of course, politicians in power would be likely to attempt to influence the FCC to go after stations that happened to be critical of them; that's the nature of power.

Rather than wait on Congress or the Obama Administration to implement the "Fairness Doctrine", Governor Blagojevich decided to take matters into his own hands.  Apparently, the Chicago political machine has its own methods of enforcing "fairness" in the sphere of political discourse.