Buying ink by the barrel, owning a television station or hosting a show on the public airwaves are all privileges that come with responsibilities. Freedom of speech doesn't mean the freedom to lie, to purvey hatred and to encourage violence.

In radio, there are a handful of words the FCC doesn't allow on the air — the “F” word, for example. Any time one of these words is uttered, the station is soaked for a $10,000 fine! If the FCC can set such strict standards for individual words, why not for groups of words? The challenge, of course, is to balance the need for truth and civility in public discourse with the need to preserve freedom of speech. But tell me why either of the following should be protected speech?

Glenn Beck telling us that he's thinking of killing Michael Moore.

Michael Reagan saying we should shoot Americans who think the September 11th attack was a conspiracy.

Vitriol in talk radio has become so common it's not even newsworthy anymore. And while there will always be hatred and violence in our world, we can demand a higher standard of accountability from those whose voices dominate the media.

That's our conversation tonight, Monday.

Tuesday, we discuss the misguided effort of a handful of Iowa House Republicans to impeach the remaining four Iowa Supreme Court Judges.

Wednesday, John Calhoun joins us to discuss his campaign for the State Senate in a special election coming up on January 18th.

Thursday, State Rep Dan Kelley (D-Newton) gives us an update on the first week's happenings at the Iowa Statehouse, and Ying Sa of Community CPA & Associates discusses recent tax and accounting law changes.