Columbus city officials ended public access TV about 10 years ago after it had existed for decades in Central Ohio. The reason given was lack of funds. In subsequent years, city officials gave the same reason in response to suggestions to restore public-access TV.

But the financial situation has changed. At the urging of city officials, Columbus voters passed a substantial increase in the city income tax in 2009, resulting in the city having millions of dollars of surplus funds. Nevertheless, city officials are still refusing to restore public access TV.

The officials, including Democratic mayor Michael Coleman and an all-Democratic city council, now say that because of the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, citizens can communicate by those means and don’t need TV to communicate to the public. Volumes could be written about problems with their position.

Wayne Madsen describes this in an excerpt from his blog at Wayne Madsen Report
TRIPOLI - Tonight we are seeing the heaviest NATO strikes in three days of being in Tripoli. Although military targets are being hit, it is a matter of time before we see the takeout of infrastructure targets as was done in Belgrade and later, in Baghdad. Libyan state TV is still on the air (I did an interview there last night that has resulted in strangers coming up to me and thanking me for reporting the truth about what is happening in Libya). Internet still works and the lights are still on. However, AT&T, T Mobile, and Verizon have severed all cell phone links with Libya. The world must know that the real criminals in Libya are the rebel leaders who are handing over their country to the Western powers, western oil companies, and the global bankers who have been chewing on the carcasses of Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland and other nations and are now baring their fangs for a big feast on Libya.

Also from Wayne's blog, a little historical context for US/NATO operations under the last Democratic president:

Whistleblower Nuovo fired by OSU Medical Center for exposing alleged fraud

OSU is facing a very public scandal as a result of Coach Jim Tressel's resignation under embarrassing circumstances and allegations of unethical behavior affecting its many football fans. However, the scandal involving OSU's medical center and Dr. Gerard Nuovo affecting the health and well-being of many female patients, are potentially more explosive and costly to the university.

The Columbus Free Press obtained public records documenting that the Ohio State Medical Center recently fired whistleblower Dr. Gerard Nuovo for allegedly filing frivolous charges of scientific misconduct against Sanford Barsky, M.D.

Americans count on the Environmental Protection Agency to identify the largest threats to clean air and clean water, and act to make sure they are protected.
But thanks to the work of Vice President Dick Cheney's secretive energy task force, since 2005, the EPA has been handcuffed from doing anything about one of the fastest growing threats to our waters supply: High Pressure Hydraulic Fracturing (or Fracking).

The method of drilling for natural gas involves pumping huge quantities of water and a secret mix of chemicals, including known toxic and carcinogens, deep underground, directly into or adjacent to our dinking water supplies.1

Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) has introduced a bill "The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act" (S.587), which would allow the EPA to regulate Fracking, and force companies to disclose the list of chemicals in the toxic Fracking fluid.

Your Senator, Sen. Sherrod Brown, has not yet co-sponsored the bill. So we've set up a meeting at Sen. Brown's office so you can ask him to do just that.

It is now 1:10 in the afternoon and as the daily life in Tripoli unfolds that includes teachers, staff, and children at school, shopkeepers working in their businesses, streetsweepers sweeping the streets, people moving to and fro in the cars, on bicycles, and on foot, Tripoli has thus far since around 11:00 up to now, received at least 29 bombs.

Interestingly, the efforts of the Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, and others to portray Libya claims on the bombings as "absurd" are patently false and are merely efforts to defend in the court of public opinion, the indefensible bombing of civilians going about their lives in a heavily populated area. The Washington Post headlined "Libya government fails to prove claims of NATO casualties" and the Los Angeles Times headline blared, "Libya officials put a spin on a conflict." These bombs and missiles are not falling in empty spaces: people are all over Tripoli going about their lives just as in any other major metropolitan city of about two million people.