Clear Channel strikes again.

A Clear Channel-owned TV station in Salt Lake City has refused to air an ad featuring Cindy Sheehan. Their rationale: "Why allow the publicly owned airwaves to be used to express viewpoints contrary to that of the president of the United States—and the management of our parent company?"

I made that up.

What KTVX really said was that local managers felt the ad "could very well be offensive to our community in Utah, which has contributed more than its fair share of fighting soldiers and suffered significant loss of life in this Iraq war." KTVX's station manager says that Clear Channel had nothing to do with the decision.

Meanwhile, across town, Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson called for "the biggest demonstration this state has ever seen" against Bush's visit a national veterans convention. Said the mayor:

I don't understand people simply blindly going along with the sort of deceit and utter cruelty of this administration. It's not just we have the right to speak out, but we have the obligation to speak out when we see misconduct on the part of the government. The most patriotic thing we can do is stand up against the misuse of governmental power.