Remember when President Bush corralled that twat Tony Blair at the G8 conference last year and was caught on camera saying they needed to "get Hezbollah to stop this shit"? Or what about back in 2004 when dickface Vice President Cheney told cuntmunch Senator Patrick Leahy to "go fuck yourself" on the floor of the Senate? Good times, especially since that was the day the Senate passed the "Defense of Decency Act".
Don't you think it's just a wee bit hypocritical that the two of the three most powerful men in our goddamned government can get away with saying "fuck" and "shit," but if Bono accidentally drops one eensy fucking little F-Bomb on TV then the station that broadcasts it gets ass-rammed for indecency by the FCC? It sure sounds that way to me.
If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words in similarly fleeting contexts.
That, in essence, was the decision on Monday, when a federal appeals panel struck down the government policy that allows stations and networks to be fined if they broadcast shows containing obscene language.
As most of you know, the FCC is an independent regulatory agency charged with regulating broadcast communications. Until the Janet Jackson incident (or the "Boob Seen 'Round the World"), the FCC was generally pretty lax in their enforcement of decency standards. Afterwards, spurred on by public outcry ("What the hell was that thing on her nipple!?!?!") and Congressional posturing, the FCC became more aggressive at regulating obscenity on the airwaves. This lead to an increase in both the amount and frequency of FCC fines.
In this case, the regulatory action under review was the repeated imposition of fines and violations for mere "fleeting expletives" or words that implied sexual or excretory acts. They levied these fines and violations on the basis of Title 18, Sec. 1464 of the U.S. Criminal Code, which makes it a crime to broadcast "obscene, indecent or profane" language, despite the fact that until now it had never been applied to such "fleeting" four-letter words. This policy has been in place ever since.
Until the Second Circuit this week said "try again, motherfuckers."
But the judges said vulgar words are just as often used out of frustration or excitement, and not to convey any broader obscene meaning. "In recent times even the top leaders of our government have used variants of these expletives in a manner that no reasonable person would believe referenced sexual or excretory organs or activities."
Adopting an argument made by lawyers for NBC, the judges then cited examples in which Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney had used the same language that would be penalized under the policy. Mr. Bush was caught on videotape last July using a common vulgarity that the commission finds objectionable in a conversation with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. Three years ago, Mr. Cheney was widely reported to have muttered an angry obscene version of "get lost" to Senator Patrick Leahy on the floor of the United States Senate.
"We find that the F.C.C.'s new policy regarding 'fleeting expletives' fails to provide a reasoned analysis justifying its departure from the agency's established practice," said the panel.
But that shit ain't all, yo. The Court went a step further, and was all like "haven't you assholes heard of the First Amendment?"
"We are skeptical that the commission can provide a reasoned explanation for its 'fleeting expletive' regime that would pass constitutional muster," said the panel in an opinion written by Judge Rosemary S. Pooler and joined by Judge Peter W. Hall. "We question whether the F.C.C.'s indecency test can survive First Amendment scrutiny."
To buttress that claim, the bitches on the panel even cited fuckin' Reno v. ACLU. That case made it OK for FearTheReaper to call everyone on this site a "cumstain." On a broader sense, you could say it helped ensure that this asstacular website even exists.
Similarly, the human blowjobs at the FCC are now worried that this ruling will do for the airwaves what Reno did for the Intertubes.
…[T]op officials at the Federal Communications Commission said the opinion could gut the ability of the commission to regulate any speech on television or radio.
[..]
Mr. Martin, the chairman of the commission, attacked the panel's reasoning.
"I completely disagree with the court's ruling and am disappointed for American families," he said. "The court says the commission is 'divorced from reality.' It is the New York court, not the commission, that is divorced from reality."
He said that if the agency was unable to prohibit some vulgarities during prime time, "Hollywood will be able to say anything they want, whenever they want."
Boo fucking hoo, cockhead.
The full text of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling can be found here. Be careful though, as it does contain some language that may be offensive. And shit.
FastJetta said:
1st amendament for the FUCKING win! About time the FCC got put in check. If you don't like whats being said, Change the fucking channel!
Actually, that's the real issue right there. These rules were initially instated when there were only about 5 channels and "People had to be protected, because there were so few options." But now-a-days, while Paris is serving time in her mansion and gets distracted by something shiny before she can flip through all 749 channels on her big screen...
the last time i heard the laws.. the only censorship as far as language goes on canadian tv was all self imposed among the networks... i believe "erect penises" and actual penetration are all that they can't show on tv regardless of the time/station..
about time freedom of speech caught up.. but i'm reminded of the south park episode involving shit and the end of the world...
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chikinhammr
Orlando, FL
April 2006
JUN 08, 2007 03:50 AM
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Subrosa
San Francisco, CA
July 2004
JUN 07, 2007 09:27 PM