Freedom –vs- The FCC

Since when has America become so self-righteous that we are, all of a sudden, the benchmark of all that is decent? This country was built and started on indecency. America is the world’s most dominant force due to indecency. We have laws that were created from the bowels of indecency. For centuries, America’s middle name […]

Since when has America become so self-righteous that we are, all of a sudden, the benchmark of all that is decent? This country was built and started on indecency. America is the world’s most dominant force due to indecency. We have laws that were created from the bowels of indecency. For centuries, America’s middle name was corruption and its next of kin was segregation. America is now pregnant with twins: immorality and deception. Who are we really kidding here?

As the (new) story goes, Janet Jackson is the spark that has set off and engulfed America into this attitude that we listen to and watch too much immoral and unclean content. It is this sort of hypocrisy that runs through the veins of this country. If you have listened to any State of the Union addresses in the last four years, you should know that, in itself, is immoral and unclean content. Deceit, separatism, capitalism, and rebellion all make up the messages that have been spewed into your ears by good ol’ Dubya in his first term. As of February 26, 2004, moral fiber is the diet of the day, and not many people are digesting this comfortably.

The Federal Communications Commission is the new referee in this fight over how questionable content is presented to the public. They are basically the end-all and be-all of how images and ideals are to be portrayed over TV and airwaves nationwide. What is stifling to my mind is why they chose the incident at the Super Bowl to be straw that broke the camel’s back. “Questionable content” is what has made television so entertaining in the last 20 years. In a technical sense, reality TV that shows people eating horse testicles and roaches for prize money is “questionable content.” Boxing, with all the gore and barbaric action that fans are accustomed to, is also “questionable content.” Two women kissing on stage in front of a worldwide audience is (in my own opinion) astonishingly questionable. In these cases, there has been absolutely no backlash at all. No person with any meaningful title attached to their name made any sort of stink about these instances. Poor Janet and her overly exposed C-cup!

The Super Bowl halftime show has caused a fracas unknown to this country since the DC Sniper incident last year. Was it because her breast was pierced? Or was it because it was broadcast on the biggest event of the year? It was neither one of these reasons that this caused such a big fuss in this country. One could definitely play the race card (how dare a black woman expose her breast to a worldwide audience!), but doing that would cheapen this editorial. Maybe it was because too many children witnessed this event in sheer horror. Well, judging by the attitude of abortion in this country, I dare not believe that we are suddenly advocates of a child’s innocence. From what my eyes can tell, it’s only these self-righteous, self-indulged, pro-religion, close-minded robots that are elevating this issue to the point of no return.

The FCC is nothing more than a federally mandated group of degenerate power mongers specifically designed to influence what it is you do and do not watch. They have nothing better to do than to attempt to take your “freedoms” away by pushing policies in our faces. As a result of these policies, radio stations have now implemented their own zero-tolerance policies to further police what disc jockeys can say on the air. This clearly spells the doom of talk radio.

With this new policing, Hip-Hop stations will begin to mysteriously shut down its operations due to the lyrical content. If the FCC is planning to be the leader in consistency, rappers have to either rid themselves of “gangsta” and misogynistic messages altogether, or be assured to have little or no listening audience. How is Hip-Hop the powerful marketing venture it is without hundreds of scantily clad women in their videos? A fraction of Hip-Hop’s overall success does not come from the lyrics that are sung. Imagery has clearly catapulted Hip-Hop to the next level. And with the guard dogs of the FCC looming in wait, this will surely have an impact on Hip-Hop music.

Hip-Hop will not be the only genre music affected by the FCC’s sudden longing for moral quality. Gospel music may take a hit for a variety of reasons. Since many people believe God to be an ideology at best, the FCC may deem it inappropriate for such language and ideas to be broadcast. Rock –n- Roll has tread on thin ice for many years with the stage shows and types of programming it has offered to its fans. According to the swift measures the FCC is taking, those days are all but over. Even major networks will have to revamp certain shows in primetime, as reality TV has certain gone awry in terms of what the FCC is looking for.

Michael Powell, the chairman of the FCC, was once quoted as saying, “no regulator, either federal or state, should tread into this area without an absolutely compelling justification for doing so.” How is this man compelled, or even justified in making such inane changes? Who gave him the right to take away the rights that we have to choose to watch or listen to whatever we like? Just because a few moral crusaders do not exercise their right to change the channel, the country as a whole has to suffer? I do not agree with this at all, and it is time that we take a stand against this. In modern speak, that phony piece of paper in DC (formally known as the Constitution) says we have the freedom to watch, listen, and say whatever it is we choose. Has the viewing of one boob (accidentally or intentionally) basically rewritten the entire landscape of that document? So it seems. Slowly and quietly, these rights are being taken from under us. This democracy has morphed into hypocrisy.

Freedom –vs- The FCC: Who Will Win The Fight?