Thursday, March 10, 2005

Why Ted Stevens is an Idiot and Needs to Retire

Ok, I know, I am a little behind the times here, but I still have to talk about what R Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska is up to. He mentioned recently that premium cable channels and other pay services such as satellite radio should be bound to the same decency guidelines and fines as broadcast TV and radio. Here are his exact words:

"Cable is a much greater violator in the indecency area," "I think we have the same power to deal with cable as over-the-air broadcasters. "

"There has to be some standard of decency"

There are several problems with these quotes, which must have come at the end of a drunken bender and were just rambled hap-hazardly as an attempt to win approval from some demographic in Alaska. Obviously he didn't think this through to a conclusion; here is what is wrong with these statements.

A. I haven't seen anything on cable that I considered indecent. Well, except for that scene on Queer as Folk where that guy licked that other guy’s ass, but I didn't actually see that, I just heard about it. So do I watch Queer as Folk? No, and if you don't like seeing some guys ass being licked I recommend you don't watch it either, however some people do want to see that and they are free to do so in my book. I don't watch or listen to Rush Limbaugh and the 700 Club because I know they will offend me. So to respond to the "violator of indecency" comment, cable isn't a greater violator of indecency, not in my eyes anyway.

B. No, you don't have the same power to deal with cable as over the air broadcasters because it's not free to anyone who wants to watch it. How many 10 year olds pay for cable television or have an account with XM radio so they can get it in their room?

C. "There has to be some standard blah blah..." No, there doesn't, because an 88 year old lady might find ankles offensive where as Larry Flint might only find beastiality offensive. They are both Americans, they both pay taxes, so why should one have precedent over the other when it comes to defining decency?

D. Ok I know what you are going to say, yes the FCC does have jurisdiction over cable and satellite services, but they also have jurisdiction over cell phones, pagers, 2 way radios etc. Their primary responsibility is policing billing practices and administering licenses, not censoring. So if you give them the power to apply decency standards to pay TV / satellite services, they have the power to police what is said over cell phones and 2 way radios, and I think we can all agree that is ridiculous.

E. The main point is, where does it stop? If I pay to have "indecent" cable in my house, and they are now saying they can censor that, then why can't they just say I can't buy DVD porn to watch in my house, or have Playboy magazine delivered to my house? I pay for both of them,(well I don't but I'm making a point) they are only for personal, private use, inside my home, I am not buying either for the children, in fact, I have no children, so why would anyone else care what I watch in my own home?

While we are on the subject of children, I have a few more things to say. If you don't want your kids watching shows about sex and violence, then don't let them watch the evening news, I mean, don't let them watch such programs. There are ratings on everything now, if you are a responsible parent, you can find out what is appropriate for them. You can also opt to not buy these premium channels on cable and you can choose not to let them have cable in their rooms and you can choose to monitor what they watch, or you can, God forbid, not have cable or TV in your house at all. Buy them a book, take them to a library, buy them a musical instrument, talk to them, there are other things to do other than watch TV.

It is no coincidence that this comes at a time where Howard Stern is about to change over to a pay satellite service and will be allowed to talk as much shit about Republicans as he wants. It is no coincidence that his criticism of Chairman Powell has something to do with this.
Although Powell, the son of Colin Powell is now retiring, they will probably replace him with someone else who has no qualifications to run such an agency. The FCC is another complete subject in itself so I won't go into that right now.

It only takes one complaint from a viewer to generate the outrageous fines that the FCC is handing out. I say turn the tables on them. The next time you see Pat Robertson talk about violent Bible stories, or eternal hell fire, call the FCC and make a complaint that his show is too hateful and violent. Maybe I am offended by all these religious shows. If I am offended by those, why can't those be taken off the air. Again, it goes back to what I have been saying all along, these kinds of people want free speech for Christians only, they don't care about the rest of us.
Why should they be the ones that get their way? What is offensive to them is not offensive to me, and vice versa, it's all or nothing, if they get the dirty movies, we get the religious hate monger shows! Although, I would opt for no such censorship.

7 comments:

Sandi said...

AMEN BROTHER!!!!!!!!!

Neemund said...

I'm still having trouble trying to remember when we gave our government the right to control our airwaves. But then again, I don’t recall the government getting permission for most of the stuff it does. I also don’t recall ever being forced to watch or listen to some garbage that was coming through. I have a new device called a remote that allows me to change the channel without having to get up and do it manually. The only way to force a TV to show a particular program is to hack that V-chip thing but that requires an extensive electronics knowledge and I wouldn’t recommend the hassle; but you can always just unplug the thing.
As for the TV ratings to inform parents about the shows their children are watching, if they don’t monitor what their own kids are watching in their own house, I highly doubt they will pay attention to a little box at the beginning of the show saying what it’s rated. TV ratings have proven themselves even more useless than video game or movie ratings, as most people don’t even pay attention to them; at least according to an article I read a while back on CNN.com. I wouldn’t bet on the ratings of the shows I watch because I have never paid attention to them.
So to solve this ‘indecency problem’ on the cable and satellite feeds, there are two good solutions. Parents should know what their children are watching and people should change the channel or even turn it off when something they don’t like comes on.

Sandi said...

That is the easy way to solve the problem, but why do it the easy way. I mean, really, it seems so muuuccchhhh easier to just force the rest of the country to watch good holsam programming. After all we are the uptight, white, rich, religous, and outright assholes of the country. (I say I but I mean THEM, THEY and all censors.)

Anonymous said...

FYI: The FCC was given limited control over our airwaves when it was created in the 1930s. Its primary purpose, however, was to ensure that the new mass media would provide a public service in exchange for free use of the airwaves. That is why the traditional networks all had to have nightly news programs and produce public service announcements. What I don't recall is the date we decided to let non-elected officials determine what is best for our country, what is "moral." Go on with yo' bad self, Toad.

Joe Wiess said...

Okay...here's the way I see it.
If it's so destructive, why watch it?
Why don't parent's monitor what their children watch and block the bad channels?

Lord above, I have a TV and never watch it. That may be because I can't stand the reality Shows.

Toad734 said...

RE: Joe

Agreed, if you dont like it dont watch it, buy it, listen to it, or fuck it!

But let those who would chose to do so alone.

You wouldn't walk across the street to knock over an ant hill would you?? If it doesn't bother you, leave it alone.

Anonymous said...

I typed in google "Ted Stevens is an idiot" and it came to this. You only know the tip of this ranting iceburg. Come live in Alaska where we consistantly elect this fucker to represent us in the US Congress. This Alaskan is a little embarrassed. I speak not from an outsiders view like so many are apt to but 36 winters proof