FCC of late...creeping intimidation

[tony schinella]

Not so strangely, I'm in the middle of both sides. 
One man's decency is another woman's 
entertainment, or vice versa. At the same time, do 
I really want my 24-week old - when he gets to be 
older - seeing a boob with a tassle on it flashing 
while watching the Super Bowl? No. Or, something 
just as abhorrent - the violent death and 
destruction of the Iraqi invasion on the nightly 
news? No.
At least with the boob, I can say, "Son, that is a 
breast and it is one of the reasons men love women 
..." What do I tell him when on the rare 
ocassion - since the media doesn't want to show 
them - that he sees some innocent woman or child 
from Iraq running around with blood all over 
themselves at the hands of American occupiers? It 
is the radicalism of both sides - and the fact 
that neither side can admit that they are indeed 
radical - that is the problem.
While I don't think the media should be 
sanitized - or Christianized - and I have always 
been a First Amendment advocate, I am beginning to 
wonder if there shouldn't be some sort of common 
sense when it comes to what the FCC does and how 
the people's airwaves are controlled. Mind you, 
I'm glad Powell is gone. He was never qualified 
for the job - not unlike Justice Clarence Thomas. 
And his tantrums ignored all kinds of other crap 
an FCC chairman should have fined. I also think 
the media is much too corporate and I would like 
to see it re-regulated as far as ownership goes.
But is it really healthy to allow Howard Stern to 
say to a hot chick at 9 a.m. in the morning, 
paraphrasing but pretty close to a quote, 'you're 
so hot I want to cut off your head and rape your 
neck socket'? If he wants to say that at 10 p.m. 
or on satellite, fine. If his radio show was on 
HBO [instead of E!] and he unblurred the naked 
bodies of all those strippers he has on, fine. I 
also don't have a problem with the E! show since 
it is on at 11 p.m. But between 6 a.m. and 9 or 10 
p.m., there should be some sort of safety. It 
isn't just about "choosing to shut off the 
channel." At some point, we don't have to think 
about the health and safety of others, and 
society, don't we?

Best,
Tony Schinella
radiotony@comcast.net
WKXL A&E/News 1450 Concord, NH
http://politizine.blogspot.com