Have you seen today's Boston Globe?...

[Richard Chonak]

Scott Fybush wrote:
>
> So what do you make of this decidedly non-conservative who agrees 100% 
> with Dan - I don't want the government regulating political speech OR 
> sexual content on radio or TV?

A good point.  If I may say so, your views and Dan's on the matter are 
libertarian, rather than conservative _per se_.

Conservatism as such aims to _conserve_ Western culture and the good 
things about it, and seeks to be guided by history and experience, 
rather than by a rigorous application of ideological principles (with 
the chips falling where they may).

So conservatives, due to experience, are skeptical about what government 
can do to remake man (as in the Communist ideal) or heal the planet 
(whatever), but they are willing to use modest, non-draconian sanctions 
to accomplish modest goods, such as to keep what is obscene ob-scene: 
that is, "off-stage" (as the Greek dramatists put it).

It's amazing that public opposition to obscenity in public speech, 
broadcasting, film, novels, and periodicals has evaporated in 50 years 
-- but maybe I shouldn't assume that public opposition is altogether 
gone.  After all, who studies public opinion on such questions as 
censorship these days?

--RC