FCC Indecent With Fines

Ok, now this really pisses me off. Under this administration a lot of things have happened to piss me off, but this one takes the cake and again shows a pattern of an administration who wants to have complete power and wants to punish everyone who does not think they way they do.

For those of you who wish to hold curious george bush blameless in all things, remember he is the one that puts his cronies in charge of these agencies so he is ultimately responsible for their attitudes, actions, and policies.

Federal regulators proposed a record $3.6 million fine against a single TV show, penalizing CBS and its affiliates for an episode of "Without a Trace" that suggested a teenage sexual orgy, in the first batch of indecency fines proposed in more than a year.

Overall, the complaints affirmed the FCC's stance that common four-letter expletives aren't suitable for broadcast and would draw fines, except in "rare cases" that such language was "demonstrably essential to the nature of an artistic or educational work," such as the war film "Saving Private Ryan," which the FCC had previously found was permissible to broadcast.

In total, the FCC proposed fines of about $4 million, including the $3.6 million "Without a Trace" fine but not including the Super Bowl fine, which had been previously levied. A further four shows were found to be indecent, but didn't have fines levied against them. Complaints against dozens of shows were rejected, including one about an episode of Oprah Winfrey's talk show that featured graphic language about teen sex.

Oh no! Not Oprah! So, now the FCC gets to decide when expletives and indecency is appropriate and when it is not. They will fine some but not fine others. No uniform code here, just a bunch of cronies sitting around deciding what we should or should not be able to watch. If they set a standard and stuck by it, that is one thing. When we must trust their interpretation of what is or is not decent, that is unacceptable.

The FCC assessed a $27,500 fine for a "Pool Party" episode of the WB Television Network's "The Surreal Life 2" in 2004, which the FCC said went over the line by featuring 20 nude female friends of porn actor Ron Jeremy. Although the network used pixilation to obscure the women's bodies, the FCC ruled it was "unmistakable" that partygoers were exposing themselves and "participating in sexual activities."

CBS's "Without a Trace" drew the $3.6 million fine against 111 stations for an episode that showed no nudity, but featured scenes suggesting a teen orgy.

So, with some shows, even the hint that something might be going on that you cannot actually see is indecent. If allowed they will go further and further. When do the book burnings start?

Click here to read the whole article at the Wallstreet Journal

by Chris McElroy
More things that just piss me off