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April 22, 2004
"US OUT OF CABLE - NOW!"
Stay the fuck out of cable Mr. Michael Powell. The chairman of the FCC has made his intent clear, he wants to regulate cable like he regulates broadcast television. Only in a Bush world could we see such idiocy. The FCC currently regulates the "free" airwaves "in the public interest." This is because any well-meaning Amish lad could stumble into a broadcasted television situation where they might be exposed to Eddie Murphy yelling "FUCK!" in a movie. Thanks to the FCC regulations, the same movie on broadcast TV must be edited so that Murphy instead exclaims "FU...N!" Keep those Amish happy and blissfully ignorant of the real world.
Examining the FCC's need to harness "profane" language anywhere, anytime, we have to wonder where the world of 1984 really will end it's clammy reach. Cable is a private contract between the company and subscribers. Getting the government involved in the content provided in a private contract is a scary thing. Orwellian. This slippery slope could easily set precedents where by other types of content could be controlled. Let your mind wander here a bit... it gets scary fast.
And it's not just a matter of keeping "Fuck" off the air. The FCC decides what profanity is and, ignoring broadcast organizations repeated demands, has never fully defined a workable set of criteria for identifying it. They just come up with justification, levy a heavy fine, and the timid broadcasters start making their own even worse rules restricting their own content. "Run in fear of the parochial assholes" seems to be the best guidance these days.
So what can you do? Be the anti-parochial. Write angry e-mail to your cable company every time you see them cheese out on a content issue. Cancel your contracts with government tainted content. Sign up for the Playboy channel. Congratulate HBO on content like Angels in America, OZ, and Sex and the City. Yeah, those would be targets in the Michael Powell world. Scared yet?
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