"Richard Cranium" wrote:

Every single radio and television set
I've ever seen has two controls built-
in for personal censorship: An OFF
switch and a tuning knob or channel
selector. Use them if you don't like
what you hear or see. Nobody
FORCED you wo watch Janet
Jackson bare her shapely breast,
after all. (snip)


Unless I carry a remote with me throughout the house whenever the
television is on (living room, kitchen, dining room, and so on), I am indeed
forced to see this garbage - on commercials, within programs, on news
broadcasts, and so on. For example, I can't even guess how many times I've
seen the sleazy "Tripping the Riff" commercials, with the fart jokes and
cartoon sex scenes, on the Sci-Fi channel. I certainly didn't sit down to
watch that show. Instead, the commercials were placed into the show I was
watching (without warning, parental or otherwise).

Likewise, I can't even guess how many times I've started watching a movie
only to be confronted with a gratuitous sex scene which has nothing to do
with the subject of the show (not to overlook the endless foul language).
The Janet Jackson breast incident was repeated over and over in news
broadcasts, again with no warning whatsoever. The latest "Hollywood" fad
over the last year or so is more explicit bathroom toilet scenes.

Indeed, it's almost impossible to find a movie today without incredible
levels of violence, foul language, gratuitous sex, and so on. In reality,
the only possible way to not see this stuff is to turn off the television
entirely. And I see no reason why I should be forced to turn off my
television without objection just so others can entertain themselves by
endlessly watching this garbage.

Finally, this isn't just a personal matter. My family has the potential to
be directly impacted by the sleaze and violence watched by the family next
door or down the street. I would like to go about my day without worrying
about the violence each person I meet enjoys for entertainment. I would also
like my wife and daughter to be able to go about their day without
concerning themselves with the filth and sleaze each person they meet enjoys
for their entertainment.


Nobody has the right to impose
their view of what is "right" or "good"
on anyone other than themselves.


Who said? Every person in this country has a right to their views and a
right to advocate those views. Show me anything that says otherwise.
Likewise, if the majority accepts those views, show me anything that says
those views cannot be imposed through law. Free speech has never been
absolute in this country and, based on what I see now, I dread the very
thought of what might happen if it ever does.


Public censorship is what smallminded
people resort to.


Utter nonsense. It's small-minded, and downright foolish, not to have some
level of censorship. For example, do you believe videos of victims taken by
sex offenders should be shown on television - not by the perpetrator, but by
those who don't believe in censorship? What about videos by murderers
showing torture of their victims? Clearly, the issue isn't about no
censorship, but about where the line on censorship should be drawn. At this
point, the line is way out there on the side of filth, violence, and other
such garbage.


BTW, I don't like Howard Stern, so I
don't listen to him. I also don't like Rush
Limbaugh or G. Gordon Libby, so I
don't listen to them either. If I'm intelligent
enough to think of that, why didn't you?


Then why were you not also intelligent enough to notice I said nothing
about Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Libby, or anyone else. Instead,
I commented about sleaze and garbage on radio and television in general.
Howard Stern is only one small example of a very much wider problem.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/