The Death of Broadcasting

From John Eggerton of
BROADCASTING & CABLE.

"By an overwhelming margin, 379 to 35, the House Wednesday passed a bill (S. 193) upping the FCC's maximum indecency fine to $325,000 per violation, a tenfold increase over the current top fine.

Republicans were almost unanimously in favor, with 219 voting for the bill and only a single Republican voting no. That was Ron Paul of Texas, the former Libertarian party candidate for president who ran on among other issues, personal liberty.

The Democrats were only slightly more split, with 160 voting for the bill and 33 against. At least one of those, Diane Watson of California, opposed the bill because it was too weak."

The bill was sponsored by Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. Big surprise there.

Brownback said: “This is a victory for children and families..."

And a major defeat for broadcasting freedom. It is truly mind-boggling that our Congress apparently has no other urgent business to deal with except gay marriage, flag-burning, and obsessing over a woman's breast being exposed for half a second during the Super Bowl halftime show.

And you gotta wonder what Diane Watson of California had in mind when she opposed the bill because it was "too weak."

American radio and television broadcasting has now been muzzled. Obscenity and indecency cannot be defined. What this accomplished was to reduce programming to its lowest common denominator because these families are either too lazy or too busy to control the televisions in their own homes. Programming is already rated. I guess that wasn't enough. Enjoy the programming! Sexual innuendo will still be present, and will probably increase. It remains to be seen whether these folks will have the intellect to detect it. Violence will continue as well.

But praise God, we won't have to catch a glimpse of another woman's breast without the Almighty FCC clamping down hard.