Stop the FCC

bungrider · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

...At worst however, that is a speculative threat, while our airwaves are being inundated in pollution now. Let's clean up the mess and worry about political speech when the time comes.

the time is always. you can't pick and choose.

nobody ever thought larry flynt would ever do anything good for this country.

BSAM · Mar 25, 2004

Quote from TM_Direct:

I love HS and miss him ( they pulled him off the air here last month)...but even i have to admit that he's crossed a lot of lines in the sand.....he and others have gone too far. BTW,,I always laugh when they start these freedom of speech petitions .....not sure the founding fathers would be elated to protect Howard's right to talk about anal...

Yeah, good points TM. Look, I'm sure Stern is funny as hell a lot of times. But, what's funny over here at the house, may not be appropriate for consumption for some 13 year old with a radio in his hand. That's the general point I'm trying to make here.

maggandre · Mar 26, 2004

Quote from BSAM:

Yeah, good points TM. Look, I'm sure Stern is funny as hell a lot of times. But, what's funny over here at the house, may not be appropriate for consumption for some 13 year old with a radio in his hand. That's the general point I'm trying to make here.

Then, you should be monitoring your 13 year old and make sure they are not listening. And, are you really shallow enough to think that the 13 year old will hear anything worse on Stern than at school?

We are not talking about him saying the F-word, or any other curse words. He does not - and you can find that and worse here on ET.

I am always amazed at people who want to "pick and choose" what free speech is - that is not possible. We all have different views of what is funny, and what is offending. But, as long as he does not violate the cursing laws, he should be able to talk about sex or farting or whatever.

MrJohnGalt · Mar 26, 2004

Rather than saying stop, remove all government intervention of any kind.

FCC, FTC, SEC, and etc. etc.

Rearden Metal · Mar 26, 2004

Quote from MrJohnGalt:

Rather than saying stop, remove all government intervention of any kind.

FCC, FTC, SEC, and etc. etc.

EXACTLY! Still got that secret isolated free community John?
I'm ready to move there now, and I'll bring the gold bullion.

Gordon Gekko · Mar 26, 2004

Quote from MrJohnGalt:

Rather than saying stop, remove all government intervention of any kind.

FCC, FTC, SEC, and etc. etc.

this stuff really pisses me off.

we have the FCC going after howard stern. prudes complaining to the FCC about janet jackson's nipple.

an IRS with outrageous tax rates and RIDICULOUS tax code...

then we have the SEC coming up with BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSH!T PDT rules.

some parts of our gov. need to be downsized HUGE.

MrJohnGalt · Mar 26, 2004

Quote from Rearden Metal:

EXACTLY! Still got that secret isolated free community John?
I'm ready to move there now, and I'll bring the gold bullion.

What are secrets for.

ElCubano · Mar 26, 2004

Quote from BSAM:

Yeah, good points TM. Look, I'm sure Stern is funny as hell a lot of times. But, what's funny over here at the house, may not be appropriate for consumption for some 13 year old with a radio in his hand. That's the general point I'm trying to make here.

Howard Stern......would be the least of my worries when it comes to a 13 yr old teenager. Unfortunatley we cant be there to protect a childs ears from filth at all times; the best you can do is show them right from wrong and control what they see under your roof. Although as TripleA pointed out I dont feel threatened by the whole situation ( I dont think it will balloon into something bigger than just "filth" on the air).I am a HUGE fan of free speech and think the government has no place in telling any of its citizens what they can and cant hear.....but then again everything has to have some kind of line or boundary that cant be crossed.....How far is tooo Far???

ARogueTrader · Mar 26, 2004

If the FCC can pull Stern, they can also pull Rush. Many consider Rush as obscene as Stern.

As long as there is a 7 second delay on the radio, the fault really isn't Stern's, but the man on the button.

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I am a big an advocate of the First Amendment as anyone else, but I don't feel particularly threatened if the FCC plugs Howard Stern's toilet mouth or puts a lid on the other pollution being spewed by "shock jocks." As for TV, I look on it kind of like driving around in my neighborhood. I don't want a bunch of seedy strip clubs and porno shops there, and I don't see why the people, through their representatives, can't insist that some minimal standards be applied to TV land. We know the broadcasters can't be trusted to do the job themselves. Hell, they can't even report the news without trying to use it to promote some asshole's book trying to capitalize on 9/11.

I am very sensitive to the concern that future administrations might try to use a similar procedure to silence political speech they disagree with. In fact, that has been done in the past, using something known as the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to air "both" sides of controversial issues. Obviously, it would make talk radio untenable, and many would like to see that happen. Since we have a congress and a Supreme Court who think it is perfectly appropriate to ban political ads before an election, I don't have much faith that they would do much if anything to protect political speech over the air.

At worst however, that is a speculative threat, while our airwaves are being inundated in pollution now. Let's clean up the mess and worry about political speech when the time comes.

maggandre · Mar 26, 2004

Quote from ElCubano:

Howard Stern......would be the least of my worries when it comes to a 13 yr old teenager. Unfortunatley we cant be there to protect a childs ears from filth at all times; the best you can do is show them right from wrong and control what they see under your roof. Although as TripleA pointed out I dont feel threatened by the whole situation ( I dont think it will balloon into something bigger than just "filth" on the air).I am a HUGE fan of free speech and think the government has no place in telling any of its citizens what they can and cant hear.....but then again everything has to have some kind of line or boundary that cant be crossed.....How far is tooo Far???

There are boundaries - you cannot say most of the words you read here on ET on the radio. This is not about boundaries that already exist, it is about people who want to dictate what EVERYONE hears.

Most of the people talking about Stern here don't even listen to him. I listen to him everyday, and you see and hear things MUCH worse on normal TV and in everyday life (spend a day with that 13 year old at school). Howard abides by the rules, and while there is raunchy talk and bodily actions, it is nothing worse than you can see on Friends, Will and Grace, or the news. Most of the people who do not like Howard have built him up to be some evil devil, but have never listened to see if that is how he really is.

Anyway, this issue is not really even about Howard. It is about stopping the FCC and the religious right wing from dictating what we can and cannot do, what we can and cannot listen to and watch.

Today Howard, tomorrow Oprah, and who knows what the next day.