A Stitch in Haste

Having learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from the recent "censor the Internet" cases (all losses) or the "regulate video games" cases (all losses), some hack regulators at the FCC, backed by their teat-patrons in Congress, are now targeting "violence" on television:

The Federal Communications Commission has concluded that regulating TV violence is in the public interest, particularly during times when children are likely to be viewers -- typically between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., FCC sources say.
...
The report -- commissioned by members of Congress in 2004 and based on hundreds of comments from parents, industry officials, academic experts and others -- concludes that Congress has the authority to regulate "excessive violence" and to extend its reach for the first time into basic-cable TV channels that consumers pay to receive.

First Amendment experts and television industry executives, however, say that any attempt to regulate TV violence faces high constitutional hurdles -- particularly regarding cable, because consumers choose to buy its programming.

How many times do we need to reinvent this wheel? The terms "excessive" and "violence" are unconstitutionally vague in the context of television programming, just as they are unconstitutionally vague in the context of video games. Moreover, government is simply not permitted under the First Amendment to unreasonably restrict adult access to expressive content -- which unambiguously includes television programming -- merely because children might be exposed to it.

The fact that broadcast frequencies are "publicly owned" is irrelevant: the government may not violate the Constitution on "public" airwaves any more than it can violate it in a "public" courthouse. (and, of course, the FCC is just itching to obtain censorial powers over cable and satellite networks as well, so the "public trust" argument is moot if not schizophrenic.)

Meanwhile, here of course is the real kicker:

[M]any parents don't use V-chip blocking, the technology that Congress in 1996 mandated be built into TV sets to filter programs based on industry-developed ratings -- which in any case are inconsistent, according to a report released last week by the Parents Television Council, an advocacy group that monitors television shows for sexual and violent content.

Cry me a river. First off, the Parents Television Council is a radical social conservative group (headed by one of the most extremist social conservatives ever) that files -- get this -- 99.8% of all "indecency" complaints to the FCC, including a calculated campaign after the Janet Jackson Super Bowl fiasco (but only when they weren't busy demanding that "Will & Grace" be banned for "immoral" homosexual content).

Be sure to process the patently unethical nature of the PTC's intellectual dishonesty: Flood the FCC with baseless and repetitive complaints, then use the rise in complaints as "proof" that "something needs to be done." Or, as the politicians phrase it: Vote early, vote often.

The PTC does not represent, and does not try to represent, "parents," but only radical social conservatives. And, like all radical social conservatives, they lie (including a $3.5 million defamation settlement with World Wrestling Entertainment).

It's quite simple really: There is no "right to have TV babysit your kids." Either use the V-chip, throw the TV out, or -- gasp! -- watch with your kids. Either choose one of those options, or just shut up. Stop being infants and start being parents. Leave the rest of us alone.

Your anal-retentive "outrage" ends where my television set begins.