This is so damned stupid it almost deserves a category of its own:
Today, the Parents Television Council (PTC), the nation
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.
When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.
Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.
GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.
Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.
America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.
No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.
You cannot shame the shameless.
The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.
She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.
Accountability, motherfuckers.
Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?
Republicans in disarray!
One way or another, he’s a liar.
Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.
Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.
Peak wingnut was a lie.
Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.
Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.
When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?
This blog will pay for itself.
New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.
The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.
“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”
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jcricket
I once bought this CD by a Canadian punk band named “Propoghandi” (long time ago). They had this hidden track at the very end of their album that was preceded by 25 or so tracks of nothing but the word “fuck” repeated over and over.
Shit like this makes me want to send that CD to the PTC.
ppgaz
That’s right. If you buy a book, or a CD, and don’t like it, the thing to do is to ask the government to prevent other people from buying it.
That’s the American Way.
By the way, what did you expect from a punk band named “Propoghandi?” Nursery rhymes?
And why is “fuck”, a word proudly used by your very own Vice President of the United States, not to your liking? Aren’t you patriotic?
I’ll bet you don’t eat Canadian Bacon any more, do you?
jcricket
Dude, I’m being sarcastic. I want to send the PTC the CD to piss them off more. If they can’t handle one fuck in a 30-year old song, then certainly some Canadian youth repeating it over and over again will send them into apocolyptic rage.
Doug
Swear words make Baby Jesus cry.
The Sanity Inspector
Okay, I’ll volunteer to be the foil, here.
Disclosure: The Who have been among my very favorite bands my whole life.
Believe it or don’t, there are large numbers of people in this country who don’t use how much profanity they’re willing to endure as a measure of their broad-mindedness. People who are sitting in their own homes, watching TV in the middle of the day or during what used to be family time, should have a reasonable expectation that the programming on offer will be a respectful house guest.
“But you can always change the channel!” Right. And who appointed you to banish all these people from the viewing audience? You can always go watch an George Carlin video, if TV isn’t dirty enough for you; how about that?
The worldlier-than-thou types too often take the attitude that “I’ll shit in the town well if I want to, and if you don’t like it you can just drink elsewhere.” Is that any way to celebrate our diversity?
I urge you not to fall into the arrogant attitude that, if something like this doesn’t matter to you, it doesn’t matter at all.
John Cole
I think people have a reasonable expectation that under the current system, they should believe they will not be exposed to profanity laced television on the major networks.
But that is a reasonable expectation, not an absolute guarantee. PTC even admits that ABC did a bang-up job getting rid of most of it- one F-bomb in a unique event slipped by the censors. And now they want blood.
Probably just need more attention to do some more fund-raising.
The Sanity Inspector
As much as cultural pants-droppers love to “push the envelope”, they should remember that sometimes the envelope pushes back.
Sinequanon
^5 John. You’d think none of those people had ever watched a day time soap opera…now there is something to bitch about! (Bad acting)…
John Cole
Sanity- This wasn;t about ‘pushing the envelope.’ This wasn;t a risque episode of NYPD Blue. It was an accident, and PTC themselves acknowledge that ABC took great care to censor.
In other words, shit happens, but the PTC is saying F**K you, anyway. Bunch of children, moralists, and shameless self-promoters.
ppgaz
You are probably right in the case of many people. Certainly not all, not that the distinction matters.
However, I seriously question whether this expectation is either reasonable, or something that needs to be propped up by way of government intervention. It’s not a free speech issue with me. It’s a “leave me alone” issue. I don’t need a daddy to monitor my tv for me. If I were a child, I might. But then I apply rule number two: I don’t want the government to be that daddy.
All of this slides toward moot, when we observe that the general crappiness of network television is driving viewers to cable, satellite, and other sources of content.
The sooner broadcast-based network television fades into obscurity, the better, as far as I am concerned. I don’t see how its existence any longer serves any particular purpose. As a vehicle for ENG material such as local tire fires and man-bites-dog stories, I guess.
KC
Add this story to the mix. It looks like some Christians are interested in getting other Christians in moving to South Carolina to take over the state government. Last I recall, libertarians had planned on doing something similar elsewhere.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Unfortunately, for these people there is no “right to not be offended” in the Constitution.
You don’t have the right to not be offended. If words offend you, that is your problem.
Birkel
I’m with John Cole wholeheartedly.
If the gov’t would require the cable companies to unbundle their channels and allow the moralists to purchase only those channels that promise no cursing whatsoever it might put an end to all this foolishness.
And I could avoid purchasing Nickelodeon, all the shopping channels and most of the other bunkum.
Win-Win.
Stormy70
I watch the Sopranos and Deadwood on HBO, and it’s riddled with profanity. I hardly notice it,(except for Deadwood, which takes cursing to unseen levels). However, when the cursing goes on in a sitcom or drama on network TV, it feels gratuitous, like the only reason they say “ass” is because they can. Then they repeat it 10 times per episode, and it doesn’t advance the dialogue, because it’s quantity over quality. But on cable, shows like the Shield use curse words like a normal cop-type would use in real life. Network TV cursing gives the writers an excuse to write the easy joke, and it is tiresome. I can’t watch any sitcoms anymore. I wouldn’t mind stricter rules for cursing during prime time, then the writers might have to come up with an actual joke.
capelza
Is the PTC the same group that MIchael Powell and the FCC found out were responsible for something like 98% of the complaints to the FCC?
The guy who runs this let’s his folks know ahead of time (example Saving Pvt. Ryan uncut on Veteran’s Day) and they bomb the FCC with complaints even though many of the members didn’t even see the show in question. Not much mention was made of the violence of SPR, just the few completely non-gratutitous swear words.
IN the case of SPR, it was completely avoidable for the nancies of PTC, as they knew ahead of time that the film was being shown in it’s uncut entirity as an HONOR to veterans.
Don Surber
Didn’t these
creepsGreat Americans boycott “Married With Children” and rescue it from obscurity?Stormy70
“Married with Children” was one of the great sitcoms of all time. I miss Al Bundy.
joe
I’m with Birkel, i.e., strongly for “a la carte” cable plans. However, I’d rather see the market dictate this to the cable providers, instead of our asking the government to do it.
Jim Allen
For cryin’ out loud, radio stations have been broadcasting “Who Are You?” uncut and unedited since the 70’s. Get a grip. PTC.