Fuck The Draft
by L.M. Steenson (lmsteenson@cox.net)
The idea that expression of a message and its potential impact on any who
might receive it be divorced from the words that are the vehicle for its
expression are transparently fallacious - Supreme Court Justice William J.
Brennan Jr.
I could not agree more wholeheartedly with that statement. With my expansive
vocabulary in mind there is quite simply only one way I can adequately and
emphatically express my displeasure with Congress at present. Fuck the FCC.
The Supreme Court in case 403 U.S. Cohen v. California ruled that this "Fuck
the Draft" statement emblazed upon a jacket and worn into a public courtroom
was protected speech under the First Amendment. On July 3, 1978 in case 438
U.S. FCC v. Pacifica Foundation ruled that and six other words were to be
banned from public broadcast airwaves.
The Court played in part to be sure but it really is the population at large
that most mystifies me. In 1978 it was one lone complaint which got the "Seven
Dirty Words" banned from the airwaves and increased the discretion of the FCC
to determine what they considered to be indecent. In 2003 it was complaints of
a mere 200,000 out of a nationwide audience of 41.4 million people that viewed
the Super Bowl.
A small minority of people were offended by an occurrence that lasted a split
second during the halftime show. That incident and the "outrage" surrounding
it afforded Congress to grounds to increase the maximum FCC violation fine from
$72,000 all the way up to a breathtaking $500,000. Let's not kid ourselves
here. We are are now allowing state sanctioned censorship, all because of a
glimpse of Janet Jackson's nipple.
The FCC is not some purely objective computer program running to decipher what
is considered to be indecent. It is a collection of human beings with bias,
presumptions and personal preferences. Handing over the power to literally
enable this group of individuals to fine people they determine to be
objectionable off the air is absolute censorship.
Granted, the halftime show was offensive to some. However it was not much of an
issue to the majority of viewers, my teenage son and I included. What enabled
the media to spend five days discussing it nearly non-stop? Simple, those same
few kept making their way to newsrooms and talk shows to express their outrage.
All that talking allowed a small minority of people to put increased pressure
on Congress to do something about it while we sat idly by doing nothing.
Nowhere in the First Amendment does it state the way people express themselves
must be accepted by everyone and can in no way make one uncomfortable. One of
the privileges we have is to turn off what we don't want to be exposed to.
There are some things that I elect to ban from my household to protect my
children. That is my right as an American citizen and a responsible parent. The
things I do and don't allow to be watched or listened to are personal and
based on my experience and my values. It may well be different for many others,
as it should be.
I also acknowledge the right of those shows or songs to continue to be produced
and distributed. Indeed, we have 120,000 brave men and women over in Iraq
committed to fulfilling a democracy with a constitution with will afford the
citizens the right of free speech and here we sit back at home allowing the FCC
to sanction what it deems to be indecent right off the air. We ought to be very
ashamed of ourselves.
I hold fast to the truth that we all have the right to say what we think,
therefore those folks who found the entertainment during the halftime show
offensive had absolutely every right to voice their complaints. Having said
that, why have the bulk of Americans who really didn't care two hoots about
the "incident" sat on our hands while Congress rushed this bill though
because as I heard one member state “It was urgent to get it on the
President's desk as soon as possible.” Why were we not calling our Congress
people and demanding that they not pass this bill?
Is it not completely obvious to everyone that if the FCC is allowed to hammer
away at Howard Stern and has not resulted in driving him completely off
terrestrial radio, the trickle down effect to the rest us is now inevitable?
One does not have to like or agree with Stern, but we must protect his
fundamental First Amendment right to free speech. He has an enormous audience,
I am quite sure that there are many angry people in those markets but they are
not aggressively pounding away at the Clear Channel or at the FCC.
We are becoming a nation of sheep. We are allowing the few to dictate to the
many. It doesn't matter one whit whether you like what is being said. But our
inherent right to say what we think precisely the way we choose to voice it; is
absolute.
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