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Originally posted by russotto
The "fire in a crowded theatre" standard was abused in the case in which it was set. The case was about a guy who was distributing pamphlets to potential draftees which alleged that the draft was a violation of the 13th amendment. This was found to be akin to shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre. In any case, there's certainly no way that shouting "fuck" on the radio is akin to shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre.
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I beg to differ... shouting an obscenity in a place where that obscenity is inflamitory (couldn't resist) is an issue, as is shouting fire in a crowded theatre. That the standard gets abused from time to time shouldn't surprise anyone. We as a people are no more perfect that our elected and appointed officials.
As stated previously, the simplest solution is to turn off the radio, and that works in some settings (probably very few in reality), but a community still has the right to set standards for decency. If you find them to be too puritanical, then you move to somewhere more in tune with your views. Why in the world would you try to change other people's views to suit your own? Isn't that just a little bit arrogant?
In an ideal society, I suppose there would be no standards, and people would simply not listen to a radio station that offended them, thus voting with their wallets. But we don't live in an ideal society, and tolerance for others seems to be at an all time low, so we need to do something to address this.
The last thing we want is the setting of standards moved from the community to DC... unless of course you consider that DC appears to have no standards to speak of a plus.
The reasonable person, in my opinion, tries to find a community that shares their values, and then works to protect those values.
This whole thing just struck me as funny... while I don't particularly like eminem, neither does he bother me. I'm about as immune to vlugarity as most my age - may or may not be a good thing, that isn't the point!
The thing is, I don't want my 12 year old step-daughter exposed to that kind of crap just yet, but I know it won't be long, and that she in fact needs that exposure as much as she needs exposure to the Philly Art Museum and Orchestra.
I want, and deserve, the right to decide when to take off the blinders. That right is limited enough as it is, I don't need that kind of thing available over the air. That's one of the reasons I live where I live.
I've been involved in broadcasting for 23 years, and I've been involved with the recording industry for almost as long. Censorship is a very real threat, but so is obscenity. Striking a balance is difficult... to say the least.
I didn't want to see parental advisory stickers on recordings, but I appreciate a place where I can find out a little bit about the stuff my step-daughter is potentially exposed to.
My wife was very ill this past fall, and step-daughter really wanted to see this movie. Well, my wife didn't know anything about it, and she wasn't up to finding out, so she said OK. When she saw the movie (sorry, title escapes me at the moment) she was pretty horrified.
Step-daughter finally got to see the movie at a friends.
So ok, she wasn't stopped, but neither does she think that her mother approves of such things, which all-in-all is about the best you can hope for.
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Originally posted by russotto
The limits are simple: "Congress shall make no law...".
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if only it were that simple!!! But it gets quite complicated as soon as the second person enters the country, and by last count we have a lot more than two people now, each with their own biases, opionions, etc.
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Originally posted by russotto
Sure, if it weren't for meaningless and sensational stories, Inky subscribers would have to use the comics to start fires.
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I never start a fire with the funnies<G>!