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March 2, 2005
FCC to Enforce Decency on Cable?, The Creepieness That is Chic-Fil-A, The Trouble with Whiskey Part I, Go Nats (Or the Trouble with Whiskey Part II)
There was a bit on Olbermann tonight about an Alaskan Senator who wants to introduce a bill to allow the FCC to regulate Cable and Satellitle companies in the same fashion it regulates the broadcast airwaves.
Alright - let me get this bit of sheer IDIOCY straight. The FCC, the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISION, is going to be dictating to private companies who use private infrastructure what they can or cannot say on their broadcast. Um...No. Despite the fact that this administration and the cohorts in the congress might think that the Consitution serves a much better purpose as toilet paper, there are some of us who believe that the Government has no business telling anyone what they can or cannot say (except if it's inciting violence. But then again, this is all about sex - violence is ok with the PTC).
The reason the FCC can regulate content on broadcast is because IT'S BROADCAST! It's the people's airwaves! They get to use our airwaves for free, but they have to keep it clean between 7 am and 11 pm (Yes, you can say "fuck" on broadcast television and radio after 11 pm. It's called Safe Harbor. How do I know this? I did a late night Metal college radio show with my old band's bassist while I was in college round 1).
The FCC has about as much legal right to regulate what is said on a private network as I do - and I don't have much right to regulate it. Otherwise, Fox News would be illegal. And Dr. Phil. I don't like Dr. Phil.
Last night was interesting. We'll start the sordid tale at Chick-Fil-A. I was going to go to Toojays, which is next door, but they were 5 minutes from closing and I had no desire to be "that guy". So I went into that bastion of Red Stateness that is Chick-Fil-A. The Blue Stateness that is Chipolte had suckerpunched my stomach. Several days in a row. Not fun.
Anyhow, along with my sandwich (and the ubiquitos dose of "Good Christianess") they had this thing on my tray about Junior Achievement. And it had a pyramid. And I don't have a scanner, but you're going to have to take my word on this. It was the pyramid of good business. The bottom of the pyramid was Free Market. Ethics was on the top. While I'm glad Ethics was mentioned, the message was very clear. The Free Market is the "bread" of capitalism. 3-5 servings per day. Ethics are the Fats and Sweets. Use sparingly.
After this, I went out for drinks with a good friend of mine. The problem is, I often forget that this friend of mine is a whiskey-swilling ex-country-music-roadie. He's also a liberal Jewish Red Sox fan. But anyhow, Adam is probably the only Jewish guy I know capable of winning a bar fight. Against the Oakland Raiders. He's a little guy, but he has a mean package - and he can hold his Whiskey.
I, on the other hand, cannot quite hold my Whiskey. Do you remember that episode of the West Wing where Josh slept in the office and his clothes smelled awful? That was me today. Hungover with important Washington things to do...
I had tickets to the first ever Nationals game! And I couldn't go! Because I couldn't be more than a few feet from the toilet. I had to watch the Nationals on ESPN! I debated putting the television on the toilet, but knowing my luck I would've just destroyed it. But at least we won. I'll go next week. And on opening day.
Dammit.
Posted by MikeSager at March 2, 2005 8:28 PM
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