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November 20, 2004

Can't you see this is a land of confusion...

There's too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems,
and not enough love to go around

The Federal Communications Commission is the latest tool in the social conservative onslaught on American values. The absurdity of this culture is bubbling to the surface under the watchful eye of FCC Chairman Michael Powell.

Frank Rich explains the real crux of the issue:

As American soldiers were dying in Falluja, some Americans back home spent Veteran's Day mocking the very ideal our armed forces are fighting for ­ freedom. Ludicrous as it sounds, 66 ABC affiliates revolted against their own network and refused to broadcast "Saving Private Ryan." The reason: fear. Not fear of terrorism or fear of low ratings but fear that their own government would punish them for exercising freedom of speech.

Rich also points out that companies which own these stations also own major newspapers. And they're all on "Operation Sanitization". Out front in this operation are Republicans...with their deliberate and willful ignorance worn like a badge of honor:

The reductio ad absurdum of such a restricted news diet is Jim Bunning, the newly re-elected senator from Kentucky. During the campaign he drew a blank when asked to react to the then widely circulated story of an Army Reserve unit in Iraq, including one soldier from his own state, that refused to follow orders to carry out what it deemed a suicide fuel-delivery mission. "I don't read the paper" is how he explained his cluelessness. "I haven't done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information." That's his right as a private citizen, though even Fox had some coverage of that story. But as a senator, he has the power to affect decisions on the conduct of the war and to demand an accounting of the circumstances under which one of his own constituents was driven to revolt against his officers. Instead Mr. Bunning was missing in action.

For our public officials to be informed on the key issues is basic to their job description. Yet these are the values we're told are important. This is what the folks in the "red states" voted for.

Posted by Carla at November 20, 2004 09:10 PM