The Tide Is Turning?

Hot damn!

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has declared the FCC's rules on indecency "unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here", thereby violating the First Amendment.

Let me translate for you: Next time Janet Jackson flops out a boob or some singer gets a little too excited at an awards show and blurts out a curse word, or two, it won't potentially cost the offending station millions of dollars in fines and fees. Even better, should a DJ for a small college radio station happen to blurt one of the "seven dirty words" on the air, the station won't have to worry about shutting its doors because the fines will drive it to bankruptcy.

Now, I wouldn't expect a free-for-all on prime time television with all your favorite sitcom and crime drama characters swearing like sailors. But what this means is that, if they so chose to do just that, an oppressive government faction can no longer drain the network/station financially in the name of, deciding for the all of us, what's "decent".

One of our major freedoms taken away from us during the Bush Administration has been restored. It gives me a great feeling to know that artists of all sorts - singers, musicians, actors, writers, you name it - can now actually express themselves without fear of reprisal.

To hell with Mel Gibson and how all the tapes of what he said in the privacy of his own home are under public scrutiny (ironic that that fact is totally lost in the story, no?)...this, to me, is MUCH more important than celebrity gossip. The airwaves are actually free again.





I used to think the world was flat
Rarely threw my hat into the crowd
I felt I had used up my quota of yearning
Used to look in on the children at night
In the glow of their Donald Duck light
And frighten myself with the thought of my little ones burning
But, oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning

Satellite buzzing through the endless night
Exclusive to moonshots and world title fights
Jesus Christ, imagine what it must be earning
Who is the strongest
Who is the best
Who holds the aces
The East
Or the West
This is the crap our children are learning
But oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning

Now the satellite's confused
'Cause on Saturday night
The airwaves were full of compassion and light
And his silicon heart
Warmed to the sight of a billion candles burning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning

I'm not saying that the battle is won
But on Saturday night all those kids in the sun
Wrested technology's sword from the hand of the war lords
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning


Indeed.