Motsinger Censorship Jeremiad

The "Federal Communications Commission," or FCC for short, claims to censor television for public safety, but there is a difference between keeping us, as Americans, safe and limiting our freedom to watch what we choose, and also limiting freedom of speech.

Ever since the Super Bowl halftime of February 2004, in which Justin Timberlake took off one of Janet Jackson's breast plates, exposing her naked right breast, the FCC has increased its censorship enormously. The media blew the incident way out of proportion (what a shocker). Don't get me wrong, Jackson's breast definitely should have been censored, mainly because the Super Bowl is commonly watched by families, including adolescents. That being said, the FCC has NO right, I repeat, NO right to censor programs that are clearly labeled "MA" for mature (18 years of age or older) audiences. If an adolescent watches an inappropriate program with adult content it is obviously the parent's fault for failing to intervene.

So here's what you might call my jeremiad: we, as Americans, must challenge the FCC, challenge them for attempting to take away one of our god given rights; FREEDOM of speech. It is much more than simple censorship-- the FCC wishes to control what we watch as a nation, thereby controlling how we think. The FCC getting away with censoring as they have done is like the Nazi party getting away with burning valuable history and nonfiction books. As a 19 year-old, I am fully capable of changing the channel or turning off the television if I am insulted or disturbed by material or concepts of a program. This can be said for anyone else old enough to watch adult programming. America's government is dependent upon the people, not the other way around, therefore we cannot stand to allow the FCC to brainwash us into believing what the government wants us to believe.