Howard Stern and the FCC

Yes. it does to some degree and, as is life's wont, I think we still have some reasonable disagreements which we will most likely never come to terms on.

- As to Stern (and I admit I haven't followed it to closely), if he is being subjected to random sanctioning and "abuse of discretion" by the FCC, he will have his day in court. I don't know specifically what regs he is being charged with but I assume they are fairly vague "don't say bad things" regs. If so, he probably has a legitmate shot at winning in any appeal.

As to your assertion that your interpretation of the 1st-A is looser than mine, understand that I am firm believer in Voltaire's statement that "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." The 1st -A is a necessary and vital part of our democracy. Yes, obviously, the 1st Amendment is subject to interpertation - The Supreme Court has been doing it for two hundred years and their interpretation of it is THE law of the land.

But Stern's case isn't about his right to free speech, it's about the FCC's enforcement of regulations adopted pursuant to the 1st-A and the FCC's exercise of executive discretion. I HATE when people scream about their 1st Amendment rights being violated when, in fact, they are really arguing that either the government or a corporate entity has said to them "you can't say that here". It is not Stern's freedom of speech that is being challenged it is his right to exercise that right through a regulated medium. A medium which he entered with full knowledge that the content of his shows were subject to regulation.

I won't pick nits about you on the clean till 10:00 rule and then all (well most) bets are off. I do find it interesting that your concern seems to lie with media conglomerates being able to maintain their ratings. : )

As to M. Powell - I don't know anythng about him. Is it your assumption that because he is C. Powell's son that he is unqualified or have you researched his background and determined, based on his prior lack of experience, that he is unqualified? What is his edudcation and employment background?

Daseal - Just looked up M. Powell's resume. Seems like he isn't necessarilly a pipsqueak riding his father's coattails - Graduate of Georgetown Law Center, clerk for a judge on the premier federal appeals court. Also, I am familiar with the law firm mentioned in his resume and they are a top regulatory firm - no slouches in that place.

Oh, by the way, he was originally a CLINTON appointee (can you say "DOH!!").

Check it out:
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/powell/mkp_biography.html

Before reaching nice, comforting, broad conclusions which agree with your perception of events, you really should get your facts straight.
(Okay, that last was a bit over the top, but you gotta admit - your "pipsqueak" remark appears to be completely unfounded)

I don't doubt Powell has those references. However he still hasn't done anything in his pathetic life. Everything he did he got via Daddy, just look at our President, runs two oil companies and Texas's economy into the ground but still has a Yale education. Went MIA during his military action and still get's credit.

Both of these men have extremely influential fathers who can get them in places. IE Georgetown, Law firms, etc. You are right about the Clinton appointee, but I don't care who appoints them. I'm not a huge Clinton fan, which you seem to accuse me of being. I think he did a great job with the economy and he was sure as hell charismatic, but he did very little for the environment. I think the whole scandal over a blowjob is god damn crazy. Kennedy fucked anything with two legs but that doesn't seem to tarnish his reputation (only because he's dead I think.)

My thoughts aren't only mine. Recently I've read over some of M. Powells material on the FCC, not just censorship, and he just regurgitates things that were already said.

Yes, I'm worried about ratings on TV. Without ratins, Ad prices drop, if ad prices drop the stations go out of business. Get my drift?

First, I did not "accuse" you of being a Clinton fan. It just appeared to me that you considered M. Powell to be a Bush lackey. As such, I thought the fact that he had been appointed by Clinton to be appropos.

Second, undoubtedly influence and money open doors for individuals. Whether or not the individual takes advantage of them is a different thing. I simply have not read over M. Powell's stuff to intellligently discuss the soundness, or lack thereof, of his positions. It does seem, though, that your criticisms of M. Powell, e.g. that he has led a "pathetic life" and that "everything he did he got via Daddy", seem exceptionally personal and harsh condemnations of man whom, I assume, you have never met.

I just did a quick search, here is a link which seems to indicate that M. Powell is not simply a hack towing the party, or anybody's, line: http://slate.msn.com/id/2078879/. If you have an article with a counterpoint, I would (really, just to be sure to get both sides) like to read it.

Finally, I really was just ribbing you about the conglomerates stuff. But, oh please. Barring a complete takeover by the government of all media outlets, TV stations are not going out of business regardless of the restrictions placed on their content. First, they would simply find some mindless inoffensive pap to fill in the space between their commercials and someone would watch. Second, by the nature of the licensing restrictions, the demand for any properly licensed TV station well outstrips the supply of hte same. Even if a corporation couldnt air certain content or get a wide range of sponsors, it would still use the station as a loss leader - taking a loss in one part of its corporate structure to offset the tax liabilities created by its other more successful companies.

For me, elections are always about choosing the lesser evil. I see Kerry as the clear lesser of evils because you can't get much worse than what we have right now. The Bush/Cheney administration has succeeded in weakening our constitutional rights, owes much to corrupt corporations such as Enron, and its foreign policy is sociopathic; they lied and manipulated the facts so that we'd attack Iraq and I suspect that Cheney in particular believes the world is not safe until the U.S. is in charge and in control. That's not the sort of America I believe in or want to be a part of.

Which would you rather a President lie about: getting blowjobs in the Oval Office or the reasons for going to war and risking the lives of thousands of American soldiers and millions of regular Iraqi people? The 90s were pretty good for a lot of people. Clinton can accurately be called a liar, a bad husband, perhaps even an asshole, but he was not a bad President, at least not when you compare him to George W. Bush, who's the worst we've had in a long time. This is not America's finest hour by a longshot. In the eyes of the world, we are a selfish bully who flouts the UN and invades other countries unilaterally and preemptively, on erroneous evidence no less, then asks the UN to come and help when things turn ugly, just as predicted by anyone who took a moment to consider the situation. Is everybody ready for an Islamic revolution in Iraq? That's what happens when you topple a dictator with no realistic plan to fill the resulting power vacuum. Bush/Cheney probably expected cheers and parades like those held for the American liberators in Europe during WWII. It actually seems that they didn't envision the current situation or where it is likely to go from here (downward), and even more incredibly, we might have made the situation in the Middle East even more unstable than it was before. How embarassing and sad. In my opinion, Bush/Cheney need to go ASAP ... at this point, I'd elect a ham sandwich to our nation's highest office before I voted for Bush. Hello Kerry.

Matty, if you went so far as to vote for Nader, I'm amazed that you'd think of Bush as the lesser evil, or even consider voting for him. At least I think that's what you were getting at ... I may have misunderstood your post.

in my opinion we could also be viewed as a nation still very much pissed off and tired off being a passive country waiting to be attacked again. plus didn't clinton also screw up our military and intelligence with quite a few cut backs? can you honestly say without a shadow of a doubt in your heart that the world isn't a better and safer place without hussein out of power? and do people think sadam wouldn't have, and possibly already has, sold weapons to anyone with the means to use said weapons? i'll admit Bush is anything but a great president but i think the administration has done a decent job given the tragic events of 9-11. I for one think we need to be more of a selfish country and start fixing the problems within our own country before trying to fix the rest of the world and be hated for our help.

plus i can't vote for a candidate like kerry who wants to add an additional charge or something to that extent to gasoline to dissuade people from driving as much. i haven't really heard much about his politics and viewpoints other than pretty much "bush is an oil-hungry war-mongerer(sp?)." plus, come one, botox?

and until someone gives irrefutable proof the current administration created and/or falsified information then i don't want to hear this "bush lied" crap. has anyone paid attention to the 9-11 investigative commision? i've heard very little in discussion and questioning about the actual event and more about what we are going to do in iraq. its a farce and too much finger pointing political bs at a time when our country needs to be atleast somewhat unified and not bickering back and forth like children. it's in the past and nothing can be done to put things right. i am not old enough but i'm fairly certain the debate about intel over pearl habor didn't come about until atleast a couple decades later.

man i hate talking about politics cuz its never going to be something many people are going to agree upon whether it be through stubborness, stupidity, faith, or a combination of the three. and everyone takes it way too personally.

Hey I'm not taking it personally, skinsfanthru&thru ... we live in a country where we can debate and disagree ... I don't have to agree with you to respect both your opinion and your right to state it. My opinion is that Bush/Cheney have used 9/11 to make a power grab in Iraq, which makes the whole thing all the more unforgivable. I also believe that we've been misled by the current Administration about the danger Iraq posed. Yes the world is safer without Saddam but it would also be safer without Kim Jong Il, Yassir Arafat and Ariel Sharon ... should we invade their countries too? And I agree that we should start fixing problems here at home before we go plundering abroad: better schools, affordable healthcare, etc.

Did Kerry really get botox? That is lame, if true.

i understand and appreciate u not taking my opinion as a personal attack or anything. i wish it was that way with my family who are all die hard republicans where as i see myself without an official party but rather i'm a person who's opinions vary from topic to topic. i agree with what u say about iraq and i don't like it either but it's not like how some people r making it seem with us going into the country, stealing and pillaging everything in sight. a lot of the damage that's been done to iraq has been done by it's own residents. and too be honest i've been more worried about north korea the past year and half than i have been with iraq. the iraq thing with suddam should have been completely taken care of during the persian gulf war which makes it even worse for bush making it look like he's finishing his father's war which it may in fact have been. of course if the UN had some balls and actually backed up its laws things may have had a chance to be a little different. and i strongly agree with you on fixing our school system because more and more teenagers are coming out into the world with the IQs of rocks. i'm sure we all have stories about kids working at the registers of places miscounting small amounts of change. healthcare will remain a joke until we r able to purchase drugs from other countries like canada and social security is taking big chunks of money out of the pockets of those who'll never see a penny of it when they get older.

Did Kerry really get botox? That is lame, if true.


it may have been a hoax but i remember them showing a picture from a year or so ago I think and put it side by side with a recent picture and he was remarkably less wrinkled which is saying a lot for a guy as worn out and wrinkly as he is.

I am with SkinsFan in that I would like to see some proof that Bush/Cheney lied, i.e. they had false intelligence, knew it was false, and yet presented it as true.

The UN had issued ultimatum after ultimatum after ultimatum to Hussein, he flaunted them again and again. At the same time, the entire world reasonably believed that he had WMD's. I believe that France and Russia were relunctant to act at least in part because they were profiting (quite handsomely) from the oil for for food program.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, president of the American Society of International Law, proposed that the Security Council pass a resolution saying force would be justified if three criteria are met:

1. Be in possession of weapons of mass destruction or clear and convincing evidence of attempts to gain such weapons;

2. Grave and systematic human rights abuses sufficient to demonstrate the absence of any internal constraints on government behavior; and

3. Evidence of aggressive intent with regard to other nations.

Prior to the use of force in Iraq, Iraq fit all three of these criteria.

Believe it or not, with all that said I have very mixed feelings on the Iraq action. Saddam was undoubtedly gaming the west and playing the UN for fools. BUT whether or not he would have actually taken offensive action in the region is debatable.

Also, I agree the situation in Iraq right now is bad but, please, give it some time - Rome wasn't built in a day. This is a country whose entire infrastructure has been wiped away with the removal of the B'aathists. Of course there is going to be unrest, of course there is going to be factionalism, this is a country which has not experienced the "rule of law" in several generations. That does not mean it is doomed to fail. From all that I have read, I don't think the long term outlook is as bleak as you make it Ghost.

Regardless of how we got where we are today in Iraq, the situation presents an opportunity, just as the end of WWII did, to cultivate a democracy where none existed before and to create a stable and peaceful country. I, for one, am not yet willing to pass judgment on our success or failure of this goal.