2 ms·

I really appreciate your concern, and I'm with you on the anti-censorship bandwagon. But, widespread censorship is not popular with a majority of the public- if

I really appreciate your concern, and I'm with you on the anti-censorship bandwagon. But, widespread censorship is not popular with a majority of the public- if it were, it would have already been done. They can't even make pornography illegal. The O'Reilly's of the world could just as easily argue, "Our copyright laws make it possible for them to make money. Kill their copyrights!!!". But lately, the most they've ever managed to accomplish is getting meaningless "Parental advisory" labels on CD and game covers. Anyway, it wouldn't really be "their" tax dollars paying for the music you like, any more than it would be your tax dollars paying for their Christian music (remember, there's no discrimination in what's purchased). Faced with also having their free Christian music taken away, I'm pretty sure they'll ease up in their opposition. It's better to think of it as your tax dollars paying for the music you like, their tax dollars paying for the stuff they like. I hope that if ever a law like this were to be passed, you would continue to be concerned. But, I gotta say I always find it annoying when people criticize what might otherwise be a wonderful idea, by arguing that some people might be stupid about it, so we shouldn't do it. It's time to stop being so afraid of stupid people. Government pays for and administers roads, the military, the justice system, and a host of other things that are much more abusable than our entertainment. They don't completely mess up all those other things, and I don't think it's likely to go badly when it comes to music. Given that the worst thing the government could do would be to not pay for certain things, meaning the artists would have to sell the music just like before, that's not exactly devastating.

yummyfajitas 18y ago
Widespread censorship is already here. One example: the following (completely truthful) ad is illegal 29 days before an election: AT&T has assisted the government in illegally spying on you. Barack Obama did what George Bush asked him to do: he voted to give them immunity for their crimes. Is that "Change we can believe in"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act
- foompy_katt 18y ago
  This has nothing to do with entertainment, or the kind of censorship the moral conservatives would be interested in. It's way off topic. It's not even full "censorship"- there's nobody stopping the creators of such an ad from putting it on Youtube, for example. It just can't be broadcast on TV. To address your comment somehow- the law you cite is probably unconstitutional. It was struck down by the Supreme Court once before, before being modified and passed again. I doubt the present form is constitutional, since it obviously does restrict speech. Ironically, you, me, and the far right are the ones who most agree the law is bad :). Conservatives hate that law much more than do liberals. The conservatives' argument is "money is speech".

yummyfajitas 18y ago

Widespread censorship is already here. One example: the following (completely truthful) ad is illegal 29 days before an election: AT&T has assisted the government in illegally spying on you. Barack Obama did what George Bush asked him to do: he voted to give them immunity for their crimes. Is that "Change we can believe in"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act

foompy_katt 18y ago
This has nothing to do with entertainment, or the kind of censorship the moral conservatives would be interested in. It's way off topic. It's not even full "censorship"- there's nobody stopping the creators of such an ad from putting it on Youtube, for example. It just can't be broadcast on TV. To address your comment somehow- the law you cite is probably unconstitutional. It was struck down by the Supreme Court once before, before being modified and passed again. I doubt the present form is constitutional, since it obviously does restrict speech. Ironically, you, me, and the far right are the ones who most agree the law is bad :). Conservatives hate that law much more than do liberals. The conservatives' argument is "money is speech".