The Dirty Words Police Are On Vacation
Jacques Steinberg reports in The New York Times that the prudery advocates' prospects for sending "decency" legislation to President Bush's desk are a bit slimmer than they were a few months and a naked nipple ago. Unfortunately, broadcasters are in a panic to guess what's considered too racy for prudish American ears:
In response to the Stern and Bono decisions, some broadcasters have hewed to such a narrow line in recent weeks - tossing songs like "The Bitch is Back'' by Elton John off the radio, and carefully editing programs like the critically acclaimed "Prime Suspect'' by PBS - that fresh concerns have been raised, by civil rights groups among others, that self-censorship has gone too far.
What ever happened to use of the channel changer or the on-off button? Is all of America so obese that they can no longer get their giant, swollen fingers around the remote?