LiveWire

A planned ‘malfunction.’

If ever an FCC fine was appropriate, it was this one. When CBS/Viacom decided to take Superbowl family night and turn it into soft porn on Showtime, we said no and the FCC responded with a huge fine. The decline of culture has apparently compelled a bunch of federal judges to reverse that fine, just as SCOTUS declared that our ‘evolving values’ meant child rapists didn’t deserve death. The ‘elite’ must truly believe we’re a bunch of cavemen out here…

Court tosses FCC ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fine

PHILADELPHIA – A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson’s breast-baring “wardrobe malfunction.”The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity.
The 90 million people watching the Super Bowl, many of them children, heard Justin Timberlake sing, “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” as he reached for Jackson’s bustier.

The court found that the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so “pervasive as to amount to ‘shock treatment’ for the audience.”

Do they not remember the overwhelming outrage over this instance? And it wasn’t because of ‘fleeting nudity.’ It was because of the intent of CBS and the fact that American families at least felt somewhat safe to have their children watching with them.

Then and now I have no problem with human nudity on television–as long as parents are in control and know what they’re getting. With the Super Bowl broadcast families were ambushed by Viacom’s attempt to ‘mainstream’ the MTV trash culture. This reversal very well may signify a rush to do just that by all the broadcast networks. CBS’ statement confirms this:

In a statement Monday, CBS said it hoped the decision “will lead the FCC to return to the policy of restrained indecency enforcement it followed for decades.”

“This is an important win for the entire broadcasting industry because it recognizes that there are rare instances, particularly during live programming, when it may not be possible to block unfortunate fleeting material, despite best efforts,” the network said.

Hahahahahaha! They choreographed the whole thing! It was the entire staged Jackson/Timberlake performance that was a problem. This is my issue–not an unexpected ‘wardrobe malfunction’ but the concerted effort by media companies to facilitate the decline the culture. There’s a reason we have cable networks, so adults can in deed view material like this when they choose. Now apparently there will be no line as media and the courts decide your children can exposed to whatever Viacom chooses.