Stern Gets Stern Punishment For Indecency

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially entering a new era of McCarthyism. Just as when Senator Joe McCarthy and his band of conservatives launched a witch hunt for communists within the entertainment industry via nationally televised hearings in the '50s, conservatives today are hunting for examples of indecency in the media and castrating and crucifying all who are branded inappropriate.

This has been bubbling under the surface since the inaguration (and some would say since the Starr Report), but has come to a boil in the aftermath of Boobgate, when Janet Jackson's breast baring infuriated conservatives and trigger hand wringing around the nation. The result was a FCC meeting last week where they verbally rapped the knuckles of Viacom president Mel Karmazin (one of the many men behind the broadcast).

Then the government proposed a $755,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications over a on-air bit by Florida shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, which was the second-highest such fine ever proposed. Clear Channel, the multi-media monolith responsible for pulling all songs with lyrics about fire and war from the air in the wake of 9-11 (yes, that included James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," John Lennon's "Imagine," and Deep Purple's "Smoke On the Water") responded by firing Mr. Sponge this week, another knee jerk reaction to Republican government pressure.

So what got Bubba fired? It was an interview with the cast of the hit play "Puppetry of the Penis" where one of the actors exposed himself. Um... was the FCC aware this was RADIO?!

Now, under a new "zero tolerance" policy toward indecency, Clear Channel has pulled Howard Stern from all six of its markets that carry his nationally syndicated show. They cited his interview on Tuesday with Rick Salomon, the man behind (and in) the Paris Hilton sex tape (NSFW), during which Stern asked him if they engaged in anal sex and referred to the size of his penis. A caller then called in and asked Solomon if he had ever had sex with any famous black women... using the N-word in the process.

"If a DJ is found to be in violation of FCC rules, there will be no appeals and no intermediate steps," said Clear Channel Radio president John Hogan. "If they break the law by broadcasting indecent material, they will not work for Clear Channel.... We will not air Howard Stern until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting."

Racy, yes. Worse than anything else Stern has been saying on his show for over 20 years, hell no. But under FCC rules and federal law, radio stations and over-the-air television channels cannot air obscene material at any time, and cannot air indecent material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The FCC defines obscene material as describing sexual conduct "in a patently offensive way" and lacking "serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value." Indecent material is not as offensive, but still contains references to sex or excretions.

The question is, are the members of the FCC the best regulators for MY taste and yours? I think it's safe to say that what offends some over-50 Washington-beltway conservative appointee may not offend me, a 30-something male rock 'n' roll fan who enjoys porn and likes to laugh, yet has kids and doesn't want them to be exposed to adult materials and concepts. I got news for ya folks, if you don't want your kids to hear Stern or watch porn, pay attention to what they watch on your radio and TV! No one is forcing you to own these media transfer devices and certainly no one is forcing your kids to pay attention to them. If YOU can't control your kids' access, then get rid of the devices -- it's not impossible to live without them.

"They are so afraid of me and what this show represents," Stern said on the air this morning in a scathing rant against the FCC.

Blocking Stern, and even Stern wannabe Bubba the Love Sponge, from the airwaves does nothing for cleaning up the country's growing sex industry and the increase of sexual content in pop culture. What it does is rob the free-thinking citizens of one of the best broadcasters in the history of the business and push radio and network television even further towards bland, milquetoast entertainment.

FYI, today Congress takes up the issue of the growing crudeness of TV and radio programming before the House of Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. Prepare for the fallout, and stash your porn before they start requiring you to register it.