Regulate TV Content at Home, Not in Congress
Mon Jul 2, 2007 1:27PM EDT
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With the big issues we've got to face in this country—a protracted war in Iraq, terrorism threats, fallout from subprime mortgage lending causing home foreclosures—it's good to know one corner of Congress is concerning itself with censoring violence on TV.
The Senate Commerce Committee has been holding TV violence hearings to figure out how to curtail violent content from being aired on broadcast and cable stations. Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller (D.-W.Va.) took center stage with the argument this week, deciding the best course of action was to show a crude scene from the FX network's The Shield that aired on C-Span at 10:35 a.m in the morning. Did he really not see the irony in this?
As a parent, of course I don't want my kids to see excessive violence on TV. And they don't want to see it either. We don't subscribe to a lot of the channels that air unfiltered programming. And there are plenty of tools available to parents to block out that kind of programming if you think your kids are seeking it out. Responsibility lies at home, not in Congress, to regulate what flickers across family room TV screens. And if parents shirk this responsibility, it still is not the government's place to pick it up.
That the FCC and representatives like Rockefeller say we can't figure out how to turn on controls via our cable, satellite, or DVR boxes is insulting. We're celebrating our country's independence this week. Let's not do that by allowing some of our elected representatives to take away independent thought and action when it comes to what we watch in our own homes. To avoid watching something offensive, there are other options.
Don't watch it.
Change the channel.
Block it out.
The tools are there for the using. Let's not let anyone in Congress overstep bounds for the sake of the children because we can't figure out how to use already available tools.
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Comments on Regulate TV Content at Home, Not in Congress
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2 Posted by rorbincalendar on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:51PM EDT Report Abuse
Here, Here! I don't need the government (LIBERAL Democrat Senators in this case) deciding what is appropriate for me or my family to have available to watch. There has never been more technology to assist parents in filtering the content that children have available. The answers lies with parental responsibility not BIG BROTHER._____________________________________ Hey Congress, how about spending your time on how to cut your spending and my high taxes NOT on how to limit my freedom of choice!______Thanks Dory.
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3 Posted by henryvalz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse
Liberal senators? Joe Lieberman and Rockefeller are about as liberal as your monkey in the White House. Who has been behind censoring everything on TV? Zealots like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Rick Santorum (R-Penn.(beaten handily)), Olivia Snow (R-Maine), John Ashcroft (R-Miss. (beaten by a DEAD GUY), and the FCC (5 Republicans). I realize that FOX "News" has liberated Republicans from using reality as an argument, but GET A FREAKING GRIP. Dear god... Please save us from the neo-fasci-cons...
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4 Posted by rasim.hassan@prodigy.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:29PM EDT Report Abuse
It is absolutely the business of the government to take action. We as a society have shirked our responsibility. As a nation we cannot afford to shirk it. If we don't take care of our kids as individuals our society must protect them. This is far from censorship it is putting things in to perspective. Look around,do we all act like that in real life? Oh, maybe we do. Oh, Oh and now we want to teach that to our kids? What happened to the shows that show our struggle to improve society and get along with each other? Maybe poor ratings? Maybe no one thought of that?
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5 Posted by wgb1360 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:44PM EDT Report Abuse
Free out of FREEDOM, The new American way of life.
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1 Posted by hyondebbie on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
I agree whole heartedly. I am one of the few left in america who does not currently have cable or satellite television for the simple fact that there is way too much "junk" on T.V. now days. If I ever do decide to get it again, it will my decision and mine alone as to what my children are exposed to. Parents need to stop being lazy and letting the T.V be the babysitter....what you get out of your children is what you put in to them.